http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/...es.asp?id=1542

What do you all think about this article about exercising too much. I feel like I need to be careful or I could potentially go this route. I'm training right now and sometimes I feel like I use it as an excuse to eat more and then I feel like I should run more. I feel ok about it though because I am very aware and do have a scheduled rest day. Although to me a rest day still includes some light walking.

I also do feel stressed or anxious when I can't exercise for some reason. Not because I didn't exercise but because I didn't get that release of stress. Does anyone else worry about becoming a compulsive exerciser?

Naw, not me. There are not enough hours in the day to get all the things I have to get done. I couldn't imagine giving up more valuable time "for me". I have enough "me projects" going on. Somebody's gotta feed the kids and go to school meetings...DH isn't really much help after working so many hours...lol

I haven't got in much excercise the last week or so because school has started and I needed to get all that back to school stuff done. Interestingly, my weight really dropped without changing my eating. Guess I was retaining a lot of water or something

Problem with losing weight without exercise is you lose muscle as well as fat and your heart is a muscle! Me time is essential for everyone.

Yes...probably true. Thankfully I get my excercise by working on a farm and getting things accomplished at the same time. If I had to take 2 hours out of my day, (or more) to go to a gym and walk/run on a conveyor belt, the garden would never get weeded, hoed, planted and harvested and the animals would not get fed or watered, the bales of straw would not be stored, the cane would not get chopped, the yard would not get mowed and the cows would be roaming the countryside. If I spent even MORE time at the gym, the kids would not get fed, the laundry would not get done, homework would not be gone over, the house would be a pig sty and we would eat crappy quick and easy processed convenience food. I'm venturing to say I get more excercise than a person who spends 8 hours at the gym most of the time.

When you become a wife and mother you make a commitment to others. When you have kids it is not all about "me" anymore. I get enough "me time" by taking a daily bubble bath, spending time at 3FC, going to the beauty shop and shopping for awesome new clothes. And when it rains, (Thank you God!) I have even more "me time".

Quilter, the article doesn't say one shouldn't exercise. It says that some people take it too far, or some try to use it to offset eating binges.

I haven't had this problem. I guess I already knew that exercise was not going to offset overeating. I exercise to keep my metabolism active, stay fit, and keep my muscles strong--not because it burns a lot of calories (which it doesn't).

Jay

Lori, I seem to find time to take care of DS and DH, work, etc and exercise a lot. I think it works because exercise is my "me" time. I usually do if before everyone is awake and occasionally after work but before dinner and family time.

Exercise bulimia is a mental illness, part of the bulimia category. Big difference between "me time" and everything else takes a back seat. You enjoy it, do you? Exercise bulimia has no enjoyment, it has nothing to do with working out to stay healthy. If you feel that you start to neglect areas of your life (or others tell you this, since a lot of mentally ill people don't recognize their behaviour as problematic), then it's something to explore.

You don't sound like it at all. Good thing! It's pretty tragic and unfortunately easy to disguise.

Yes, I love it! And like I said it's my "me time" and to save me from needing q therapist Great stress release!

I agree, it's my therapy/me time too!

I don't think you have any concern about exercise bulimia. It's an intense, dangerous mental illness. Ruins your life, your health, your family. It's like an alcoholic denies alcohol or a drug addict says "just one hit won't hurt", they usually don't recognize it in themselves. If you wonder, you probably don't have any tendencies towards it.

Personally, I do feel I had anorexia athletica at one point in my life. At that time, I would work out ALL DAY LONG AND INTO THE NIGHT. Trust me, there is a huge difference between wanting your me time and enjoying the exercise high and truly being compulsive about exercise.

I think this is the line of the article that makes it critical:

There are people who exercise more than you do who may be perfectly healthy, there are others who exercise less than you do who may fall into this category.

I think for many there is a fine line. We've talked about it many times with the diet side. When does prioritizing cross the line into obsession. What is the difference between obsessed and dedicated.

My training partner and I have talked about it because I think we have both been called "exercise anorexic" by a mutual friend (and I am pretty sure someone on 3FC was trying to tell me I had a problem once ). But the attitude is different. We've both blown off workouts for a beach weekend with the girls. We dont workout injured. If we aren't enjoying it, we take an easy day or a rest day. But we are dedicated. We do schedule our workouts first before most "optional" things and it takes a special situation to move them.

It's all relative to the mind - elite athletes train 10-12 hours per day, nobody would call them exercise bulimic. They do it because it's their sport, their life, their money, etc, and they like it - they live for it. If you are ignoring your family to walk 4 hours per day for fear of something (whatever that fear is, I don't know), and your life is being badly affected, then that would something to explore.

I have never thought I excersized to much. I am at the gym 5-6 days a week for at least 90 minutes ( but I visit a tiny bit too in there )

I love being at the gym, it's a 2nd home. Or as my sig suggests, he's my boyfriend.

I am definitely a compulsive exerciser. I am miserable on days I don't get it in and I have dragged my feet all summer about any vacations because it would kill me to get out of my routine. I dread holidays, like Labor Day, because it screws up my workouts at the gym. It makes me anxious and I go to extremes to make sure I get the workout anyway.

To combat this, I've given myself a bare bones routine that must get done. Anything else I get to do is icing. I have to be careful because once I add an exercise, it becomes a compulsion. So say I decide to jog after a spin class "just for fun"...I then feel anxious, like I'm not doing what I'm supposed to, if I don't jog the next time after spin class. I recently got a treadmill for home and the purpose was just to casually walk while watching TV. It has turned into "oh, I didn't get three miles in, I have to go further." I'm fighting that right now.

So I'm definitely in danger of exercise compulsion, but I'm well aware of it.