I get angry just reading this... Basically, the quote is Bullshit. No you dont always continue. Its ok to rest. You dont have to workout all the time. Exercise 24/7... Infact.. working out 24/7 isnt helping anything!!! Because you over exercise.. Rest is a very important factor. If you dont rest, your body doesnt recover... and it cant improve... you are just wearing out your muscles... destroying them infact.
You dont always keep going. I remember reading this while i was sick, and i remember i had felt tired that day, i hadnt eaten anything.... so i hadnt run that day... i had decided to just 'not eat' anything instead of exercising. Then i saw that picture/quote... and i got such anxiety.. because i was like... i should have run, i felt so panicky.
I was an over exerciser while i was sick with anorexia. Exercise was a compulsion, an addiction... and it went overboard .It controlled my life...
i was out walking 2-3 hours a day, every day. No matter what the weather. I didnt let myself rest at all... from 6am till 11pm, i was on my feet... literally. I didnt allow myself to sit down, that was how bad my overactivity was.
I pushed myself... i didnt care so much about improving... i didnt want to gain muscle... i wanted to lose wieght. I needed to exercise, there is no other way to describe it... it felt like soemthign bad would happen if i didnt exercise....
Getting over my exercise problem was hard... very. Aswell as starting to eat again, and not allowed to exercise was hard.... dealing with 2 problems at once... and even more really. As i had to stop self harming while in recovery....
But i did... i did overcome my exercie addiction. Of course.. you may be sitting at home thinking, this girl is full of bullshit. Here she is, saying that she loves exercise... and goes to the gym... but shes gotten over her exercise problem... i dont believe it??
Well if you are thinking that, you can think whatever you want.
Yes, i do love exercise... that doesnt mean that im continuously exercising. Exercise doesnt control my life... i have a balance. If im tired or stressed or just dont feel like it... i dont go out running. I mean somedays i might plan, oh ill go to the gym after school. But hten i feel really tired or have loads of work, then i dont have a problem to just go home and skip the gym.
Yes, i do want to improve... see results, i.e be able to run faster, life heaveier weights... but im not going to kill myself with workouts to do that... and i definitely dont work out to burn calories... i run/workout because i enjoy it... because i get a good feeling in my body . Because i feel happy.
But what im getting at is that... You have to rest. You cant keep going.
while i was sick i started running 6 times a week, and i ended hurting my knee and hip... but i though, ahh... i cant just rest. Ill keep running anyway... and i could so easily have damaged my knee while doing that, but then i was admitted to hospital and wasnt allowed to run.
I can still notice it sometimes now, that if i run a little to often ill get a searing pain in my knee, and i cant run for a week or more... i am very careful with that. I definitely dont run if my knee or hip hurts, as i have 2 friends who have damaged their knees from running too much, and can barely run now a days...
I have the balance, i have the knowledge to knwo that... its ok to rest. I dont always have to keep going.
I mean it happens when i decided to go out running, and i jsut feel so tired, that somedays i turn back and go home, or i just go walking instead... that i know its ok to be tired and not have the energy.
That is something which everyone has to learn... i think looking at Fitspo or Thinspo... doesnt help anyone at all. It just triggers... you see pictures and think, i dont look like that. And you feel bad about yourself... the thing is... no you dont look like the girl on the pictures, because you're you. You dont have to look like them...you just have to be happy....
And really, who wants to starve themself... not eat just to be thin? Who wants to spend several hours a day working out at the gym to look like a fucking fitness model?
No... you want to live your life with balance...
So i know this is an annoying Qn, but how DID you quit the exercise? like how did u deal with the anxiety and the guilt??? i feel exactly the same, like something bad will happen if i dont... how do i get over that??
ReplyDeleteAny advice would be amazing, you are such a great inspiration :-)
xx
This is so inspiring to read!! I'd love to know how you got over you exercise problem aswell... it feels like I'm stuck in this exercise circle.i can't eat if I don't exercise. And even then I barely eat :/ I don't know what to do.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this!!! Being still prone to my eating and exercise disorder I get so anxious and angry reading these to!!! Because that's my problem, I always think I could do MORE, and BETTER and that's why I'm almost destroying myself with the rpessure I always put onto myself!!
ReplyDeleteA healthy balance is the key, we need rest as much as we need exercise, and sometimes it's good to consciously take a rest instead of exercising...I mean it's unhealthy to exercise until everything hurts, including our psyche...
Hope you're having a good day!! :)
<3 x
@ Clemmy and anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI know EXACTLY what you mean!!! It's gotten a bit better with me...I exercise a lot because I also like the exercise I'm doing, but honestly, sometimes I think I could do without it and there is still this old feeling that I HAVE to exercise regularily in order to eat the way I eat, to look the way I look...
But NO, we needn't justify our eating - eating was there before treadmills, weights and Co!! Lets just think of our BMRs...so even if we didn't move AT ALL we would have to eat, because there are so many physical functions taking place in our bodies, i.e. something that keeps our heart beating, our blood flowing, enbles us to breathe...and when we're up all day, doing anything really....we have our muscles that are used, our brain (really important, the bloody thing requires enormous amounts of energy!!! - at least mine haha;) ) ...and yeah...I think you get the idea..?
Maybe that helps a little, looking at it from that perspective...our body is not like dead or numbed or anything whenever we don't do what we call 'exercise'...it's working ALL THE TIME.
And eating is something we do FIRST, and we don't have to justify it by doing exercise, or earn it first. On the contrary, when we exercise we need to eat more, compensate for what we just burnt....exercise for us is not there for burning anything, it's for keeping us FIT, that is, our bodies flexible...we boost our immune system with it, we might built and train our muscles...we don't exercise to lose weight!!!!!!
And then exercise is really something that can be defined by anything where the body moves or is challenged in any way...also walking, doing housework, studying, shopping, going to the bus/tram/train...
Of course there are those classifications such as cardio, strength training...and then those many 'must-phrases' like ' you need to exercise for X minutes to achieve Y'...this is all rubbish!!! I mean not ALL is rubbish....there is some science behind it for sure, but only people either on weight loss or those who do sports for a living need to in a way follow these guidelines...
As an average person recovering from an eating disorder and/or else we MAY follow those guidelines but not RIGOROUSLY...the best guidelines for us are
- what do we like doing?
- how much can our body take without hurting?
- what makes us feel relaxed
- how much can we exercise without getting hungry (if we get hungry from it - EAT!)
-...I'm sure you could think of so many more...:)
Sorry Izzy for misusing your blog for my ramblings!!!!;) I just run really hot when it comes to topics like these...it's something that concerns most of us???
It would be really great if you could post something on how you overcame your problems with exercise when you were recovering...you have such a much more healthier perspective on such things than for example I have^^!!!!
Have a good day everyone!! x
Hahah, dont worry about it!! I love what you wrote.. and i agree with everything!! I am the same as you.. hence why i wrote the post. I hate all those quotes, telling people to keep going no matter what.. i think thats just BS. sure if you are obese, and do absaloutly nothing..t hen i guess they might find it good... but still. The body has a limit of how much it can take.
DeleteAnd like you said, everyone has BMR, which is how much we burn by just being alive... we can lie in bed all day, and burn X amount.. And i love the guidelines you wrote!!
If you dont NEED to lose weight or arent some pro-athlete then why are we forcing ourselves to do exercise wee hate... what i hate most, is seeing people pushing themselve to run even though they hate it... its like, there are so manydifferent froms of exercise.. you dont need to run? And it just looks like they're hurting themselves aswell...:/
We should find an activity which we love.. i mean we should try different types... and find the one we love and dont mind doing.. find enjoyment doing that activity!!
And like you said... i mean we have to eat more when we exercise!!
We should exercise to keep our body feeling good, because i mean when you exercise.. your ealise endorphins, which are happy feelings, so you feel good after youve exercised!! And to improve our immune system etc!
You are so knowledgable! And have so many good things to say.! You should definitely write something like what you wrote here on your blog! Im sure many would appreciate it!! :)
x
Actually, I think that quote is a good one. I know people that as soon as it does begin to hurt they give up. You're reading too much into it. You've brought your serious troubles into a simple quote. I remember jogging on a treadmill and as soon as I began to feel a slight burn I would stop. Never able to jog through a whole song on the radio. With no visible results after a month and getting somewhat frustrated and depressed, I finally decided to run through an ENTIRE 3 minute song and kept running for the next 3 songs. The results after were amazing. So the quote is true. Haven't you ever watched the Biggest Loser? They want to give up so quickly, but within time they are amazed at what they thought their body could not do.
ReplyDeleteThe quote doesn't say anywhere about NOT taking a rest. Common sense tells you, you have to.
Just my opinion.
You have to understand that people who read my blog often have eating disorders and/or exercise compulsion/addictions.They take exercise TOO far...If i were to be writing to people who are overweight and needt o lose weight i would tell them that actually you can keep going... buts its very different from someone who is constantly exercising, a voice in their head telling them that they cant stop even if they feel pain, to someone who would much rather lie on the sofa all day than run for 5 minutes...
DeleteIm not sure if you have actually read my blog, or?
And i think some of these quotes are just too far... telling people that they cant give up unless they are puking or about to faint, i dont know what type of message that is sending out, but its nto a healthy one anyway.