The Great Thanksgiving Lie: Exercise as Punishment for Pumpkin Pie
It’s that time of year when well intended fitness enthusiasts come out of the woodwork spewing lies about punishing yourself with exercise in order to earn a license to eat “sinful” foods. These so-called experts sit like a judge on their moral throne sentencing foods and exercise to an eternal reputation of vice or virtue. Free yourself from a season of guilt and shame and enjoy your holiday celebrations with the following steps…
1. Reclaim exercise for enjoyment.
We have been trained by our culture since we were young children to believe that sitting is a luxury and exercise is a punishment. Instead, research is indisputable that exercise makes people feel good. Furthermore, when done autonomously and with a preferred mode and intensity, people consistently report exercise as enjoyable.
2. Stop moralizing judgements.
Contrary to popular belief, moralizing foods and behaviors like exercise are not nearly as motivating as people think. For example, people label things like eating fruits, vegetables, and exercising as good, which then gives them a license to be bad by cheating with deserts, alcohol, and high fat foods.
These guilt trips and food shaming strategies actually make us more, not less, likely to eat supposed vice foods and skip out on exercise. Why? Human beings do not like feeling controlled, and keeping score of our so-called rights and wrongs with respect to our diet and exercise feels like rules. Therefore, as soon as we have this system of rules imposed upon us, we begin to come up with reasons why we shouldn’t have to do it.
There is also a basic assumption with this mindset, that we are bad and what we truly want to do is bad things, i.e. eat desert and sit on the couch. This makes every good act a punishment– like exercise, salad eating, and moderate portion sizes. Instead, let’s move beyond the trap of this moral sentencing and see ourselves as a person who wants what’s best for us.
3. Think in terms of getting what you want and avoiding what you don’t want.
When we think of food and exercise in terms of morality, we get lost in self condemnation. Instead, think in terms of living in line with what is most important to you– your core values. For example, if it’s important to you to live an active life-style with energy and strength, then exercise is valuable part of that goal and not a punishment for bad behavior.
In sum, let’s not box ourselves into a rigid set of rules, self-judgment, and shame. As we celebrate the holidays, instead seeing ourselves as a person who has to be bribed, tricked, or rewarded for making the smallest effort, let’s see ourselves as a person who wants to live in line with our core values.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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