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Comment by mythhouse | Hacker News Reader

> I often refer to exercise as me taking care of my mental health - as opposed to being physically fit.

Same. I don't care about my physical health all that much but my friends/family think i am some sort of health fanatic. It is the only thing that has gotten me through tough times, its my escape.

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Same here. I do cold showers, sauna, eat fiber every day, almost religiously take supplements, and exercise most days. People think I'm a health fanatic type but really I just feel awful normally, and when I do all of this I feel okay. It's just to keep myself mentally okay. I have a theory that's why depression and anxiety are so common in humanity-- in general they force people to keep improving(until they don't).

I don't get why you don't care about your physical health. You got one body for the rest of your life..

I suspect the “all that much” is doing a lot of work here. I think I get it. Like, as long as my body is not malfunctioning or heading for a long-term catastrophe, I’m not motivated to improve it.

Malfunctions can be difficult to detect, if you're not paying close attention to your body. Our bodies have evolved to maintain homeostasis within a tight range, and can compensate for quite a lot of hidden pathology. Until you reach a threshold and decompensate, at which everything goes to hell and at that point it's too late to really fix.

They might mean it’s not a primary motivator.

That’s how I felt when I was younger and had a seemingly perfect bill of health regardless of exercise.

High blood pressure in my 30s changed some priorities.

I'm similar and ironically I think having exercise as a coping mechanism, if you like, is actually a way better motivator than for health reasons, and makes it easier to stick with. I think if people could get into a routine of exercising for mental relaxation, and see the benefits that way, it would make it more attractive.

I'll join the group of folks saying "same". 60 minutes at the gym, doing some light running, 3-5km, plus some weights isn't crazy.

More about change of scenery, getting out, and tearing myself away from social / personal / work entanglements. Just me vs the iron.

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