The Importance of Fitness During Recovery

The body is an incredible machine and moving it mindfully and meaningfully is one of the most valuable blessings of being a human. This experience can become harmful or toxic when movement becomes excessive, compulsive, and/or compensatory. Many individuals that struggle with eating disorders, sadly, experience this shift in their relationship with movement, using it to alter their body, gain control, or punish themselves for nourishing.

While the relationship one has with movement can turn ugly, it is not beyond healing, however, it takes time. Those working toward eating disorder recovery need to be careful about how they reincorporate movement and exercise so that their bodies are cared for and fully-healed first.

What this process looks like is unique to every individual and their recovery journey will look like for you.

What is Your Relationship with Movement?

As you go through eating disorder treatment and recovery, you will analyze many aspects of your life and consider how they relate to your eating disorder. For many, the area of movement and exercise is a part of their disordered beliefs or behaviors. Whether movement became impulsive or excessive or not, it can still have been a part of your disorder, perhaps by way of attempting to control or change one’s body or adhere to societal standards of “fitness” and “health.”

As you continue through your recovery journey, take an honest look at your relationship with exercise, asking yourself difficult questions. Considering what your “why” was for movement, if it was ever used as punishment for your body, if it was motivated by the same beliefs as your eating disorder, and if you ever engaged in it despite bodily pain or injury are a few questions that might be helpful to explore.

Work to identify the ways in which movement was meaningful to you as well as the ways in which you didn’t enjoy it but did it anyway. This can help you to avoid falling into the same behaviors moving forward as well as to create a better picture of what disordered versus recovered movement look like.

Physical Well-being

Regular exercise is crucial for maintaining optimal physical health. It helps strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve muscle tone and flexibility, and enhance overall stamina and endurance. Engaging in physical activity also aids in weight management by burning calories and boosting metabolism. Furthermore, exercise can reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. By prioritizing fitness, individuals can enjoy a higher quality of life, with increased energy levels and improved physical functionality [1].

Mental Well-being

Exercise is not only beneficial for the body but also for the mind. Physical activity stimulates the production of endorphins, often referred to as the “feel-good” hormones, which can help alleviate symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Regular exercise has been shown to improve mood, boost self-esteem, and enhance cognitive function. Additionally, engaging in fitness activities can provide a sense of accomplishment and empowerment, leading to greater overall mental well-being [2].

Self-Care Practices

In addition to exercise, incorporating self-care practices into our daily routines is essential for maintaining overall well-being. Self-care involves taking the time to prioritize our physical, emotional, and mental needs. This can include activities such as getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and engaging in hobbies or activities that bring us joy. By practicing self-care, we can reduce stress, improve our mood, and enhance our overall quality of life.

Fitness During Recovery

For individuals in recovery from addiction or eating disorders, maintaining good fitness and practicing self-care can be particularly beneficial. Addiction and eating disorders often take a toll on both physical and mental health, and incorporating healthy habits into recovery can support healing and promote long-term recovery success.

In addiction recovery, regular exercise can help reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms, improve mood, and provide a healthy outlet for stress relief. Exercise also promotes the production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, which are often imbalanced in individuals struggling with addiction. Additionally, self-care practices such as mindfulness and meditation can help individuals in recovery stay grounded and cope with cravings and triggers [3].

Similarly, for individuals recovering from eating disorders, focusing on fitness and self-care can support physical and mental healing. Regular exercise can help restore a healthy relationship with food and body image, improve self-esteem, and provide a sense of control and empowerment. Self-care practices such as mindful eating and self-compassion can also be valuable tools in the recovery process, helping individuals cultivate a positive self-image and practice self-acceptance.

Listen to Your Team

A multidisciplinary treatment team that consists of a therapist, a registered dietitian, a psychiatrist, and a medical professional should be having conversations with you surrounding movement and exercise. The combined knowledge of these professionals can help you to not only consider what your body needs before you can engage in movement again but what your mind needs as well.

There are factors you may not be aware of or knowledgeable about when it comes to reincorporating exercise. While you might be experiencing weight restoration and engaging appropriately with your meal plan, the inside of your body is still healing from the damage that restriction, binging, and/or purging can cause. Your labs, vitals, bowel movements, and physical sensations can all be indicators of how the body is healing internally. These are factors your team can educate you on and that they will consider when it comes to recommending reincorporating movement to your recovery journey.

Listening to your team can be difficult in this case. You might feel ready to exercise or you may feel an urge to engage in movement. These urges may not even necessarily be related to the eating disorder. Maybe you have always found walking, running, hiking, swimming, etc. to be helpful coping skills and you are missing the feelings and relief they provided you. Even so, creating a dynamic wherein your body can engage in these things long-term without being damaged can take time. This timeline may be longer than you would like and it is okay to struggle with this, however, listening to your team is always the safest way to proceed.

Remember, Movement Requires Nourishment

Engaging in movement is not something one can just do when they want to in eating disorder recovery. It is important to first engage in appropriate meal compliance and re-nourish the body. This is true for movement as your recovery journey continues, too. If you find yourself in a period of lapse or relapse, it is not only important to find out how to get back on-track with meal compliance but to also reduce movement as necessary due to the body not being appropriately nourished. Engaging in movement without a properly nourished body is dangerous and can cause a great deal of physical damage to the body. Focus on nourishment first and foremost and always make sure that you are nourishing appropriately in relation to your movement.

Take it Slow

Engaging in anything with intention means it will likely not be a fast process. Reincorporating exercise into eating disorder recovery should take time if done mindfully and appropriately. You and your body are embarking on a new journey together and this journey involves a lot of intuitiveness. Of course, intuitive eating is a necessary part of recovery, however, intuitive movement is also key.

Previously, you might have ignored your body’s needs and the cues it would send you to communicate those needs. Moving forward, to create a connected and caring dynamic with your body, you will need to learn how to identify these cues, determine what they mean, and honor them. Learning to do so takes time as it has likely not been your typical pattern. Give you and your body the time needed to communicate as you delve back into movement.

Welcome a New Dynamic

Moving through eating disorder recovery will change your life forever and many aspects of your life along with it. Your relationship to movement will likely never be the same as it was prior to or during your eating disorder, and this is a good thing.

An individual in recovery will, hopefully, have a more intuitive relationship to movement, engaging in exercise or movement as a way to engage with the body and express oneself as opposed to using it as a method of punishment or to alter one’s body.

As you move into recovery, do not spend energy trying to recreate what exercise looked like for you before. Instead, consider this a new beginning and be intentional about what you want this new beginning to look like.

Incorporating Fitness and Self-Care into Daily Life

Incorporating fitness and self-care into our daily routines doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Simple activities such as taking a daily walk, practicing yoga, or spending time in nature can have significant benefits for both physical and mental well-being. Finding activities that we enjoy and that resonate with us personally is key to establishing sustainable habits.

Prioritizing our health and well-being through fitness and self-care is one of the most valuable investments we can make in ourselves. By taking care of our bodies and minds, we can experience improved physical health, enhanced mental well-being, and a greater overall quality of life. For individuals in recovery from addiction or eating disorders, incorporating these practices can support healing, promote long-term recovery, and contribute to a more fulfilling life.

Citations

Unknown (2023). Benefits of Physical Activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm
Unknown (2022) .Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495
Washington, K. (2023). How Exercise Can Help With Addiction Recovery. WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/exercise-help-addiction-recovery