Exercise is always associated with staying healthy and in shape. But there is also such a thing as unhealthy exercise – that is when exercise becomes an obsession. When your exercise goals are not about health and fitness and singularly about burning calories, and when your exercise habits have become a compulsion and detrimental to your health and overall lifestyle, then you might have what is called “exercise bulimia.”
Here are the signs you should watch out for:
- Exercising for the singular purpose of burning calories
- Having anxiety and feeling agitated and irritable when you miss a workout
- Exercising even when you are sick or injured
- Refusing to eat if you haven’t exercised
- Exercising several times and/or hours per day, every day
- Planning your schedule around your workout
- Prioritizing exercise over everything else, including family and friends
- Suffering from amenorrhea, dehydration, exhaustion, osteoporosis, and other health conditions caused by excessive physical activity
