Do you look after your body and does it help your anxiety?

[samtheman]

I am the first to admit I do not look after my body, I smoke, I drink every weekend, I eat rubbish, drink caffeine, don't exercise, the list could go on. Would regular exercise and less of the above cure anxiety? I had a recent experience on holidays, I over did the junk food, chocolate, sweets and sugary/caffeine drinks and wondered why I was anxious as hell and had diarrhoea, So its clear I am sensitive to the above and any time I have an anxious episode it can usually be traced back to consuming some of the above.

[oneofus]

I am the first to admit I do not look after my body, I smoke, I drink every weekend, I eat rubbish, drink caffeine, don't exercise, the list could go on. Would regular exercise and less of the above cure anxiety? I had a recent experience on holidays, I over did the junk food, chocolate, sweets and sugary/caffeine drinks and wondered why I was anxious as hell and had diarrhoea, So its clear I am sensitive to the above and any time I have an anxious episode it can usually be traced back to consuming some of the above.

I don't mean to be rude but I think you can answer the question yourself. The question you're really asking is why should I change my habits and how? Or more fundamentally why do I behave as such? It may be the case that they are symptomatic of your anxiety and not the cause. Sort out one and you'll sort out the other. CBT or counselling are the most likely forms of treatment I'd suspect, the beating the blues web site offers free online CBT if I remember correctly.

One of us

[BobbyDog]

I have times of 'behaving badly', usually one day on, one day off. I have the day off because I felt really rotten the day before. The chocolate is a must(Galaxy), the caffeine(Caffe Latte Tesco's), roll up's(has to be Drum) and not going on exercise bike. When I do the bad things I am always on the verge of a panic attack. My healthy days I feel a lot more calm. I am obsessive and cannot help myself.:D

[PanchoGoz]

I don't regulate my lifestyle at all, it takes care of itself. If I am too rushed I inevitably rush down ready meals, so if I'm eating badly I feel it's saying something about the way I'm using my time. If you have time to eat well and rest, then you are spending your time wisely. I do feel anxious when my stomach gets bad from junk food, but I still eat it, and let myself be anxious. Any normal person wouldn't feel good after a binge. But I'm not interested in sacrificing my crisps for anxiety, I like my crisps!

[theharvestmouse]

Diet and exercise massively impacts on anxiety in my opinion, smoking&drinking and eating junk food is a recipe for anxiety, especially if you already suffer from anxiety&depression.

Make some changes and see the affects for yourself.

[samtheman]

I don't regulate my lifestyle at all, it takes care of itself. If I am too rushed I inevitably rush down ready meals, so if I'm eating badly I feel it's saying something about the way I'm using my time. If you have time to eat well and rest, then you are spending your time wisely. I do feel anxious when my stomach gets bad from junk food, but I still eat it, and let myself be anxious. Any normal person wouldn't feel good after a binge. But I'm not interested in sacrificing my crisps for anxiety, I like my crisps!

This is how I feel about all my vices, Drink is a big one for me, I have a few on a Sat night, when I say a few I mean about 5-6 but I am anxious as hell the next day and darn't leave the house as a panic attack is guaranteed but still I do it weekend after weekend, I enjoy the initial buzz.

[PanchoGoz]

This is how I feel about all my vices, Drink is a big one for me, I have a few on a Sat night, when I say a few I mean about 5-6 but I am anxious as hell the next day and darn't leave the house as a panic attack is guaranteed but still I do it weekend after weekend, I enjoy the initial buzz.

Well when you can handle the panic, then go wild. Until then, keep the drink monster in its reins! You should get to a stage one day when you no longer fear the panic, and you will do what you want. If you did what you wanted all the time regardless of the panic and let yourself panic when you do it, then the panic would eventually get bored and stop but nobody would dare do that, not even me. But to have a nice binge like everyone else does every now and then is part of accepting the anxiety. I feel the biggest part of acceptance of anxiety is living your life regardless and having bloody good fun, even if you suffer the consequences :)

[samtheman]

Well when you can handle the panic, then go wild. Until then, keep the drink monster in its reins! You should get to a stage one day when you no longer fear the panic, and you will do what you want. If you did what you wanted all the time regardless of the panic and let yourself panic when you do it, then the panic would eventually get bored and stop but nobody would dare do that, not even me. But to have a nice binge like everyone else does every now and then is part of accepting the anxiety. I feel the biggest part of acceptance of anxiety is living your life regardless and having bloody good fun, even if you suffer the consequences :)

Good way of looking at it, If I gave up drink all together because of panic attacks I would be doing it for the wrong reasons and would only be adding fuel to the fire of making panic attacks something to fear.