What I’ve learnt from doing RED January

Posted on by lottie1694

You may know that I’ve been doing RED January for the third time this year. RED January involves doing some form of exercise every day throughout January; the idea being that getting out and getting active will doubly benefit your own mental health whilst raising money for Mind. As January comes to a close I wanted to share some of my own personal reflections on my RED January journey.

1. No amount of exercise will cure my OCD

The most important lesson I have learnt from doing RED January is that no amount of exercise will cure my mental illness. This is an important and somewhat painful lesson that I have had to learn the hard way. It probably seems obvious to a lot of people, but when I started out on my RED January journey in 2018, I genuinely hoped that this was the solution to all my problems. The media sells this idea that exercise is the cure for everything, but it’s really not. It’s definitely no substitute for medical intervention. Of course, it would be wrong to suggest that RED January hasn’t had its benefits for my mental health. It has given me a focus when I’ve really struggled to break out of the OCD cycle. It’s also helped me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile, raising money and awareness for a cause that I’m really passionate about. But after a months worth of exercise, I come away feeling just as mentally ill as I did before I started. I really wish I’d started RED January with more realistic expectations, I probably wouldn’t be feeling so dejected right now otherwise.

In relation to this, I also hoped that RED January would be the solution to all of my body image problems. But honestly, I think it’s just intensified them. I kept telling myself that I wasn’t doing RED January to lose weight, because that’s not what it’s about. But I think I really did hope that I’d come out of RED January with this perfect body that I’d be happy with. But this is so unrealistic. No amount of exercise will solve my body image issues, that has to come from within.

2. I needed more realistic expectations about the amount of exercise I can manage

Exercising everyday is very demanding, both physically and mentally. I think I underestimated just how much this year. Some people are perfectly capable of running 5k each day, but for me this just isn’t realistic. It’s really difficult not to get swept up in the tide of ‘I have to run a marathon everyday for it to count’. So I think I started RED January incredibly deluded about what I would be able to do each day. Setting realistic targets from the beginning would really have helped, so that I didn’t feel so disappointed about having to walk most days.

3. Doing RED January with my partner saved my RED January experience

What has been really helpful is doing RED January as part of a team. It’s the first year that I’ve done RED January with my partner, and I honestly don’t think I would have been able to complete it without him. Having someone to go for a walk with can turn something incredibly boring into an adventure. Most days we just went hunting pokemon, but at least we did something.

I hope this doesn’t put anyone off doing RED January. It is a worthwhile cause, raising money for a very important charity that has helped me in my own struggles with mental illness. I just wanted to share the problems I’d encountered so that other people don’t run into the same issues.

Thanks so much for reading!