FITNESS Frenzy The fitness industr y can be a ver y controversial place. Some look at it as a way to thrive and get a boost of confidence but others see it as a ver y negative place full of self-conscious individuals that obsess over their looks. Some even go as far as saying fitness can rule our lives but is this really true?
Many young girls turn to fitness as a way to overcome their negative emotions towards their bodies, which can lead to obsession. Beat Eating Disorders estimates that “around 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder.” Many believe the fitness industry is to blame for these high figures due to the promotion of fat loss plans but in reality it can actually help aid recovery and promote healthy relationships with food and exercise. For example, people that choose to weight train, often eat more food as they need more fuel to help grow and build their muscles. For girls with disordered eating, this can help change their mindset and put them on a path to recovery. Lizzy is a 20 year old advocate for eating disorder awareness. From struggling herself in the past and recently relapsing last year, she now sees fitness as a way to improve her health, gain strength and feel good day-to-day. “I started my fitness journey about 3 years ago, mainly to work on my physical appearance. But from summer 2019 I got obsessed with fitness which led me down a slippery slope of relapsing from my eating
disorder. After recovering from this I changed my mindset around fitness and I now use it as a way to feel good, improve my strength and health. I changed my mindset by going to the gym not with the intention of losing weight and to burn off food but instead going to get stronger and to improve my health. I realised that when I just focused on changing how I physically look it never felt enough; I always had to improve even if I reached my goal. Now I’m focusing on my strength and fitness, I am not chasing unrealistic goals and the changes in my body so far are just an added bonus.” After switching her mindset towards exercise and swapping to weight training, she is now more confident in herself and her ability to inspire other women in a positive way. “I love weight training as it makes me feel strong, physically and mentally. Not only has my physical strength increased but my mental strength has also increased as I know I can do anything I put my mind too, which leads me to hitting new PBs.” Weight training is a great way to help both mentally and physically during recovery and can help when changing the focus behind exercise.
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