How do I get a healthier lifestyle without feeling bad about my body?

wildhorses · 3 months

Maybe instead of working out, you could find some sort of sport or active activity that you enjoy? Like, if you're playing on a softball team or taking dance classes, it's about the softball or the dancing, not necessarily about the exercise. It'd be more about the fun you have doing the activity than the end result of better health/weight loss.

hlkolaya · 3 months

I think that you need to perhaps see a therapist- obsessive exercising especially with regards to weight can sometimes be classified as exercise addiction or as part of an eating disorder (especially since you also mention guilt over food). What if you took a class? that way your ability to do that particular exercise (i think dance would be a good one) would be limited by how often the class was.

You say that 1-2 times per week wouldn't be enough to become thinner (or, as you put it, look visibly fit, but fitness isn't necessarily a visible thing), but that's why a class is probably best- you need to stay away from exercises that will trigger obsessive thoughts and guilt over food or your weight.

afireatseaparks · 3 months

If you have trouble moderating your behavior, to the point where you feel it's negatively affecting your life, perhaps talking to a therapist would be helpful in learning how to keep things in balance. Wanting to be fit is certainly admirable, but feeling guilty about not exercising every day doesn't sound like much fun.

astryid · 3 months

Look at the concept of Health At Every Size. It might help!

It sounds simple... but find things you enjoy doing, even if they aren't traditional exercise. Things that are FUN.

Like taking photos? Go on photo walks. Find groups in your area that do them. Like to dance? Take a class. Play a silly dance game on a gaming console. Jump on a trampoline. Ride a bike. Walk through new-to-you parts of your city.

Explore new things and new ways of moving.

Natsuiro · 3 months

Instead of thinking of it like exercise or working out, why don't you think of it as training instead?

Most atheletes who compete in sports without weight classes are probably more concerned with getting faster and stronger than a number on the scale or how they look.

camelliagirl · 3 months

Don't measure your calories! Just do activities that you really like.

For me personally, that's tai chi, yoga, walking, and dancing (not in a class, for hours at a party).

Try to do something fun/active for around half an hour a day.

What activities do you like, and are they available to you?

askmanilla · 2 months

Speaking from experience I've found that it helps to mentally separate my weight and my health. My doctor and therapist have both made the point that conflating the two is not helpful as I get into the same situation you seem to be in. I feel bad about my body and then I give up because I'm not seeing and results.

What I've found really helps is to focus on exercise and diet purely as a means to a healthier lifestyle. Being healthier means a longer and more enjoyable life and what that really means is that your truly aiming towards a lifestyle; and those last forever. That means that when I eat or drink something that isn't healthy I think to myself "well, this is just one moment in a long journey, a little indulgence is fine in moderation".

TL;DR: Try and think of a healthier lifestyle as something you will be doing for 40 years and not 4 months. Do that and your feelings on your current body may feel less significant.

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