Mindful Movement: Incorporating Exercise in Binge Eating Recovery
A lot of my binge eating coaching clients in the U.S., UK, and Canada, as well as my eating disorder therapy clients in California, struggle with the degree to which they ought to integrate exercise into binge eating recovery. It is a tricky balance because it’s difficult to know when to step away from working out because it’s become part of the eating disorder, and when to add it back into their lifestyle in a mindful, intentional way. Identifying coping strategies to help you do so is key.
When Exercise Has Been a Problem
During many years of my eating disorder, exercise was definitely a problem. Thinking about it and doing it took up a lot of my time and energy. I was exercising so much that it led to a serious back injury in 2004, one month after I graduated with my Ph.D. it took a long time to recover, and I still deal with occasional chronic pain because of it.
In my case, exercise was often a compensatory behavior.
I was trying to make up for or “get rid of” what I ate by burning a lot of calories in exercise. It was a desperate, frantic feeling that caused a lot of anxiety and muscle tension. Then when I felt anxious, I wanted to exercise even more, and then the cycle moved on from there.
Whenever exercise is compensatory, it’s bad news. Instead of joy and pleasure driving exercise, or even the desire to have improved mental health, it is an act often stemming from shame and self-loathing.
I remember when I first began thinking obsessively about exercise.
I was getting ready to move to Siberia for a year to work with a church, and I felt stressed. I began using exercise to deal with the stress.
When Mindful Movement is the Solution
The mindful movement stems from—you guessed it—mindfulness. Mindfulness is moment-to-moment nonjudgmental acceptance. There must be a modicum of nonjudgment in order to move mindfully. It is vital because in order for the movement to help you, it needs to be part of getting rid of the shame that’s so common with binge eating disorder.
The Mindful Movement was Initially Difficult.
I felt scared to go to the gym and take walks because I worried that I would fall into compensatory behaviors and injure myself. I honestly would exercise in bursts and then take long breaks because it felt awkward and a little scary for me. I struggled with knowing what was enough and what was too much. I also felt uncomfortable in my workout clothes because my body was changing, and exercise honestly was emotionally activating for me.
I’ve Tried Many Types of Mindful Movement.
The mindful movement that was the turning point for me was body-positive yoga. I had struggled with—and gotten injured from—yoga in the past, so I felt nervous trying it. I thankfully found a studio run by a woman in a larger body who taught us to make adjustments to accommodate our bodies.
I got back into walking outside for a while because I love looking at the beautiful flowers and palm trees in San Diego, California. Then I began dancing for my Instagram reels, and I was hooked. It was something I do for the pure joy of it. It isn’t to get my heart rate up or even to sweat out the stress. I do it because I love it.
I’ve recently supplemented the dancing with swimming and aqua-jogging (doing running movements while in the pool). I did the latter while in recovery from my back injury, and I always loved it. There’s something soothing about the water that refreshes and rejuvenates me.
The bottom line, move mindfully to help your mental health because it feels good and brings you joy. Kick weight loss and calorie counting to the curb and focus on the pure happiness of moving and being present in our bodies.
Begin Moving Mindfully With Binge Eating Recovery in London, England!
Begin to embrace the transformative power of mindful movement on your journey to overcome binge eating. Incorporating intentional movement not only nourishes your body but also cultivates a deeper connection with yourself, helping you develop a positive relationship with food and find balance in binge eating recovery. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
Sign up for the INEVITABLE BINGE EATING RECOVERY PROGRAM*
Begin the self-paced binge-eating program with a skilled binge-eating coach
Start incorporating mindful movements into your binge eating recovery!
Learning How to Move Mindfully in Binge Eating Recovery in California and Florida Can Be Supported in My Programs
💚 Take the first step toward binge eating recovery in DR. MARIANNE-LAND’S BINGE EATING RECOVERY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM*, which combines a comprehensive online binge eating class with a private, hidden Facebook group where you can get support. It’s an online course for high performers who aim to transform their relationships with food. Anyone in the U.S. or international can join.
💚 Sign up for the ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD**. It’s a 3-month, 1:1 online binge-eating coaching + an online class for professionals, students, athletes, and all-around high achievers who just want to gain balance and control of food. You can work with me from any state in the U.S., as well as anywhere else internationally.
Catch Marianne Miller, Eating Disorder Therapist, and Binge Eating Coach on Social Media
💚 Watch my Instagram LIVES on Thursdays from 12-1p PST (3-4p EST, 8-9p GMT) . I have conversations with professionals such as eating disorder dietitians and therapists on many topics, such as binge eating, BED, bulimia, body image, etc. Subscribe to my Instagram @drmariannemiller, and you’ll get bulimia and BED info sent to your phone with my reels, posts, etc.
Disclaimers for Body Image, Binge Eating, and My Virtual Online Binge Eating Program
*DR. MARIANNE-LAND’S BINGE EATING RECOVERY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM is online binge-eating education and private virtual group support via a Facebook Group. The aim of this course is to help people reduce and eliminate any type of distressed eating, such as binge eating or binge/purge behaviors via education, behavioral changes, and mindset shifts. DR. MARIANNE-LAND’S BINGE EATING RECOVERY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM is not a clinical eating disorder therapy or eating disorder treatment program and is not intended to serve as such. In them, Dr. Marianne Miller works from her role as a binge-eating coach, not as a binge-eating therapist.
**The ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD is virtual binge eating education and LIVE virtual coaching support. The goal of this program is to help people stop any type of distressed eating, such as binge eating or binge/purge behaviors via education, behavioral changes, and mindset shifts. The ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD is not a clinical eating disorder therapy or eating disorder treatment program and is not intended to serve as such. In them, Dr. Marianne Miller works from her role as a binge-eating coach, not as a binge-eating therapist.