Exercise bulimia and overexercising? Try a flexible approach

Exercise shouldn’t control your life, or your schedule. I used to get stressed about eating breakfast if I didn’t exercise first, or if I didn’t have exercise planned for a time slot immediately after breakfast. In the same way binge eating can be a slippery slope to bulimia (bingeing and purging), overexercising can be a slippery slope to exercise bulimia.

What’s the difference between overexercising and exercise bulimia?

Overexercising involves fitness that’s too intense, too frequent, or too long in duration.  Exercise bulimia is a form of purging – exercising to compensate for binge eating or even normal eating.

They seem to overlap a bit. Both are obsessive. Both can become compulsive. And both can detract from other meaningful elements of your life that deserve time and care: work, relationships, passion projects, rest, etc.

I’ve definitely had a tendency for both overexercise and exercise bulimia over the years:

• In high school: Going for early-morning jogs before school even though I had tennis practice after school
• In college: Running for an hour on the treadmill, then cycling for an hour
• In my 20s: Running 8 miles, then taking an hour-long hot yoga class

I rarely rested, and I don’t know how my body did it, especially during the years when excess exercise overlapped with bulimia. From a scheduling standpoint, it felt fairly easy – I did all of this during a time when I was only responsible for myself. I didn’t have dogs or a kid. I had either long-distance relationships or relationships that weren’t particularly deep or time-consuming. I had flexible or predictable jobs.

But overexercising and exercise bulimia also create a lot of stress. In my experience, I had to earn my food. I had to figure out how to get “enough” exercise in when traveling. I would freak out when I couldn’t get a morning workout in and feel upset and unsteady until I could get it in. I was also underfueled and felt like crap.

I got to a point where I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and think: “All I did was exercise. All I did was burn calories.” There’s so much more that deserves time and attention in each day.

How to work on being more flexible with exercise

Talk therapy helped me figure out – and take – a first step to letting overexercise and exercise bulimia go. I had to be more flexible. 

• Flexible with when I worked out. I started to let myself get more rest and work out midday or after work or even late at night, instead of just the mornings.
• Flexible with what type of workout I did. I started to trust that I didn’t have to run every day to burn the “right” number of calories, or practice yoga every day to grow my practice and be a “real yogi.” I started to mix in weights and walking and cycling – and even rest days.
• Flexible with how long I worked out. I started with trusting that one workout a day is enough, and one hour a day is enough. Now that I’ve been through injuries and pregnancy and early motherhood, I also trust that any amount of time is enough in a day. 20 minutes is great. 30 minutes is fabulous – and a sweet spot for being consistent, getting a mood boost and being able to see some gains. Do I still love an hour-long run or yoga class? Heck yes. But I don’t force it anymore; I’m grateful when I do get that chunk of time for movement.

If you’re ready to practice building some flexibility into your workouts, take a look at your calendar and try planning a week of workouts. What variety will you build in? What different times of day will you try out? When will you block 30 minutes and when will you block an hour? More flexible behavior with exercise might help you release some tension around it – and it might help you see that you can be healthy and strong and fit without spending so much time on it. Mostly, I hope it helps you see what other lovely and meaningful things you find more time for.