Are there times when a health and fitness routine can ruin your mental health? With the New Year in full swing it’s a great time to consider how your resolutions and fitness goals are helping you to be happier or not. 

Physical and Mental Health: A package deal

In my experience as a therapist, coach and athlete you got to have one to have the other. Being mentally healthy will impact how we treat our physical body. And physical health has an impact on emotional and mental health. The nervous system does not operate separately from the physical body. It depends on good nutrition, sleep and hydration to function. And in turn, it’s level of functioning will have a role to play in how we can tolerate worry, sadness, anxiety and stress. So let’s consider when fitness can work against us and how to get the best out of it for yourself. 

3 Ways Fitness Goals ruin Mental Health

1) On again/Off again Extremes

Fitness goals can ruin mental health when we start with unrealistic and extreme plans. Cutting out foods completely or plans to exercise for hours each week are usually not sustainable. We will slip up. But what happens when we fail? Even if the plan was unrealistic, a failure will make us feel less confident and unmotivated. But worse yet we might go to the other extreme.  Eating can turn from strictly controlled to uncontrolled. Or we can go from way too much exercise to not moving at all. The way through this is not fall into extremes from the start. Make small goals that you can stick to that improve your quality of life and health. Also, plan for failure. If you have a bad day, may a little walk, or even nap is what you need instead of workout. If you eat in a way that was not on your plan, chalk it up to one meal and start again. Or even better, plan to include treats knowing that a diet that’s too extreme will only have a negative impact on mental health and relationships.

2) Fitness goals are driven by poor body image

Body image is a set of beliefs about the body. When body image is focused heavily on flaws, fitness choices can be extreme. Sadly, changing the body doesn’t usually fix it.  This is because poor body image is built on beliefs that much of what is wrong in life is related to appearance. These include ideas that a perfect body will bring happiness, less worries in socializing, better relationships or more success. Essentially, we end up trying to fix emotional and psychological issues with physical solutions. No matter what changes, we will generally end up anxious again and looking to perfect something else. The answer to this exhausting and destructive cycle is to get into the underlying beliefs and address anxiety directly. 

3) Lack of viable options to feel good

Life can get very one dimensional when there is one thing that makes us feel good among many things that don’t. While an addictive approach to exercise or diet might seem healthier than other kinds of addictions, it can be equally as destructive to mental and emotional health. If your only happy time is workout time, it’s a good idea to take stock and start wondering how things need to change. Exercise can give a predictable release – a high of ‘feel good’ reactions in the nervous system. Being controlled with eating can also give a similar feeling. So it can be difficult to decide to trade this predictability for longer term solutions. But that is exactly what is needed to protect your mental health. 

Therapy for Body Image and Eating Disorders in Katy, TX

Getting extra support is important if unhealthy body image feels like it’s affecting your mood or daily life. Talking to a supportive friend, limiting negative body image messages and good self care can all help. Psychotherapy and counseling can also be a great help for improving body image. If you are struggling with an eating disorder along with poor body image, extra support could be essential in your healing.

I offer counseling for body image, eating disorders, mood problems (anxiety and depression), trauma and relationship issues (communication, anger, boundaries) in-person or virtually. Contact me to arrange a consultation to discuss your needs. Click here to contact me now.