002 ⎮ Are You Over-Exercising?
During a conversation with a patient the other day, we uncovered that she wasn't struggling with food per say, but recognized that she seemed to have an obsession with exercise. I've been hearing this a lot lately from a few of my patients and friends and so I wanted to bring the conversation here.
A lot of times, when we think of "eating disorders" we think of the more traditional ones like Anorexia and Bulimia. Exercise isn't something often discussed and the messaging behind the importance of daily exercise makes this specific type of disorder more difficult to notice.
In "Exercise Bulimia," an individual uses exercise as a way to "purge" or "pay" for ingested calories. Some of the signs of disordered exercise could be exercising when sick, feeling guilt when missing an exercise, not exercising in the "right" way (i.e. walking instead of running), and prioritizing exercise over social engagements, just to name a few.
This disorder is a sneaky one and can be easily hidden from friends and family as they tend to just pass off exercise as a passion or hobby, or something they just *need* to do to alleviate stress. To the naked eye, the behavior seems normal and accustom to the "hard core" gym mentality of our culture.
In episode 2 of It's Not About the Food, I dive into Exercise and the science behind what our bodies actually need in order to be healthy and I think what I talk about may surprise you.
Resources Mentioned
