That’s right, we are talking about exercise. Or maybe a better term for you might be movement. Whatever you use to talk about moving your body in a purposeful way...That is what this blog is about. A common theme I am hearing from my clients right now is some added stress around movement given the current state of the world. Maybe your gym is closed, or you don’t feel comfortable going back. Maybe you’ve been feeling pressure to be extra to be productive and “make the most of quarantine”, so you are suffering through some lame at-home workouts. Maybe you have stopped any movement and the idea of starting is stressing you out. Know that wherever you are, I see you. 

 Untangling exercise/movement from diet culture is one of my favorite aspects of the work I do as an anti-diet dietitian. It is so amazing to watch a client rediscover pleasure in food, but when I also get to witness a similar transformation around exercise- it really sparks my passion for this work.

 I get excited about this element of Intuitive Eating because had the most influence on my life in the way I approached, thought about, and felt about exercise. And guess what? I’ve always actually liked exercise! Enjoying exercise does not mean that I had the best relationship with it and it did not fully protect me from letting diet culture influence my approach to exercise.

 I would often not consult myself before starting a workout. I would, for a lack of a better term, “just do it.”  Some workouts would be good- I’d enjoy it, feel good after, and move on. Some workouts would be rough- I’d have little motivation, I might rush or be super sluggish. I would be sloppy in my movements (not good when weights are involved), I would not feel the mental benefits that I normally did, and I just wouldn’t have fun. Then, in the end, I would think- I’m good, I got it done. Yikes.

 Enter Intuitive Eating into my life. I got curious about my relationship with exercise. I asked myself questions like: Where does my motivation come from? Am I doing this for how it makes me look or how it makes me feel? Am I doing it for “health” yet ignoring my well-being? And it came down to me needing to take a break from hitting the gym. 

 And slowly but surely, I was able to recognize when my body wanted to move. I was able to notice when I was craving movement and when I was craving rest. I was able to approach movement more mindfully, where I was suddenly noticing the mental benefits and physical benefits during and after the workout. I got more curious about what type of movement I was craving and found myself really enjoying yoga for the first time in my life. I have always been pretty inflexible, which was a big reason I thought I didn’t like yoga- because I wasn’t “good at it.” Stripping away diet culture influence allowed me to focus on how I felt, not how I looked or how "good" I was.

 Eating something that you deem as “good" or "safe” when all you really wanted was something that you considered “bad" or "sinful,” sets you up for failure. This simple example is what sets people in the diet mentality and sends them down a path of mistrusting internal eating cues. The same idea can be applied to movement. Doing the exercise because you feel you “should” or “have to,” isn’t fun or sustainable. It leads to burnout, mindless (dangerous) workouts, and strips away many of the benefits of movement. A general rule of thumb- moving your body should usually be enjoyable, just like your food should usually taste yummy! 

 I challenge you to get curious about your own relationship with movement! Are you “just do(ing) it?” Avoiding it because maybe you’ve experienced some burnout? Or is it something you enjoy and make time for, but feel a-okay when life gets in the way of a workout? No matter where you land on the movement/exercise spectrum, know that you are not alone. Your relationship with exercise is workable, just like your relationship with food. If you could use some help in this process, reach out!

 Please leave a comment below to let me know if this blog resonated with you!