Lena Dunham: Running Helps Weight Loss, Depression And Anxiety Better Than Drugs

Lena Dunham credits running workouts for helping her lose weight and manage her depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Lena, a former couch potato, said running improved her body image and controls her anxiety and OCD better than medication.

Dunham said the endorphin rush you get from cardio exercise is real and now loves running not just for weight loss, but for its many other health benefits, Examiner reported.

“I’m going to be 30 next year,” said Lena. “As you age, you have to move. You have to move so you don’t die. You have to move so your brain doesn’t atrophy. You have to move so that you look a little bit like a person that you might want to be.”

lena dunham yoga weight loss — Lena Dunham said Tracy Anderson workouts and running helped her fit into size small yoga pants. (Photos: Instagram)

The “Girls” star also does yoga and works out with Tracy Anderson, who trains Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez. Dunham’s workouts with Anderson combine cardio with light weightlifting and Pilates-style moves.

Lena said the Tracy Anderson Method workouts for helping her fit into size small yoga pants. Anderson recently released several new workout videos, including Mat Workout for Beginners, and Cardio Dance for Beginners.

Tracy, who lost 30 pounds just 6 weeks after giving birth to her second child, says women should strive for long, lean muscles that can only come from lifting light weights (three pounds maximum) at high repetitions.

tracy anderson jennifer lopez gwyneth paltrow — Tracy Anderson trains Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow, who are both fitter than ever in their 40s.

Lena, who’s 5-foot-3 and weighs 150 pounds, has learned to embrace her curves after years of struggling with weight and being fat-shamed. “I stopped weighing myself three years ago because it doesn’t matter!” said Lena.

“I went through a phase where it was like, one pound up and my day was horrible; two pounds down and I was queen of the world. It was just a ridiculous code. There is no reason why you ever need to be getting a scale or measuring your value by a scale.”

In addition to boosting her self-esteem, Lena said exercise effectively controls her anxiety and OCD after 16 years of medication.

“[Exercise] has helped with my anxiety in ways I never dreamed possible,” Dunham revealed on Instagram. “To those struggling with anxiety, OCD, depression: I know it’s mad annoying when people tell you to exercise, and it took me about 16 medicated years to listen. I’m glad I did. It ain’t about the *ss, it’s about the brain.”