Yes...it's possible! The word "addiction" give us images of
people in dark rooms, listening to bad music and sticking needles in
their arms, but many addicts can be found in the gym or on the local
school track, getting just as addictive a fix. In fact, the positive
nature of the word "healthy" makes health and fitness addiction all the
more alluring. Despite the positive media, health addicts have done as
much damage to their families and lives as any other kind of addict. In
this article, we'll look under the surface of health and fitness
addiction and find a path to recovery.
How
Can Something So Good Be Bad? In our modern Western culture, those
willing to pay the price for fitness are to be applauded. There are just
so many temptations to do otherwise. Exercise is mostly boring, painful
and smelly, so those who endure it for about an hour, 3-5 days a week,
have achieved a level of discipline most only dream of.
Health and
fitness addiction is not about health or fitness...it's about a
compulsion to use healthy activities to fill a void we see in ourselves.
Addicts are compelled, not disciplined. The addictive chemicals
involved in exercise are much the same as those in sex and porn
addiction. This may explain why many people suffer from both sexual
addictions and health addictions.
Types Of Health And Fitness
Addiction: These are addictions to the activities of health and fitness,
as opposed to the TV, Internet and shopping addictions which could
involve health themes. Health and fitness addictions are compulsions to
engage in "healthy" activities, like exercise, dieting, etc. In fact,
anorexia and bulimia nervosa have both been described as severe health
and fitness addictions. Two key symptoms of these mental disorders are
exercise and dietary control to a compulsive and excessive extreme. The
specific exercise or diet plan doesn't matter. It's an addiction when
you feel compelled to do it.
How Do I Know I'm Addicted? We
addicts don't often recognize addiction because a common symptom of
addiction is denial, which is even easier to have about health. That's
why it's easier to find out from a friend or loved one if you have a
problem in this area. For health addiction involving eating, see
Anorexia Nervosa Quiz. Here are some things to watch out for concerning fitness exercise addiction:
1. Do you regularly spend more than 8 hours a week exercising and is the time you spend increasing?
2. Does your exercise schedule interfere with normal family activities, home or work responsibilities?
3. Do friends or family members complain about the time or money you spend on fitness?
4. Have you wondered if you're being too compulsive about your fitness program?
5. Have you lied to your family, friends, or employers about the time you spend in fitness activities?
6. Do you often see fitness as a way to gain acceptance or praise from others?
7. Have you ever pushed so hard in your fitness program you hurt yourself?
If
you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider
yourself at risk of addiction. If you answered yes to 3 or more, you're
probably addicted.
How Do I Recover From Health And Fitness
Addiction? This is caused by a negative self-image, like any other
addiction. Instead of alcohol, you use exercise to fill a void you feel
in yourself. Since the relief produced by exercise is only temporary and
you become conditioned, you need regular increases in the activity to
produce the same relief. Unlike alcohol, a certain amount of fitness
activity is required for health, so, you can't just quit. Instead, we
have to hold ourselves to no more than an hour a day, 3-5 days a week.
Spend
the rest of the time you used to exercise going to AA or other
addiction meetings and engaging in self-development activities. You
could read, go back to school, join a volunteer group. You could take up
a hobby, like gardening or building model airplanes. To help in
building yourself up, avoid negative mental inputs, like the news,
drama, negative, insulting friends. Replace those with good music or
reading or other activities that build you up. Push all the negative,
self-defeating, limiting thoughts out of your mind with positive,
uplifting, encouraging thoughts.
Because there are risks that
health and fitness addiction could develop into full-blown anorexia, if
you try and fail to get a handle on your addiction, please see a doctor.
Sometimes medical and psychological therapy can prevent a more serious
condition from developing, and allow you the mental energies you need to
get control of yourself.
Health and fitness addiction can be just
as severe as any other addiction. It can imprison us into destructive,
compulsive activities. We can place our families, our careers, even,
ironically, our health at risk through addiction to exercise and other
fitness activities. The good news is, there is hope for anyone willing
to live in and work on recovery.