There is a difference between being physically active and having a compulsion to exercise. The latter situation is considered by some to be part of the bulimia spectrum.
Here is a summary of symptoms for exercise compulsion from Wikipedia (I know; not a definitive source, but they had a good summary):
"Compulsive exercisers will often schedule their lives around exercise just as those with eating disorders schedule their lives around eating (or not eating). Other indications of compulsive exercise are:
- Missing work, parties or other appointments in order to work out
- Working out with an injury or while sick
- Becoming unusually depressed if unable to exercise
- Working out for hours at a time each day
- Not taking any rest or recovery days
- Defining self-worth in terms of performance
- Justifies excessive behavior by defining self as a "special" elite athlete"
I'm not saying that people who like to work out every day fit this description--you'd have to decide that for yourself, and you'd need to look at personal history. But at this level, exercise is not a "healthy addiction."
Kinda hard to not "exercise" since my job is walking dogs. I think intensity is a factor. I do moderate amounts of other things and can/do take a day off without any problem. And I take time off if I'm injured (from other exercise - my clients expect me to be out there working unless I'm wearing a cast).
Dagmar, I think a distinction is being made here between "exercising" and "having a physically active job." Now, if you were walking dogs as your job AND getting up at 4:30 every day to get on the elliptical for an hour before work, then I might wonder about you.
My comments about exercise compulsion were not being made to you personally.
One interesting way to notice the difference is to intentionally not work out one day. How would you feel? Would it consume your mind?
I love exercise, I have been weight lifting for years, but I would caution many former "fat girls" to be careful in this territory. No, exercise is not a good addiction - nothing is a good addiction. One can go from one extreme of the spectrum to the other. This is hard for most former "fat girls" to consider, it seems so bizarre, but it can happen.
So OP no, I can't really say yes or no to the normalcy of your schedule but I do think that without a good rest day or two, you expose yourself to injury in the long-term. Considering you do marathons I can only assume that your training reflects that ability so yes... I do think you may be prone to overdoing it without taking more rest. Just my opinion, as a fellow lover of training.
I have also been called unflattering names about my exercise habits, and I don't think they're obsessive, nor are yours (though I wondered about you not having a day off, my thoughts are mirrored here already so I won't repeat). Like many of our eating habits here, they are not "obsessive" or "crazy". They are somewhat abnormal compared to the majority of the U.S. and many parts of the worlds' population. That's not necessarily a bad thing! I'm assuming your workouts are about 1-1.5 hours. 3 hours... I would reconsider my response.
Like many here exercise helps me stay on track with healthy eating, feel better, relieves stress, gives me energy... additionally now that I have a young dog she really wants her long walks! Long walks and/or jogs help keep everyone calm in this house.
Nope--your schedule looks normal to me --and probably to many of us on the boards because we're more aware of our bodies and our weight than I think many "average" people are.
Not only that, but we all know that we need to exercise to maintain our weight loss.
Tuesday AM: Upper body weights at gym PM: Shadow boxing, followed by working over my heavy bag (1 hour)
Wednesday AM: Lower body weights at gym PM: Spinning at home (1 hour)
Thursday AM: Pilates PM: I have more shadow boxing and heavy bag work scheduled, but may skip this as I'm having Christmas lunch with my team
Friday AM: Kettlebell/bodyweight workout (1 hour) PM: Relaxing Tai Chi or Chi Gong workout if I feel like it.
I've been working out at this level since I lost weight, but I know "normal" people either think I'm crazy, or are jealous because they want to lose weight, or know they should be exercising more.
But I'm not "normal" and never will be, so I just don't discuss my workout regime with anyone outside my hubby and fitness/weight loss boards.
I recently attended an executive leadership program at work. I have been under an enormous amount of stress, effectively working two jobs. The program included a coaching session with one of the facilitators, a psychologist. He started by saying that it's a good thing I work so hard at my physical fitness, because he and his partner had seen people with similar stress levels which had a severe effect on their health. The psychologist was genuinely concerned and asked me to follow up, and report back to him.
Long story short, I raised this at a very senior level in my organisation and, as of next week, will only be doing one job.
This story illustrates how important exercise is for all-round mental and emotional health.
"Compulsive exercisers will often schedule their lives around exercise just as those with eating disorders schedule their lives around eating (or not eating)."
I disagree with this definition. I know there can be a fine line between "normal" and "obsessive/compulsive" here, but I - and many other people - need to schedule our lives around exercise. If I only worked out when I felt like it, or when it was convenient, it just wouldn't happen.
I also don't agree with the pathologising of those of us who eat very healthily as having "orthorexia". It's as though mainstream society is pushing back against those of us who work out and are careful about what we eat.
As Megan1982 said, being somewhat abnormal in this area is not necessarily a bad thing!
Well--if you need to schedule your life around your exercise, RedPanda, then that's what you do.
I schedule my exercise, but it's only one part of my life. Other things come up that seem to me to be far more important than whether I get to the gym at precisely 3 pm and stay exactly X hours. At the same time, my approach isn't to go only when I feel like it or only when it's convenient. I think any of us who have been successful in losing weight know better than that.
But I think there's kind of a vast area in between scheduling life around exercise and going only when it's convenient--wouldn't you agree?
In any case, I'd say it's more a matter of what happens if one intentionally takes a day off, as sacha suggested. If not exercising makes a person into kind of a basket case, then something is maybe a little bit off with that.
I don't think your schedule is bad at all. I do P90X which is 6 days a week, plus extra stuff on my own.
I think part of the issue is that people have just gotten so out of touch with reality of how much our bodies can DO! Our ancestors...and not that many generations back...worked 10-15 hours a DAY hard. Farming, ranching, building things, whatever. When you consider that the gov't tells people to shoot for a half hour a day 5 days a week, you can see how someone who does an hour a day 5 days a week might be seen as "obsessive" but that view comes from the completely skewed culture that Americans have developed with exercise. IMO.
But I think there's kind of a vast area in between scheduling life around exercise and going only when it's convenient--wouldn't you agree?
I agree with that point, but I still don't see that scheduling your life around exercise is a symptom for "exercise compulsion", as per the definition you posted.
I wouldn't say I schedule my life around exercise, but maybe I schedule my exercise around life. If something in my life requires me to do something at a time I'd otherwise be exercising, I will reschedule or rearrange my exercise so I can fit it all in.
I think maybe I'm borderline...so I should probably proceed with caution.
Regarding no rest, the walk I do on Saturday's is extremely leisurely, so I really consider that rest. And my yoga class isn't too strenuous so that almost qualifies as rest to me as well.
Do I feel guilty for missing a workout? Not usually.
Do I skip social events for exercise, depends on the event
Exercise bulimia is, as JayEll notes, scheduling one's life around exercise but to the detriment of their life - for example, all professional athletes MUST do this, there is no other option. Recreational exercise enthusiasts who schedule might make plans with friends only after 7pm because they train at 5-6pm and won't reschedule it. Or cancel altogether (ie friends going out drinking but have a morning fitness session planned)
However, a person with exercise bulimia may miss family get togethers, skip all friend outings, or even not be available for events such as Christmas morning with their little kids. I remember reading the story of one exercise bulimic in a sports medicine book, and he actually missed his young kid's Christmas morning because he had the overwhelming urge to complete his daily 10-15 mile run (and almost destroyed his marriage). I believe it was Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition book.
People who have struggled with losing weight for much of their adult life often have habits that would be considered "obsessive" by people who have either not had a weight problem or by people who have a weight problem but don't plan on doing anything about it. It seems that a certain level of "abnormality" is often needed by formerly overweight people to stay trim. Take a look at that famous book Thin for Life, which details the habits of those who have lost weight and kept it off. Most of those people monitor their weight more closely than the "average" person does, but that is one of the habits that has helped them keep off the weight. I think the same goes for exercising. Many of us are out of the mainstream with eating and exercise because that what is takes for us to actually keep the weight off.
Many of us, apparently, do not have a normal relationship with food or physical activity to begin with---otherwise, we probably wouldn't have developed a weight problem. Why do we expect that our habits will all of a sudden become "normal" when we try to lose weight or keep it off?
There are people on these boards who use graphs to track their weight loss patterns. The mainstream population would consider that abnormal, but on this forum, it's all part of the process.
I'm through with giving into mainstream ideas of how I should live my life. I think that doing that is one of the causes of me regaining my lost weight so many times in the past. Comparing my eating and exercising habits to the mainstream and somehow finding myself lacking led me to think that I could be like "them" and still keep the weight off. That didn't happen. I much prefer doing what works for me. If I get burned out or feel uncomfortable with it, then I'll make a change.
Dagmar, I think a distinction is being made here between "exercising" and "having a physically active job." Now, if you were walking dogs as your job AND getting up at 4:30 every day to get on the elliptical for an hour before work, then I might wonder about you.
My comments about exercise compulsion were not being made to you personally.
Jay
I didn't take your comments personally Jay. And I do get up earlier (it's a form of insomnia with me so I figure I may as well work out since I'm up anyway) so that I can do yoga and weights. I'm too whacked in the evenings from dogwalking.
That's the problem with DH and myself doing physical stuff together too. He's very much an "evening" person. We tried to take ballroom dance together and I was always dragging. But practicing at 8 a.m. on the weekend - YEAH!
So I am aware when I'm really tired ( and balk at going for a walk with DH in the evening). I'm lucky in that I don't seem to sustain many injuries - probably because most of what I do is at low intensity and I stop when I'm tired.
I just like to move every day. I have a body that's strong and capable and that makes me feel good. I think there are a lot of people who can't say that.
I am seeing so many overweight kids now. I feel so sad for them. They face the same battle we all face, every day, getting their bodies back and keeping them. And they are too young to be doing the damage to themselves that overeating and not working out can produce.
Are we "normal"? Probably not. Do we care? I don't. I will continue to be as strong as I can for as long as I can (I'm almost 55 years old) and that involves a lot of exercise.
