Why Do We Rarely Choose Mental Health Over Physical Fitness?

Hina Khan weight gain: Television actor Hina Khan recently shared a mirror selfie in which she wrote about struggling with physical fitness due to mental health issues. Khan had lost her father in April this year, to a cardiac arrest. "Had put on some kilos in these months for obvious reasons and I really did not pay attention to how many kilos I put on," she wrote in her Instagram story, further reasoning that her mental health was way more important and she just wanted to do things that make her happy.

In her story, Khan, known for her work in television shows like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2, also said, "Sometimes let yourself be, enjoy the little things. Do what you like without thinking about what people will say or how I am looking. After all, one needs to be in the right frame of mind to do anything in life." The actor concluded her note by saying that she chose mental health, her well-being, over her physical appearance.

Almost every person around us is on some sort of self-improvement journey, with respect to their bodies. Some want to gain weight, others want to lose it. There are those who want a more muscular frame while many want to look leaner. Most of us spend our lives chasing the idea of a perfect physique that has been spoonfed to us by pop culture and now social media. While the chase for a so-called perfect body is unending and toxic, we have to agree that we must all strive to be a healthier and fitter version of ourselves- however, being healthy refers not just to physical wellbeing, but emotional and social wellbeing too.

Thus, it is worrying that most of us tend to focus less on the emotional and social components of our wellness. One worry, that most of us have while taking it easy, or going on a break from our daily routine (which involves our fitness regime) is that it would set us back on our physical fitness goals. But that's not as bad as we may make out to be.

Recently I read somewhere that fitness is not a linear journey, and the line resonated with me. This means that it is okay for our fitness journey to have its share of ups and down, and facing a setback shouldn't demoralise us. We should also not let fear of setbacks keep us from taking a break as well.

Like our body, our mind too needs some time and space to switch off, to take a breather and rejuvenate. So let us pay some heed to Hina Khan's statement and rethink how we prioritise different components of our health.

Views expressed are the author's own.

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