Stop Exercising
December 7, 2013
Seriously. Stop. If you are addicted at all to exercising, stop. If you have any past of restrictive eating or imbalanced energy intake and expenditure, stop. Stop stop stop.
I know how addictive exercise can be to a disordered eating/body dysmorphic mind. I know. I also know that moving and weight bearing activity can feel AMAZING and is VERY good for you and life affirming. But not the way so many of us do it, and not if your body needs to heal and become nourished and fix your metabolism.
Seriously. Stop.
Your body can regulate its eating and burning and metabolism easier and faster without exercising.
And, if you want to sit for 2 weeks, or 2 months… or more, straight on your couch, so be it.
I promise you will want to move again, and then and only then, when you genuinely want to move- can you add in exercising again.
Exercise should not be one of those things that stresses you out or makes you feel bad (doing or not doing it).
Only when you leave it and realize that your life and body are fine without it, can you add it back in in a healthy and sustainable way.
NOTE: For anyone who is going to comment and say “BUT EXERCISE IS GOOD FOR YOU”. I know. Believe me I know. Just not the way disordered eaters and exercisers do it. Stopping is more beneficial in that case. For anyobne who is going to comment and say “BUT EXERCISING MAKES ME FEEL SO GOOD”. I believe you, if you are sure you are not addicted or using it to go into a deficit or to “burn off your food” obsessively, then fine! But you secretly know if skipping exercise stresses you out in an obsessive way. You know!
Healthy and sustainable and life affirming movement and activity is part of continuing to allow your body to be a Badass machine… but not in the beginning. And maybe not for a while.
You’ll know when to add it back in. You add it back in when its just a nice addition to your day, not a way to “repent” or obsessively feel like you are countering all the eating you are doing.
And check out my workbook if you haven’t already.
Fuck Diets. Fuck being skinny.
Great post!
How can one stop? If I don’t workout, I cannot focus on anything else. Also, I end up binging 99% of the times when I don’t workout. It may be an obsession but it would be much worse if I did not do it. So I guess I don’t know how to stop because I would be thinking about it constantly and not focusing on other things. I also would probably end up binging. What are your thoughts? Thank you for writing the blog, BTW.
I understand. I recommend switching out long session of cardio with strength training/yoga sort of stuff and/or short sessions of cardio. If you cannot just take a breather, which i understand is psychologically hard to do, that would be a good start.
Thank you for your reply.