Bit of a deep one today, as I explore orthorexia and exercise addiction.
A couple of weeks ago I spoke about the importance of recognising when to stop. Sometimes in our quest to be fitter / leaner / stronger we can actually lose sight of being healthy. In fact, one of my clients recently asked “Is there anything wrong with just plateauing” instead of always chasing the next goal / smaller dress size / heavier barbell? My answer was a simple “no” – great health should always come first and foremost, so if you do everything with that in mind, it doesn’t matter if you don’t get faster on every run, and you don’t crack out a PB on every deadlift.
But is it possible to be too healthy? Can our quest for health go too far?
Well, yes, I believe it can. Unfortunately I think it’s really hard to draw the line so, as has become my mantra, health and happiness must reign supreme. If you are happy in your choices and your health is good, then don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. Sadly, however, it’s all too common to chase better health and actually end up feeling bloody miserable. Sometimes that’s through very restrictive diets that leave you starving and lacking energy (definitely not good for your health, nor your happiness), and other times it’s through beating yourself up about eating the “wrong” food or not completing a work out. As I have touched on before, feelings of guilt should be a massive red flag. Guilt is a warning that something isn’t right. You should never feel guilty for eating a muffin, nor for opting to rest when you know your body needs it.
I appreciate that some of you will be reading this and thinking “if only that were my issue” – I know lots of people have the opposite problem of struggling to eat healthily and failing to do any exercise, and that’s something we can work on! But there are people at the other end of the spectrum who get so addicted to exercise and eating “clean” that it can become quite dangerous.
With regards to the nutrition side of things, I really do think there is a very fine line between what can be considered an exceptionally healthy diet versus what is bordering on OCD type behaviour. Welcome to orthorexia, a relatively new term which describes an eating disorder based not on calories and quantity of foods consumed, but on the purity of the food. One article I read while researching this topic defined orthorexia as “creating a diet limited only to foods which support optimum wellbeing.”
At first this really angered me. I mean, really? Is it now considered a crime to choose to eat well and to nourish your body? Utterly ridiculous. For the record, and at the risk of being labelled orthorexic, I genuinely believe that we should all be looking to consume foods that are not processed, nor full of preservatives and sugar, and that support us from the inside out. But then I read on and delved a little deeper and found this:
“In addition to these basic restrictions, orthorexics sometimes develop an obsession with the physical cleanliness of their food, and therefore only eat foods that have been washed repeatedly and cooked well enough to avoid any potential exposure to bacteria or other microorganisms. Orthorexics also frequently avoid eating in any setting where they don’t personally control food preparation, including restaurants and other people’s homes.”*
It looks like that is where the line is. Eating healthily is one thing, but developing a fear of anything that isn’t 100% “pure” is another. So if your quest to eat well leads you to turn down dinner party invitations, or brings you out in a cold sweat every time you go to a restaurant, it’s time to re-evaluate. You are clearly not happy. As I said, I am all for avoiding as much of the crap as possible, and so I do have an organic veg and meat box delivered, and my husband and I do cook from fresh, and my pantry isn’t stocked with boxes of kellogs cereals, nor my fridge with low-fat flavoured yoghurts. In a world that has become increasingly toxic, it’s important to make sensible choices. That being said, I enjoy eating out (even if I know that the chicken probably wasn’t the happiest of chickens), I am partial to a bag of choccies when I go to the cinema, and I’ll generally eat whatever is put in front of me. I love food. Really. I have a good appetite and see sharing food as a really pleasurable, sociable experience. But I also respect my body and don’t choose to fill it with rubbish day in day out. Does that make me orthorexic? I think not, because I don’t fear food. I am happy to go with the flow but also have a strong opinion when it comes to what goes on at home where I do have control over not just food, but other items such as toiletries, cleaning products and so on. Anyway, I digress – so let’s get back on track…
On the exercise front it’s a similar story. There is definitely a line between doing a lot of exercise and having an unhealthy exercise addiction. There is no right amount of exercise that you should do, so it’s not a case of saying that six times a week is excessive and once a week is too little. Much like nutrition, everyone is unique and has different requirements. So how can you ascertain whether you’re addicted to exercise as opposed to simply enjoying being active?
For me personally, it’s about finding a balanced exercise programme that addresses all your body’s needs. If you can maintain a strong body that is pain free, and enables you to do the things you love then you’re on the right track. If, however, your chosen training plan often leads to injury, fatigue or both, then it’s time for a rethink. Similarly, if you are compelled to add in an extra workout because you’ve eaten a lot, or feel anxious when you miss a training session then consider those red flags. The danger comes when your addiction causes you to push on despite injury, rather than allowing your body the time it needs to recover.
Here’s me being tested in a double 16kg strict press at the StrongFirst certification last May, pushing on through a serious spinal sprain. My face says it all, don’t you think? I thought I had just about recovered in time for certification, but minutes after this photo was taken I was on the physio’s couch in agony.
Not my best look
Whilst most of the people I work with battle with fitting in enough exercise, I do have clients who struggle with the concept of rest, especially if they are trying to lose weight or lean out. In some cases less is more, because over-exercising causes huge stress to the body, which in turn leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels, which will likely mean you cling on to fat (particular in the abdominal region).
This is a big topic which I could devote a lot more time to, but this post is already a bit of an essay. If you do want to read more on exercise addiction, then click HERE for a great article on the subject.
In the meantime, stay healthy, stay happy and do what works for you.
*Source: http://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com