In the healthy living community, there are infinite resources for eating well and finding the perfect fitness routine; there is, however, much less attention being paid to mental well-being.

Today is the beginning of Mental Illness Awareness Week. Having both a therapist husband and a family history of depression and anxiety, I’m well aware of how our mental health affects our daily lives. I’m also aware of how the healthy living community can sometimes unintentionally lead bloggers and readers into a spiral of negative self image, disordered eating, exercise addiction, and any number of health-related problems.

What is healthy living exactly? 

Is it eating x servings of vegetables a day? Following a strict paleo/vegan/raw/etc. diet? Or exercising 6 days a week and reaching a certain number on the scale?

To some, it can be any and all of those things, but to the rest of us, it’s much, much more.

Like most young women, I struggle with negative perceptions of myself and where I am in my life. Although I’ve never personally suffered from an eating disorder or exercise addiction, I’ve sometimes felt pretty lousy about the way I look and what I have (or have not) accomplished professionally. I’ve often compared my education and job-related goals/achievements to those of my seemingly more successful and happier peers.

There are wonderful resources within the blogging community. Without it, I don’t think I would’ve begun exercising regularly. I certainly wouldn’t have given Bikram yoga a try—and Bikram has become one of the highlights of my week.

Likewise, although I sometimes focus too much on food—and the nutrition it contains—I think I owe some of my broad-minded foodie adventures to this realm. Without blogging, I probably never would’ve tried kombucha, jicama, or Sunbutter. 🙂

Despite all these positives, I continue to find myself comparing my diet, fitness routine, career choice, leisure activities, and basically entire life to those of fellow bloggers. And it needs to stop.

Sharing our fitness accomplishments, vacations, new jobs, new hair styles, and whatever else positive in our lives is—and should be—a part of this world; I don’t know about you, but personally, I want to read blog posts that leave me with a smile on my face. I will not continue reading a blog that’s full of complaints, criticism, or depressing rants about “how my life sucks.”

I think most bloggers agree, which is why we, as readers, sometimes feel that others’ lives are nothing but rainbows and sunshine and our cloudy days are anomalies or that we’ll never be as beautiful, happy, successful, popular, etc. as so-and-so.

And I believe these feelings can lead to something deeper, something truly negative, which is why we bloggers need to step away from our blogs and social media for a while and remind ourselves that we’re human. We need to focus on why we do the things we do—whether it’s because we feel better and healthier—mentally and physically—when we eat or exercise a certain way or because society and our little healthy living community expect it of us.

[source]

Just a few things to remember:

1) Avoid the comparison trap! It’s detrimental to your happiness. You’ll never be happy—and mentally healthy—by chasing somebody else’s life and accomplishments.

2) Set goals for yourself, be they fitness, dietary, etc., but remember that it’s perfectly healthy to indulge or stray. Tomorrow really is another day.

3) It’s fine to feel a little lousy sometimes; just remind yourself of all the positives in your life. Practice gratitude and realize that by being the best you, you can bring happiness to others in your life.

4) Most importantly, if your bad days largely outnumber the good—and you feel overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy and stress or weighed down by the compulsion to eat, exercise, or behave a certain way—then it might be time to seek professional help.

This month (and always), remember not to practice only healthy eating or exercising—but to focus internally and practice true healthy living.