Excessive Exercise & Emotional EatingExcessive exercise is sometimes used to compensate for emotional or binge eating. Keep in mind that this doesn't happen with every person who eats emotionally. Each person struggles with different symptoms that come along with binge eating. This type of exercise can also be called compulsive exercise, obligatory exercise, and other names a well. My Experience The only reason that I used to exercise was to balance out the extra calories that I took in. I don't know if it would be considered "excessive": but I would feel obligated to do some sort of physical activity the day after a massive binge. It's like the guilt of overeating would drive me towards exercise. This wasn't a healthy cycle for me; going from gorging myself to forcing exercise. Sure it kept my weight somewhat under control ("overweight" but not "obese"). But exercising wasn't the real solution. It was only a mere band aid. I'm not sure if what I was doing is considered "excessive exercise"; but mentally... I was abusing the purpose of being physically active. I think I may have been one of the lucky ones that saw what was happening before it got out of control. There are people who exercise for hours each day; just to get that "perfect" body. It can become such an obsession that it is all they want to do. Just like food may call to an emotional eater; exercise calls to someone who is "addicted" to exercise. There are probably many varying degrees of this.... but I'm not going to go there. Whatever level or degree someone participates in this is simply not healthy. WHY do you Exercise? Yes, exercise in general is a GOOD thing. But what matters more is the reason or motivation behind it! So how did I stop compensating with exercise? Time, patience, and understanding why I did all of the abuse to myself in the first place. I leaned a lot on my journal... along with overcoming binge eating; this obligatory exercise dissipated also. Below are a few more pages to explore what may help: Helpful Resource: www.EndlessHumanPotential.com is a site that provides FREE resources for an almost endless stream of information and tools for the development of human potential, athletic achievement and personal development. The object of this site is about teaching true physical and psychological development and not just the outside appearance of such. Return to Homepage from "Excessive Exercise"
|
