How Do I Improve My Relationship With Exercise? 3 Ways You Can Begin Today To Move From Punishment To Pleasure
By: Lindsay Hodgson, MSN
When rejecting diet culture and developing a kinder, more intuitive relationship with food and body it is common to question how exercise fits into the puzzle.
Note: Oftentimes people in the anti-diet world use the word “movement” instead of “exercise” or “working out.” This is because the word movement has a more neutral and flexible connotation, whereas other terminology often brings associations of punishment, control, or trying to change the body. I will use the term “movement” throughout the article to describe what others might call physical activity, fitness, or exercise. Some people do find it helpful to think about exercise as “movement” and use this vocab as they heal their relationship with their body and explore what movement means to them. Feel free to use whatever language resonates with you and your journey.
Diet culture promotes regular movement as a pathway to thinness and health, meanwhile developing unrealistic expectations around moving your body. Diet culture touts the benefits of movement where it is seen as a way to burn calories, lose weight, feel more energized, or relieve stress.
Most adults only know movement in the context of dieting and health. For this reason, many people have fraught experiences with movement. Maybe for you it’s “punishment” after eating “too much” or eating particular foods. Or it may be something you don’t enjoy but force yourself to do in the pursuit of thinness or health. You may have trauma related to movement and so you avoid it all together for the sake of your safety.
Whatever your story or ability status, know that you have the autonomy to choose whether or not to engage in movement. Movement should be a form of self-care, so it’s perfectly acceptable if it is not supportive to you in this season of life, or at all.
At the same time, when movement is from a place of self-care, it can make you feel more connected to your body while supporting your mental and physical health. It is possible to develop a relationship with movement that is true to you and independent of diet culture if you so choose. If that’s you, then read on for more:
1. Honoring The Importance of Rest
Rest (outside of sleep) is just as important as movement. However, prioritizing rest can feel really scary if you've been in a pattern of structured, consistent movement for some time. Embracing rest also goes against everything you’ve heard in the fitness industry where taking breaks is seen as weak. While it can be really challenging to re-frame thoughts and actions surrounding rest, it can be supportive to healing. Many people prefer to take a period of no movement outside activities of daily life when they are working on healing their relationship with food and body. Rest allows you to be curious and observe when your body is communicating that it wants movement.
Giving yourself permission to rest also extends to all areas of life. We often think about resting or recovery after the body experiences physical stress, like an intense workout or some kind of physical exertion. We tend to ignore the importance of rest after times of mental, emotional, and social exertion. Practicing rest with movement will allow you to practice it in other areas of your life.
2. Discovering Joyful Movement
Just as reconnecting with foods you find enjoyable is an important part of healing your relationship with food, reconnecting with movement that’s fun to you is a part of healing your relationship to movement. This is a great time to reflect on if you’ve actually enjoyed what you’ve been doing and try new forms of movement too. What movement, currently and in the past, has been enjoyable? A walk or errand with a friend? Team or individual sports? Dancing in a studio or in the kitchen to your favorite music? Stretching or yoga after a stressful day at your desk? There are so many options. Chances are that you’ll want to do different types of movement depending on your schedule, mood, the season, and so on.
3. Create an Anti-Diet Bubble
Another step that might be helpful in your intuitive movement journey is to create a physical and metaphorical anti-diet space to practice movement. This can look a lot of different ways, so here are a few examples:
Canceling a gym membership or fitness class because the instructors and messaging in the space promote diets or weight loss
Engaging in movement by yourself or with a friend who is not caught up in dieting or weight loss
Listening to anti-diet podcasts or audiobooks as you stretch or walk
Trying forms of movement led by fat-positive trainers or yoga teachers (see below)
Unlearning messages about health you’ve likely been told your whole life is very hard work. There is no right or wrong; rather, practicing curiosity and embracing a sense of experimentation are excellent places to start as you explore movement from a place of your own self-care instead of diet culture.
Fat-positive Trainers and Teachers:
https://www.mindfullyactive.com/
https://www.fatkiddanceparty.com/home
https://movementunmeasured.com/
https://www.fitragamuffin.com/
Are you struggling with food, body image, or a rigid relationship with exercise?
Our caring Dietitians work with clients virtually helping people who are struggling with food and body image. It’s possible to change your relationship with food and your body, free up headspace, and live your life with more presence, abundance and peace. Learn more about Bravespace Nutrition, our philosophy, and the services we offer.