Working Out and Vanity

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I’m a 19 year old Catholic who suffers from scrupulosity. One of the things I am struggling with is weight lifting. When I started weight lifting when I was 12, I was immediately hooked on. I aimed to lift as often as a could (about 5 times a week) with a balance of cardio. Weight lifting became one of my main passions in life. I love working out hard because I love the endorphin release and the feeling of being sore the day after a good workout. One day though I heard a person give a talk on his conversion story on how he did tennis and weightlifting, but that he did weight lifting just to look good.

That really pricked me conscience. It made me wonder if I was doing weight lifting out of vanity. I struggle with an anorexic disorder of thinking that I’m getting fat, so I do a lot of situps the day after I eat a lot to make sure it doesn’t convert to flab and I compare myself to other self-consciously to make sure that I don’t look “out of shape”.I’m worried now that every time I do weight lifting or situps I’m dishonoring God because I feel that I’m doing it out of vanity and focus on self rather than on glorifying him. I’ve tried giving up weight lifting and doing just running, but my body feels like it deteriates without weight lifting and I lose weight when I don’t lift (which is what my parents don’t want) I also feel that I can’t focus without the chemical release I get from lifting. Should I still give up weight lifting entirely? Is it a sin to want to picture yourself looking “fitter” when you are working out? What steps can I take to purify my workouts?
 
I’m a 19 year old Catholic who suffers from scrupulosity. One of the things I am struggling with is weight lifting. When I started weight lifting when I was 12, I was immediately hooked on. I aimed to lift as often as a could (about 5 times a week) with a balance of cardio. Weight lifting became one of my main passions in life. I love working out hard because I love the endorphin release and the feeling of being sore the day after a good workout. One day though I heard a person give a talk on his conversion story on how he did tennis and weightlifting, but that he did weight lifting just to look good.
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That really pricked me conscience. It made me wonder if I was doing weight lifting out of vanity. I struggle with an anorexic disorder of thinking that I’m getting fat, so I do a lot of situps the day after I eat a lot to make sure it doesn’t convert to flab and I compare myself to other self-consciously to make sure that I don’t look “out of shape”.I’m worried now that every time I do weight lifting or situps I’m dishonoring God because I feel that I’m doing it out of vanity and focus on self rather than on glorifying him. I’ve tried giving up weight lifting and doing just running, but my body feels like it deteriates without weight lifting and I lose weight when I don’t lift (which is what my parents don’t want) I also feel that I can’t focus without the chemical release I get from lifting. Should I still give up weight lifting entirely? Is it a sin to want to picture yourself looking “fitter” when you are working out? What steps can I take to purify my workouts?
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Weight lifting and working out is not sinful. It can become sinful if it detracts from or takes the place of your spiritual growth or if it gets to the point where you become prideful in comparison to others. Simply wanting to look nice and be healthy is not a sin.

Just as a side note, I’ve been weight lifting for about 20 years and I am always keeping up with the latest news on working out. Lifting weights 5 days a week is too much (in my opinion). You aren’t giving your body enough time to rest and recuperate, which is when your muscles actually grow, so rest is extremely important. I lift 3x a week (M-W-F with a 10 minute cardio warm up & 10 minutes of cardio after weights) and rest on the other days. That allows me to hit every muscle group really hard once a week. You can also do light cardio on your off days if you want (no more than 20 minutes if you goal is muscle growth).

God Bless!
 
You can’t deal with the spiritual issues until you deal with the psychological issues. I would recommend getting professional help with the eating disorder and then you’ll be ready to approach a priest about the spiritual issues.
 
I would speak with a priest about this. Working out is not sinful and none of us can really evaluate your motives for working out. I can definitely relate to some of the things you are saying about being worried that the things you do are for vanity and not for reasons that honor Christ. I definitely think the best advice you can get would be from a priest.

Another thing, if you do seek guidance from a priest, challenge yourself to accept his response. Don’t continue to second guess it. Trust that he knows what he is talking about and isn’t leading you astray.

One final thing, you post makes me wonder if you have excessive body image issues. I certainly cannot diagnose you, but as someone who has an eating disorder and body image issues (and is in treatment), your post put up a red flag in my mind. Please don’t take offense to me saying this and I whole heartedly apologize if I am incorrect in my assumption. However if I am correct, I encourage you to seek out professional help. It was the best thing I ever did.
 
It is not a sin to want a sound body, which, to plagiarize a Roman philosopher, is needed to house a good mind. It is natural to want your body to look good.

If you become over-concerned with your appearance to others however, that is where vanity might come in. IMNAAHO.

ICXC NIKA
 
This has nothing to do with weights or vanity. You should seek counseling, from a good priest or a mental health counselor, about anxiety and scrupulosity.
 
You may suffer from scrupulosity and maybe an eating disorder, but I think you just enjoy weight lifting for its own sake, just as someone else might enjoy fishing, or playing baseball.

I’d suggest you keep on with the weight lifting as it is a hobby for you.

I also think the only reason you’re worried about whether it is sinful or not is nothing more than your own scrupulosity. You probably worry about things a bit too much.

So I’d just suggest you keep on keeping on with the weight lifting, and if you feel youi need professional help with **other **areas, then that’s up to you. I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it.
 
belprezt said:
IShould I still give up weight lifting entirely? Is it a sin to want to picture yourself looking “fitter” when you are working out? What steps can I take to purify my workouts?
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We are called to give reasonable care to our bodies so as to be proper stewards of God’s gifts to us. We are also called to have a detachment from certain things.

IMO, working out can become an idol very easily for the average person. It can clearly be rooted in self-love, and self-love seems to be the main reason people go on diets or exercise routines in the first place.

Is this always sinful? It’s probably an imperfection.

I would encourage you to figure out a list of reasons you have for wanting to work out, and to analyze them for how centered on the self they are.
 
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