A doctor warned how an obsession with a healthy lifestyle can harm one's health

"Clean" eating, 10,000 steps a day, sleep strictly on schedule, workouts on a timetable - the perfect picture of a healthy lifestyle has long conquered social media. But the closer a person gets to this ideal, the more often the main thing slips away - stable good health.

Nutritionist Ekaterina Shirshova, in a conversation with "Gazeta.Ru," explained that in the pursuit of "correctness," the body often finds itself in a constant endurance test.

"At first, everything works - energy appears, rhythm, discipline. But gradually the rituals become more important than the meaning: instead of rest - a 'mandatory' jog, instead of dinner - a 'proper' snack. Numbers in an app begin to control one's well-being," she said.

According to the expert, without breaks, the body switches to economy mode: stress increases, recovery worsens, and progress turns into survival.

Strict control over nutrition can also be harmful - anxiety appears due to "imperfect" products, the feeling of satiety disappears, energy deficit accumulates. "The problem is not in the food, but in the maximalism that replaces common sense," Shirshova emphasized.

Fitness gadgets and trackers are useful as long as they remain a navigator, not a helmsman. When numbers become the goal, sleep and recovery give way to reporting. In response, the body "speaks" with symptoms - insomnia, cravings for sweets, fatigue.

Shirshova reminded that age, stress, illnesses, and individual characteristics make universal schemes ineffective. "A healthy lifestyle should complement medicine, not replace it," she noted.

And added: if the routine has become a source of tension, it's worth returning priority to well-being. "The goal is not to defeat the schedule, but to feel better every day. Less perfectionism - more adequacy," the doctor summarized.