Re-feeding was a very difficult task. Every time I ate I felt dirty, sick, nauseous, like I had sinned against God, disappointed my family and ruined my life.
Eating was hard. But I had to do it.
When I finally started to consume a wider variety of foods and increase my calorie intake - my problems changed. I used exercise to ‘get rid’ or ‘purge’ myself of the calories I consumed. It became a way to punish myself for my sins. Every consumed calorie had to be deleted or expelled.
There was going to be no break or exercise ‘off day’ if there was food around.
I ate and I exercised. This became my life and still is today.
This condition is termed over-exercise disorder. Individuals can do up to 8hrs a day of exercise. It is as equally harmful to the body and mind as anorexia. Here’s a short list of examples describing the condition and its consequences:
- No 'off days’: the body will get tired, it won’t recover properly leading to muscle fatigue, loss of strength, injury, joint damage and muscle wasting.
- Amenorrhoea: stress put on the body due to exercise and in some cases low body fat %, can result in the body telling you, 'Nope, you ain’t having kids like this’. This is just a protective and survival mechanism to prevent against miscarriage and still births. It is saying that yes you are fit, but not fit enough for kids.
- Loss of social life: a person who has to exercise 3-8+ hours a day will have no time to go out, keep to social commitments, go for parties, hangout with friends, etc. This can have a reciprocal detrimental impact on mental health.
- Can’t eat meals late at night: Eating out at night can be a troublesome task as most junkies need to exercise after - which becomes difficult if you are eating out in the city at 9pm…
- Difficulty keeping a job or studying: having to wake up at 4am to fit in a 3hour session in the morning and then coming home at 7pm with about 3 more hours to complete…
Overall, if you have over-exercise disorder you’d most likely be fit. But are you really fit?
Hppe this gives you an Insight into this condition. If you have any questions, feel free to message me :)
Much love,
Annie.