Stress Center Peer Support

well I started a routine of going to the gym everyday and getting a footlong subway sandwich grilled chicken an eat half for lunch an half for dinner. Ive been doing this for almost two weeks and it kind of put my anxiety down some. anybody else ever attempt at trying this to see if you can get a handle on your anxiety. this is pretty much one of my last steps i have. Id be real down if i get inshape and lose some weight and still be all anxious.

Exercise definitely helps tamp down my anxiety. You've got nothing to lose by it. When you get real buff, you'll have to post a picture:)

Do either of you find it difficult to exercise with anxiety? I notice that I try to avoid anything that will make my heart rate increase when I am already anxious. It sends me into panic. I am just curious to know if anyone else deals with this.

oh yes! i deal with this. i havent done alot of excercising yet because of it. I dont know how you get over that. i never excercise when Im home alone and when I do excercise, after I usually go talk to my son about how Im upset that my heart is beating so fast and he always tells me that im fine. its a battle.

Michelle,
I know the feeling. I find that I will do it when I am not anxious and it's not a big deal, but when I am anxious I focus on my heart rate much more, so I find that I avoid stairs,and things that will trigger your heart rate to increase. I know it is suppose to increase as you exercise, but I have caused a panic attack when it has done that. It is no fun! Glad I am not alone!

Hello BookofPsalms,

I have been doing the same thing. I KNOW I need to exercise and that it will only help but I avoid it too. We live in a townhome and I even avoid going up and down the stairs sometimes cause it will make my heart beat faster or trigger skipped beats sometimes! I'm working on the "Just Do It" phrase!

Yes I feel the same way with exercising I know it needs to be done and it will help because I have done it in the past but I only feel comfortable when there is someone with me in case something happens so that limits me to when I can exercise which is frustrating for me because it should be something I can just do:(

I walk on a treadmill and lift weights and use exercise bands for my exercise. I usually don't feel anxious before I exercise, but the few times I have, I just have gotten on the treadmill anyway and said a lot of positive affirmations and done my exercise. Luckily, it hasn't been a problem for me, but I can see where it could make you nevous. We have to realize that anxiety is just a big liar and we are feeding ourselves all these scary thoughts. You are letting the body sensations scare you, that's understandable, but the fear of them is keeping you trapped. I think Simple Truths has the key, "Just do it". There is a story in a David Burns book about a patient who was absolutely sure she was going to have a heart attack. He tried everything and nothing worked. So he told her to get up and stand in his office and do jumping jacks. She was reluctant, but he convinced her to do it. She did it and he told her, "Now if your panic symptoms were a heart attack, you couldn't do jumping jacks, you would collapse." Right then she learned that her symptoms were nothing but a lie. Hope this helps some.

Hi everyone-

this one is so close to my heart, I wanted to write to you all.

When I turned 40, (6 years ago) my husband got me a membership at a gym for my birthday. I had some sessions with a personal trainer so I wouldn't get hurt lifting weights, etc. and I remember clear as a bell when she told me about doing cardio and what intensities to do it. She told me to get my heart rate up over 125 bpm for a period of time and I panicked!! I panicked with her, and I panicked each and every time I tried it on my own. I would even panic when I would walk up the stairs to get to the gym floor from the locker rooms and saw the defibrillator thing hanging there on the wall. Like seeing it would cause me to have to have it used on me.

anyway- I hemmed and hawed and didn't make much of any progress and REALLY wanted to quit the gym because of the anxiety,etc. About that time, I switched to a new trainer and she convinced me to get a heart rate monitor. It's a watch and a chest strap with a battery in it. Basically it's like a continuous EKG that sends my heart beats to the watch and gives me a readout. That, my friends, turned my life around. I can see exactly what is happening and notice that whether or not I feel crummy, my heart rate stays in a normal range. It may "feel" like it's beating out of my chest, etc. but the numbers don't lie and the numbers are normal. Well-- that was about 4 & 1/2 years ago. I'm on my second watch and I wear it every workout I do. In the gym and outside of the gym. I LOVE that it tells me how many calories I burnt (a motivating factor for me) and my heart rate so I can know if I am overdoing it, underdoing it, or something is wrong. I pretty much workout out 5-6 days per week now and it helps 1000% with the anxiety. And I have become desensitized to the "oh no my heart is beating hard" feeling. It is a part of my everyday and it's normal now for me to go from resting heart rate of 65bpm to running at 170bpm and then back down. And when I'm weightlifting and doing lower body stuff that uses big muscles (which consume lots of oxygen to move) I don't freak out if my heart rate goes up. I know what it's from and I can see on my watch that I am right.

I live in MN. and go to LifeTime Fitness gym. I know they are national, so if any of you have that opportunity I'd check in with their metabolic specialist and ask about the monitors and how to use them. It really has saved my life. I am happier, more relaxed, am a better wife and mom, and am WAY!! more fit. Sitting on a couch and being anxious and afraid is not the way to live your life. I've been there too, and this is better. It does take effort and trust in yourself and your Maker, but the rewards are awesome. Now my husband laughs when he tells me that when he first got me the membership at the gym, he was afraid I wouldn't get my money's worth out of the monthly dues. I think the gym would probably like less people like me so they could make some profit.

Manda, I know how you feel...we sound so much alike.

Newrunner,
That is awesome! I have never heard of one of those watches. Well, good thing you have that for your workouts. I know I was at the gym before and was having anxiety at the time. I began my workout on the treadmill and my heartrate was like 125-130 bpm I think. I got on the bike and started to pedal and it went to like 165! I got off of it because I felt as though it was beating too fast and what had really happened was that I'd panicked because I had obsessed over the pulse thing at the gym, and it increase it even more. My husband and the trainers all tried to convince me that it was normal for my heartrate to get that high during a workout, but it just feels so uncomfortable when dealing with anxiety at the same time. Glad you are doing well and enjoying your life and your workouts!! Thanks for posting this also!