Addicted to green smoothies, grouchy without your yoga fix? Is your addiction to clean living controlling you?
A growing number of women are living like hippies in the city, with yoga school popping up on every corner, and coconut water stocked beside fizzy drinks in supermarkets.
And yet even wellness can take on a competitive edge; who can meditate the longest, who eats the most exotic super foods, who has a ‘spiritual healer’ on speed dial?
Many of us have felt secretly smug when a colleagues complains they’re hung-over. Oh, poor you. I spent last night activating nuts, then I meditated and was in bed by 9pm.
The problem with embracing health and fitness is the endorphin high can be addictive. If you miss a workout you’re grumpy, if you can’t find a healthy lunch spot you’d rather go hungry then have a burger.
A health kick can be counter-productive if it’s consumes you life completely. Can you have too much of a good thing?
It’s a fine line, according to personal trainer Dan Roberts who says being in health junkie isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “Sometimes ‘managed addiction’ is necessary for a few months to make drastic changes,” says Dan.
“The key is remaining aware of how much control a new fitness kick has over your life and not becoming a slave to any health regime – not matter how good your intentions are.”
When we get caught up in “shoulds” (I should be eating the latest super foods, I should be exercising as much as my friends) then anxiety and guilt soon follow. When it comes to health, it’s good to follow guidelines but don’t make them rules.
“Sometimes new clients come to me who have bought all the latest fitness books and are on every type of supplement even though it’s not making them feel good,” says Dan.
“They’ve read all this research but haven’t actually listened to the instincts of their body, and what it really needs. Healthy living should readdress the balance so your body and mind work together.”
So, it’s beneficial to be a health junkie, as long as your devotion doesn’t rule you. There are far worse addictions than kale and chia seeds.
10 signs you’re a happy, health junkie
- The superfoods in your kitchen read like a foreign language: soursop, moringa, maca and acai.
- In theory you could eat all of your beauty products.
- You can list six brands of coconut water – and their exact sugar contents.
- Your morning drinks order is a dandelion latte, but only if the almond milk is homemade.
- It’s perfectly normal for a friend to ask ‘how are your energy fields today?’
- The last smoothie you made had 27 ingredients in it. All vitally important obviously.
- You write positive affirmations on your drinks bottle because water absorbs emotions.
- When a colleague complains of a headache, instead of offering them an aspirin, you tell them to do a breathing exercise or a handstand.
- You own a dehydrator and carry kale chips in your handbag.
- You’ve taken your yoga mat in the shower with you (it’s the best way to clean it really).
This story was originally published on The Carousel.
