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Exercise
Healthy exercise is an important component of our treatment program. Physical activity
can act as a kinetic form of healing, facilitating a reconnection with the body.
Exercise may be foreign to some individuals or may have been used as a method of
purging. Our goal is to introduce the physical and psychological benefits that a
program of regular exercise can offer. For exercise to be beneficial it does not
have to be overly strenuous. Any activity that increases breathing and causes the
use of major muscle groups for more than 15 minutes can be used to improve fitness.
The type of physical activity we most recommend is walking. A walk will help increase
cardiovascular endurance. With walking no expensive equipment or training is necessary.
Many individuals waste money by joining expensive gyms or buying costly equipment
utilizing them only for the first month and subsequently letting them collect dust.
For others the gym can become an obsession, a place to compare bodies and push exercise
to the extent of self-harm. With walking an individual can heal the body without
the potential for abuse and best of all, a walking regimen can be easily incorporated
into anyone's lifestyle.
Our Course
The distance of each walk is approximately 2.5 miles. Generally, the walk consists
of a simple route with some varied terrain (flats and hills). To make it more interesting,
the walk is usually conducted in a loop rather than retracing the same steps. The
walk is conducted at least five times per week, weather permitting. The pace of
our walks should cause you to breathe more rapidly and experience some discomfort
but not pain. Think of a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is sitting in a chair and 10
is running up a flight of stairs as fast as possible. We ask each individual to
conduct their walk at a personal exercise level (PEL) of 6.
Other Forms of Exercise
During the course of treatment other forms of exercise will be introduced such as:
stretching, pilates, yoga, gym equipment, and low impact aerobics. Since these forms
of exercise may have been used as purging methods in the past, the treatment team
and the individual will decide on the appropriateness of incorporating these activities
into the recovery process.
Exercise Calendar
As part of the treatment plan each individual will be completing an exercise calendar.
Keeping an exercise calendar is one way of increasing adherence to a healthy long-term
exercise regimen. On the calendar, the individual writes down on a daily basis which
activity they participated in, the duration of the activity, their personal exercise
level on a scale of 1 to 10, and how they felt about doing the exercise.
Our main goal in terms of exercise is for each individual to receive the psychological
and physical benefits of exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle
For more information or to arrange for a free confidential consultation, call
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