In this two part series, I want to address an important part of Health At Every Size—exercise, or as Linda Bacon so eloquently puts it, "finding the joy in moving one’s body and becoming more physically vital." We all know that exercise, when done in a way that is appropriate, has many wonderful properties, including mood elevation, improved cardiovascular health, and increased strength and endurance, just to name a few.

Finding the exercise that’s right for you and that feels good to you can often be more complicated than just getting to the gym or popping in a DVD. For many of us, we have to get through loads of guilt (like guilt over our barely utilized gym memberships or languishing exercise DVD collections) or shame (like feeling like the fattest person at a gym or track, or third grade gym class, or being picked last, or feeling ridiculed for our athletic ability as children) or overly high expectations (like, in order to be worth it, I have to exercise every day for at least 2 hours and keep my heart rate at x and get really good sneakers and join the best gym, etc. etc. etc.). With all these thoughts parading around our heads, we often psych ourselves out of exercising long before we even begin.

To be honest, some of my clients don’t even like the word exercise. To them, it connotes all of the above guilt, shame, expectations and more.

So, in the first part of this two part series, I’m going to address how to move through some of the gunk that will make exercising just what it should be: moving your body in a way that feels good.

First, take some time to free write about what "exercise" means to you. (If "exercise" doesn’t have strong connotations for you, try other words, like "working out" or "body movement.") Just write freely and let the words flow.

I’ll wait . . . :)

What negative experiences did that exercise bring up? Spend some time acknowledging those negative experiences, even taking a moment to feel the pain they inflicted on you.

And then, let them go. No, that’s not easy, but it’s a great feeling. Acknowledge the pain and then let it go, knowing that those experiences were in the past and that they do not control your present reality. You are past them and in a new place.

Next, take some more time to free write on exercise, remembering some positive experiences. Maybe you enjoyed riding your bike, swinging on the swings, dancing to the radio, or certain sports. Spend some time acknowledging those good times with movement and feeling the fun of those experiences. Take a special note on any of these things that you might want to try again. Also mark any activities that you haven’t tried yet and might want to try. Let the words flow, without judging yourself or stopping yourself.

Lastly, spend some time free writing on your assumptions about exercise. Do you assume that exercise is boring, hard, only for certain people, only for weight loss, etc.? Bringing your assumptions about exercise to light will assist you in determining and moving through your negative associations with exercise and will allow exercise to become what it should be: fun, healing and enjoyable.

Doing the free writes above will allow you to exorcise your negative feelings and assumptions about exercise. Then, next week here at Soul Food: Nourishing The Inner You, we’ll get down to the nitty gritty about how to find body movement practices that are right for you.

Check out Part 2 of this post.

 

Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness. She counsels women and men throughout the country on how to get off the dieting roller coaster, give their bodies what they really crave, and love their bodies and themselves. Golda's counseling and activism work have been featured on CBS's The Early Show, ABC's Nightline and Time Out New York. For more support with healing your relationship with food and your body, get your free copy of Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining by clicking here.