#354 Tom Sheppard - Fitness Addiction, Mental Health, and Building Self Efficacy

Tom Sheppard is a strength coach and fitness writer who, beneath the rugged exterior is a thoughtful and generous soul who joins to open up about his complex mental health journey and how fitness has saved him. Tom shares:-How strength training can be a major positive for your mental health-Where fitness can creep over into addiction and serious problems-How to create guardrails against becoming too addicted-How the gym helps great self efficacy and defeat victim mindset-And much more. 03:38 The Role of the Gym in Mental Health12:49 The Importance of Self-Efficacy and Accountability20:05 Balancing Fitness and Life: Avoiding Fitness Addiction27:38 Exploring Fitness and Dieting as Socially Acceptable Eating Disorders28:00 Personal Struggles with Eating Disorders and Fitness Tracking28:16 The Anxiety of Missing a Day of Logging28:39 Realizing Unhealthy Habits and Finding Ways Out29:25 Balancing Fitness and Life: The Importance of Controlled Variance30:47 The Role of Fulfillment Outside the Gym33:08 Identifying Red Flags in Fitness Addiction35:15 The Obsession with Recovery Modalities38:14 Aligning Motivations with Actions in Fitness39:27 The Importance of Introspection in Fitness Goals42:19 Balancing Gym Goals with Life's Other Pillars47:15 Personal Journey and Career Reflections49:52 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsI’ve been putting a lot of time and effort into making these new episodes valuable for you. You can help me get these great guests and their knowledge in front of more people by:-Subscribing and checking out more episodes-Sharing on your social media (please tag me - I promise I’ll respond)-Sharing with the friend you think of who needs this episodeFollow Andrew Coates:Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@andrewcoatesfitness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join My Email List:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.andrewcoatesfitness.com⁠⁠Get the RP App at ⁠⁠www.rpstrength.com/coates⁠⁠ - use the code COATESRPUse Code ANDREWCOATESFITNESS to save 10% off at https://justbitememeals.com/