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Conquering Anxiety: The role of Diet and Exercise

Hope May 15th

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. This is week 4 of our Conquering Anxiety series. This week we are talking about two underutilized tools when it comes to managing anxiety and these are diet and exercise. 

Let's assume you own a car. You do not put the right fuel in the car, then you go long periods without even starting the car, when you do take the car out, you go out in rough terrains with the wrong fuel and the car that has forgotten how it works. Would you be surprised it's not functioning as intended? I don’t think so. 

Human beings are so much more complex than a car, but logic dictates that us not having the right diet (physical and digital) and not exercising our bodies will make it harder for us to function well. But we often neglect the role these factors play in our struggles with mental health. Make no mistake, you can have a perfect diet, exercise, and live out in the woods and still be anxious or depressed but some people benefit greatly from fixing these foundations so this topic is worth being talked about. 


Diet

The food we consume

When it comes to the topic of diet about food, we will not go into the nitty gritty of which diet is superior and which one should be avoided at all costs. These choices are rarely that simple. However usually when people report that they are feeling better on a certain diet, there is an overlapping factor that most popular healing diets focus on whole foods, eating home-cooked meals, and being more involved in the process of making your food. The quality of the food you consume can impact your mental health just as it impacts your physical health. 

Here is what to keep in mind when it comes to choosing your diet

  • Include foods that your body likes (whatever you can digest with ease, works well for your body)
  • Avoid regular consumption of foods that make you feel lethargic or uneasy (this could be cake for some and broccoli for others)
  • Plan, don’t wait for last-minute meal cooking. Who has the energy? Try meal preps and figure out backup options. Stick to realistic things based on your energy levels. 
  • See this is a lifestyle change, unless medically necessary, you can still enjoy the things that don’t work for you in moderation, as part of a balanced diet.
  • Consider reducing caffeine consumption if you have noticed it to worsen your anxiety. You may consider the same with your sugar and alcohol intake. 



Your digital diet!

Let's not forget how easy it is to overindulge in content that makes us feel terrible. Social media can be quite the mixed bag, you can start your scrolling in a good mood and put down the phone 20 minutes later with a new worry. 

Important points to consider

  1. The content you consume is part of your overall diet. It greatly impacts your mood. 
  2. Most of the content out there is biased and heavily filtered. You are not getting the straight facts

Most of us know we should reduce the time we spent on the web on things that are not directly related to our jobs/educaton or other such needs. But how do we do it?

Actions you can take now to get back in control of your digital diet

  • Do not pick up your phone first thing in the morning. Get an alarm clock if you must. Spend the first 30 minutes of your day doing anything else other than being on a device. Bonus points if you can do something like a short walk, make your breakfast etc. This is setting the mood for the day. 
  • Maintain healthy boundaries with your phone. Reflect on the times when your phone is not a necessity. Examples of such situations:
    • You are going for a walk with someone else who is carrying a phone
    • You will be working on your homework for the next 1 hour that requires no phone use
    • You are eating lunch
  • In such situations, before you start this task/activity, put your phone in a drawer or a cupboard away from the place of activity. Do not take it out until you genuinely need it for something of value. 
  • Consider a nondevice activity 30-60 minutes before bed. You can read a physical book, you can meditate, you can color, you can complain about not having your phone, or whatever helps you get the habit started! 
  • Uninstall apps that do not benefit you at all. Replace the time you spend on them with something else that is beneficial and enjoyable for you. 


Exercise

Exercise helps to regulate your mood, it is a form of distraction, a way to exert your energy into something productive. 

Physical exercise

Here are some factors to consider when using exercise for managing anxiety or general stress levels

  • Consistency is important but little is better than nothing. 
  • Start where you are and with what is doable. For some this means walking for 10 minutes, for others it means taking the stairs
  • Include micro movements/exercise snacks into your routine. Do a 100 steps every 3 hours, or park your car a block away. Create opportunities for movement. 
  • For stress management and anxiety levels, it may not be ideal to do exercises that stress you out. Avoid picking up exercises that you dread. Don’t like going to the gym? Take some short walks instead. 


Mental Exercise

Sounds like a weird concept at first in relation to anxiety management but the reality is, unknowingly we have trained our minds to think the worst, indulge in our worries so it makes sense to give ourselves opportunities to think a bit differently. 

Some mental exercises to consider

  • Gratitude journal (You can start your day by writing down 1-3 things you are grateful for, bonus points if you do it first thing in the morning)
  • Challenging cognitive distortions (At the end of the day, think of any distressing repetitive thought and challenge it, what are the facts supporting it, what are the odds, what evidence is available against it, what is a more balanced way of thinking about the situation)
  • Leaves on the stream meditation or other types of meditations that allows you to detach from your thoughts and view them as neutral
  • At the end of the day, write down one thing you did well today. 


In summary, we want to be mindful or our food and digital diet and we want to add regular physical and mental exercises. Here is an example of how one person can include these 4 things in a day 

  • Start the day by saying out loud what you are grateful for (time taken 30 seconds) - Mental exercise
  • Go for a short walk after your breakfast/lunch/dinner (Time taken 15 minutes) - Physical exercise
  • Get yourself a veggie tray and a rotisserie chicken after your grocery shopping trip instead of a take out lunch (No additional time taken) - Food Diet
  • Ditch your phone 15 minutes before bedtime for starters (Time saved, 15 minutes) - Digital Diet

🔦Your task

Draft a realistic plan that includes at least 1 task/activity you will do that covers all 4 types (Food and Digital Diet, Physical and Mental Exercise). You have been provided with an example above. 

Please follow through with your plan for a minimum of 7 days. You will be asked about your experience with it in the series evaluation form at the end of the series. 

Now remember change can be uncomfortable and frustrating. It sucks to have your phone in a drawer when you would much rather distract yourself with it, maybe you don’t want to uninstall that one app that is reducing your joy but you are capable of doing hard things and the interesting thing about doing so is that it gets so much better, the more you exercise control. 


Further Reading




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Hope OP May 15th

@exuberantBlackberry9105 @unassumingEyes @WeEarth @CordialDancer @YourCaringConfidant @daydreammemories @yellowPineapple3652 @BaklavaBaby @CalmRosebud  @Gettingbettertoday @GregariousSky @mytwistedsoul @sincereZebra2546 @pamharley003 @Sugarapplefairy5 @orangish @NovaIsNB @Blahblah1805 @KateDoskocilova

pamharley003 May 15th

@Hope

food: a bowl of cereal like raisin brand, healthy cereal or oatmeal

exercise: the exercises given for recovering from knee surgery - 5 times of walking short distance

i journal write every day morning and before bed 

night time and sundays no electronics just reading 


1 reply
Hope OP May 17th

@pamharley003

Sounds like a plan! Wishing you speedy recovery


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WeEarth May 15th

@Hope

Meditation (morning) and diary check-ins (night)  

Morning Yoga 

Vegetables and fruits mix or smoothie or sprouts or Parippu Curry (I prefer) or any other healthy alternatives 

Read a book or try writing something new or spend time talking with loved ones 

3 replies
WeEarth May 15th

@WeEarth

last one before sleep

2 replies
Hope OP May 17th

@WeEarth

That looks like a well balanced plan!!

1 reply
WeEarth May 17th

Thank you @Hope 💓

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mytwistedsoul May 16th

@Hope

Make sure to eat lunch and drink water (diet)

Heavy bag (exercise)

Journaling (mental health) 

Crafts or projects instead of video games or YT (digital) This one is going to be the problem 😂

7 days? 😅 oh boy this should be interesting

3 replies
Hope OP May 17th

@mytwistedsoul

You can't leave us hanging with a heavy bag without explanation! What does that mean?

2 replies
mytwistedsoul May 17th

@Hope Oh! Lol! It's a punching bag but they weigh any where between 70 and 200 lbs. The one here is 100 lbs. Boxers and martial artists usually use them. Here it's martial arts but they're really good for taking anger and frustration out on too :)

1 reply
Hope OP May 17th

@mytwistedsoul

Wow! Haha I would have never guessed that. 

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Blahblah1805 May 16th

@Hope 

Food Diet-  Eating fruits and cutting on chocolates as I've this habit of eating chocolates whenever I'm stressed or anxious.

Digital Diet-  Well I don't use phone in the morning but at night.. I use my phone until my eyes get heavy. I can rather think of stories for my diary as I love story writing. 

Mental Exercise - I can have a gratitude journal and affirmation for both morning and night. 

Physical Exercise - I have time in evening so probably I can do a cardio exercise for 30 mins. 

1 week is challenging but I'll try my best. Thank you Hope for this series it's really awesome ❤. 

2 replies
Hope OP May 17th

@Blahblah1805

Stress eating is quite challenging! One way to reduce using food as a comfort is by sitting with the discomfort. I realzied that sometimes when we think we are craving something, we are craving the comfort instead and trying our best to avoid feeling the unhappy emotions. 


1 reply
Blahblah1805 May 17th

@Hope Yeah it's true. It's difficult to avoid cravings, for now I drink water whenever I crave. But sitting with the discomfort is not easy. I hope I'll make through this 7 days. 

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@Hope

Hi! Thanks for the post. 

for me, I want to take it slow but steady so I'm gonna go with:

mental: filling my mood tracker twice a day and taking small journals.

physical: completing my 10000 steps daily.

diet: avoid eating junk food as much as I can, trying not to skip meals so I wouldn't eat the junks. 

digital: trying to read more rather than watching series when exhausted. 


1 reply
Hope OP May 17th

@daydreammemories

Haha I love that 10,000 steps come under slowly for you!

I am glad you are exploring alternatives to watching series after an exhausting day

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Michelh1996 May 16th

@Hope

Food: I will try to be moderate with amounts I put on my plate and amounts of extras I put on my food. Also I will try to not worry about it too much and focus more on the social side of eating and gatherings/events, then the eating part. I also drink 2+ liters of water a day. 🍴🍞🌊

Excercise: I will go for a walk every day because the weather is nice. But also do a cycling/workout session during the weekdays. 🚶🚲

Digital: I will try to end my day by reading at least 1 chapter, even if I did use a screen before that. Currently reading: Atomic Habits, I do recommend this book! 📖🤓

I will also try to share my struggles and journal/write down appointments and tasks I have to do, so they're of my mind and I have more time to calm down and think about less things at the same time. 🤔😨

2 replies
Hope OP May 17th

@Michelh1996

Reading 1 chapter a day is quite adventurous! Do you think that is a realistic goal?

I like the book! It is perhaps one of the best books on forming habits

1 reply
Michelh1996 May 17th

@Hope I hope so, I do that in about 15 min so hopefully I can stick to that before bed. It also creates a buffer away from lights/screens for that time, especially if it takes longer. 

Yeah it is a great book, I find it very inspiring so far because there are a lot of examples in there that apply to my situation (struggles with eating/food and exercising) so I can easily related and imagine the best practices or try to implement them in the future hopefully!

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CalmRosebud May 16th

Excellent article. Thank you for posting this.

1 reply
Hope OP May 17th

@CalmRosebud

I am looking forward to your plan!

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@Hope

Mental exercise: At the end of the day I usually try to think of a few good things that happen, and often I write it down (by sharing it with a Cups friend). Maybe if I have to do something new, I think I'll try challenging cognitive distortions, I think they cause me a lot of anxiety.

Physical exercise: I think I can do some stretching exercises or yoga for 15-20 minutes every day. I have to see and decide what exactly I'm going to do though because not being able to decide on what exactly I should do and overthinking it has kinda been making me not do anything at all.

Food: I don't know if I can do anything about this, I mostly just eat whatever my mother gives me or tells me to eat. Maybe I can try to request her for a fruit around noon because she hasn't been giving me much of fruits lately.

Digital diet: I will limit my time spent watching youtube to 45 mins a day. I find myself watching youtube in the afternoons lately when I'm bored and sleepy and don't feel like doing anything else, and later in the day I end up stressed and rushing with other stuff when I realise how much work I need to do. So I will try to not watch so much youtube even if the videos help me.

Haha I really hope I'm able to do this for 7 days and I just hope it helps. But I'm worried I'll stop after 7 days, lol, so that's not going to help. Let's see.

2 replies
Hope OP May 17th

@exuberantBlackberry9105

That is a really nice mental exercise. Home cooked meals are good and adding a fruit to the mix sounds great. 

Lets stay focused on the 7 days and hopefully you can retain some of the habits after!

1 reply

@Hope I definitely agree that it is nice hehe, and it's nice of my friend to help me do it. Well, we can only hope I retain some of the habits. I remember after the small steps challenge I tried to retain my habits but only managed to do it for a few days, and then I went back to normal, lol! I guess I am a really lazy person.

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CordialDancer May 26th

Draft a realistic plan that includes at least 1 task/activity you will do that covers all 4 types (Food and Digital Diet, Physical and Mental Exercise). You have been provided with an example above. 

I will complete a variation of the Rose, Bud, and Thorn reflection - Mental exercise

I will go on a 10-minute walk or put on a 10-minute exercise video - Physical exercise

I will prioritize getting protein in all my meals - Food Diet

I will read for 10 minutes before going to bed - Digital Diet

2 replies
Hope OP May 30th

@CordialDancer

Rose bud thorn is a great exercise!!

short walks are underrated and once you add protiens to your meals, no going back!

How did these things go for you?

1 reply
CordialDancer May 30th

@Hope

I find the rose, bud, and thorn easier when sharing them with someone else, though I have been completing them to reflect on my day. Proteins, I have been getting better on. The walks haven't "officially" happened, but I do walk around a lot already so I've been counting those.

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