Hello friends! Last month I mentioned that I wanted to tackle how we talk to ourselves about exercise over the course of this year. I am going to use the ten tenets of Intuitive Eating as the blueprint as I think they can be pretty easily applied, via slight modifications, to exercise and movement. So, today, part one: Reject the Diet Mentality.
Diet Mentality, while it is often thought of in relation to food and consumption, also co-opts our ideas surrounding exercise and movement. The majority of the time when someone starts a new diet plan (regardless of what it actually is) there is a new exercise plan to go with it. It stems from the basic idea of caloric restriction.
I’ve talked about it here on MMW, that you can’t outsmart thermodynamics, and that caloric balance defines weight management. And that’s true. Exercise, and caloric output, is the opposite side of the seesaw to eating and caloric intake. Balance the seesaw and the body maintains weight. Tip it to one side or the other and weight changes accordingly.
Chemistry and human physiology make for some messy math, though, and Diet Mentality does a good job of oversimplification. Slight daily changes in hormone levels, stressors, body temperature, and any number of other factors alters how calories are used and managed by the body. Diet Mentality asks us to count everything coming in.
But Diet Mentality also forces us to manage the other side of the seesaw. Make sure you know exactly how many calories you are expending. Add them up and see how the seesaw settles. Make sure you are doing exercise that you can easily decipher your caloric expenditure.
And, if you notice, many of the cardio machines at your friendly neighborhood gym or health center include calories burned on their readouts. How many times have you started a new diet and your new exercise plan includes only cardio? Because you know you can easily track based off the machines.
Wearables make it even more accessible to have this information. Traditionally it has been difficult to track caloric expenditure via exercise or movement like strength training, swimming, or yoga. But that fancy wearable will do it for you. And Diet Mentality shames you into checking it approximately 3463 times per day.
How often have you been partway through a workout and checked your caloric expenditure only to find that it wasn’t what you expected? The most common experience is to watch the calories tick up slowly while you dread each and every minute of whatever workout you are doing. But you have been told by Diet Mentality to not stop until you hit your expenditure number for the day.
Or, maybe, you burned far more than you anticipated. Yay you! But instead of continuing with movement or exercise that you might be enjoying, you stop. You have accomplished what you need to accomplish so you can eat. There is no need to do something that brings you joy or happiness.
Diet Mentality and its focus on calories has robbed us of our ability to see exercise and movement as anything but punishment or atonement. We punish ourselves because we ate X number of calories beyond what we should have (regardless of need or hunger). And we punish ourselves by doing things that should be enjoyable.
Our bodies are built to move in so many different ways. When we use exercise as atonement for “sins,” we are teaching ourselves that the only reason to move is so that we can manage our calories. When we use exercise in this way, the focus is solely on what type of movement will burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time (hello HIIT phenomenon).
Where is the fun? Where is the joy? Remember that episode of Friends where Rachel refuses to run with Phoebe because Phoebe runs like a kid and Rachel doesn’t want to be embarrassed? Because Rachel is focused on the extrinsic, the calorie burn of her movement. When Rachel finally decides to run like Phoebe, you can see the joy she regains.
Movement and exercise should bring a sense of fun and enjoyment to our lives. You shouldn’t allow Diet Mentality to bully you in to a certain type of exercise just because it burns a lot of calories. You shouldn’t be shamed out of moving your body in a way that you love just because your expenditure isn’t what Diet Mentality tells you it should be.
Movement and exercise should be a personal choice based on what feels best to your body. Just like intake varies, some days that is going to mean jogging or a HIIT workout and other days that might mean yoga or some rest. None of these choices is “good” or “bad.” They are yours. For who you are and what your body is asking of you on any given day.
We know that there is a strong link between regular exercise and decreased incidence of mental health issues (especially depression and anxiety). But does it do anything positive for anxiety or self talk to constantly be worried about calories burned? Or is it more useful to concentrate on how your body feels before, during, and after exercise? To really get to know your likes and abilities and to find the type of movement that instills a sense of joy or calm?
To Reject Diet Mentality means to reject that exercise or movement should burn a particular amount of calories. Or that you need to exercise to justify eating. Rejecting Diet Mentality also means rejecting the idea of “right/good” or “wrong/bad” workouts. Any time you move your body is a win, both for your physical and mental health. And it can’t be if Diet Mentality is in charge.
The act of Rejecting Diet Mentality as it relates to exercise means allowing your body to feel movement. It means allowing your body rest when it is asking for rest. It means respecting your body’s need for motion and supplying it with opportunities to do things it enjoys.
Stay tuned for my next installment, about Honoring Your Body. Until next time, be well, friends!
