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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Jun-21-18, 21:54
BillyHW's Avatar
BillyHW BillyHW is offline
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Default Is There Such A Thing As Exercisorexia?

So yesterday I was reading something (can't remember where), where someone was positing that counting calories is a kind of eating disorder. I had never though of it that way before, but come to think of it, it sounds true. No other species counts calories or obsesses about calories. Their bodies just regulate their appetite and weight naturally without them thinking about it.

The first thing that came to mind was my sister who has always counted calories. And I think she kind of fit the bill.

And then I got to remembering how utterly obsessive she is about exercising. It's practically a religion for her. It's a much bigger deal for her than even the calorie counting. Is it possible that over-exercise is also a kind of disorder similar to anorexia?

(And come to think of it...twice in my past life I think I've been unhealthily obsessive about exercise. At one point I was going to the gym twice a day. Ugh.)
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  #2   ^
Old Fri, Jun-22-18, 09:08
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teaser teaser is offline
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I think they call it exorexia or something.

There's a thing in rats where if you restrict their calories, and provide them with an exercise wheel, they'll run themselves into an emaciated state. This is a common thing in human anorexics as well, excess exercise paired with too little food.

Probably on a spectrum, there's people with a bit of a tendency, and then those who go way overboard.
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Old Fri, Jun-22-18, 15:16
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Kristine Kristine is offline
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I know who you’re talking about - he had that as a quote in his sig and I had it out with him over it. Eating disorders are an insidious, life-sapping condition and merely counting calories ain’t it. You can’t take a behaviour that’s encouraged by the medical establishment and then decide that that, in and of itself, is a disorder.

No other species counts money, either... that doesn’t necessarily make it a pathological behaviour. No other species decided to refine and consume massive amounts of sugar and starch. When we feed these to our hapless domesticated animals, they want to eat themselves to obesity just like we do. So the “other animals just listen to their appetites” thing is moot. So would we, if all we had to eat was stuff we had to kill or pick off a tree.

“Spectrum” was the word I was going to use, too, Teaser. There’s not exactly a definitive line in the sand with such disorders. A loose one, if you had to come up with one, is to ask if the behaviour(s) are having deleterious effects on one’s life rather than improving it. If it leads to isolation, obsession, poor performance/loss of interest in school/work/hobbies, poor self-esteem... that’s when you’re getting in trouble. Those are just the mental/emotional effects.

You might have been thinking of orthorexia - obsession with diet, extreme anxiety and pinning one’s self-worth on how “pure” their diet is and how well they can stick to it.

There is also such thing as exercise addiction and exercise bulimia.
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  #4   ^
Old Fri, Jun-22-18, 16:17
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BillyHW BillyHW is offline
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Gosh I hope I don't turn into an orthorexic with this keto stuff.

But how does one do exercise bulimia? How does one "purge" exercise so to speak?
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Old Fri, Jun-22-18, 18:04
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Kristine Kristine is offline
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It refers to extreme exercising in response to a binge, basically, as opposed to vomiting, which is the purge behaviour that most people associate with bulimia nervosa.
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  #6   ^
Old Fri, Jun-22-18, 18:26
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Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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obsessions also have a link to brain function, and often a need for an OTC supplement to balance the brain chemistry. I find Dr Amen very knowledgeable about such things.
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Old Fri, Jun-22-18, 19:26
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BillyHW BillyHW is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristine
It refers to extreme exercising in response to a binge, basically, as opposed to vomiting, which is the purge behaviour that most people associate with bulimia nervosa.


Okay, gotcha.
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