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monsweet Member 
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well to date iv lost 5 and a half stone in 31 weeks but its starting to take over mylife. everyone i speak to say i need to see someone for help becuase of how obsessed i am about sticking to my routines. here is what iv done the last week and let me know your thoughts, pls note that the exercise is split into 3 sections morning afternoon and evening on an exercise bike in vigerous effort. Monday-calories 1356 exercise on bike 2h 15 minutes, 30 minutes weights Tuesday-calories 1261 exercise on bike 2hr 10 minutes wednesday-calories 1327 exercise on bike 2hrs 10 minutes, 20 minute walk and 30 minute weights Thursday-calories 1198 exercise on bike 2hrs Friday-calories 1436 exercise on bike 2h 45 mins, 30 minutes weights so thats over 5 days, i do the same routine 7 days a week, am i obsessed? do i need help? i have to admit that my anxiety goes through the roof if i even think about not doing it so god know how id be if i didnt. Im the same with food, if i eat something naughty ill still after doing all that biking id still put in another half hour somewhere. iv still got another 20lb to loose and this is the only way in my eyes. opinions?? |
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Nir Senior Administrator 
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Averaging it out you have lost 2.5lb a week over a period of 7 months - quite the project - clearly required some dedication to pull off. So far so good. Let's say you are female, 5'11", 14.5st. With a metabolism that has not been subjected to a deficit, you might be able to maintain that weight on 2100 calories without exercise. Well you don't want to stand still just yet - you have another 20lb to lose. You have not said how urgent this feels to you. Is 1lb/week OK? 1.5lb/week? 0.5lb/week? Your exercise averages to 2 hours 35 minutes a day - over 18 hours a week - I don't think I quite got there even at my most obsessive (but maybe I did). I have certainly tapered down my exercise commitment over several years. Most recently my daily averaged daily commitment has reduced from an average 90 minutes to 60-70. Different people have different feelings with regards to exercise. With some, they are just very attached to a particular routine. (I happen to have autism so I can relate to being attached to routines quite a bit.) Sometimes one still does a routine even though it has outgrown its usefulness. That is still similar to fear of change, but it can also be similar to a 'compulsion' as described in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Then at the other end there is 'Exercise Bullimia' where again the person feels OK only if they exercise a lot. I think the amount of exercise you are undertaking is not extreme given the project you have just completed, but it will probably be overkill going forward, and I am more concerned about how you feel about your exercise, than the exercise itself. Also, depending on the intensity, 18 hours a week can lead to "overtraining" which will manifest itself as you feeling unwell. You say you've been eating 1000-1200 calories a day - and you seem to be counting how many calories you are burning in some way (perhaps what the exercise equipment reports) and perhaps trying to make it more than what you eat? Well I am trying to tease apart the fact that your approach of eating modestly and exercising quite a bit has worked quite effectively, but that you will need to physically change what you are doing (exercise less and eat more) before long, and that it is possible this is just a rigid routine you need to change, or you might have a more serious problem on your hand and require some ED-specific counselling. I never counted my exercise but gradually letting go of it seemed weird. As I have more other things to do I find myself more OK with doing less. I counted my food intake very obsessively for 4+ years and getting off that proved very challenging it took about 1.5 years to manage. What do you think? |
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Nir Senior Administrator
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Also, do you think that advice/opinion you received in February ( see forum19/16084.html ) contributed to your 'obsession' issue? |
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monsweet Member
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Hi, Thanks for your reply. My aim is to loose 2+ bls a week and as quick as possible! Once I'm down to the weight I wish to be then hopefully maintain it but I'm also worried that once I do get to my healthy weight, will I be able to stop doing what I'm doing and just continue with the healthy lifestyle! I feel constantly bogged down with 'diet and exercise' on the brain. I did 45 minutes as soon as I got out of bed this morning then 60 minutes 2hrs later but since finishing that I'm constantly thinking about getting my next 45 minutes into my day! Even though the thought of doing it makes me feel moody, once iv done it I feel great but then even think about doing even more. I feel really depressed if I can't stick to my routine and if I over eat that depression gets even worse! For example, yesterday I did 2hrs 45 minutes on the bike, ate 1400 calories then still felt extremely hungry about 8pm so I ended up eating another 200 calories which put me in a really awful mood because I do try not to eat past 6pm! I'm driving myself totally insane!! Also with my sister being spurred onto get fit seeing my results I'm also obsessed with getting lighter than her (only a couple of pounds difference) . I don't think any advice given her made me obsess about it all, I'm very obsessive about everything in my life even down to the hoovering! I just don't want what I'm doing to make me fail in some way, I lost 3lb 6 last week and haven't lost anymore since Friday even though I'm doing more exercise and eating the same! How it all works does pickle my brain!! |
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Nir Senior Administrator
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If you don't intend to regain weight then you will always need to be vigilant about what you eat to an extent. You know that left unchecked you have the capacity to eat the wrong thing and/or at greater quantities. Some exercise is great for health both now and into our old age (current recommendations are 5-7 hours a week and athletes do more) and obviously helps with maintenance of weight-loss but as you get closer to your goal weight and assuming there are other more interesting or productive things you could do with your time ( for example courses on http://www.coursera.org , part-time work, or whatever life presents you with ) Weight fluctuations as a fact of life, even with weight maintenance and keeping most variables the same. I do use a graphing website in the hope of understanding them better but ultimately I am baffled. That means that when I am weight-stable around a certain weight for a long period my morning weight still oscillates wildly in a 3lb / 1.5kg range. am i obsessed? do i need help? Let me hit back with some self-assessment questions - how do you score on that quiz? In addition to that fellowship (which I personally find very useful), you could make an appointment to see your GP and ask what they think. They might in turn refer you to IAPT for some CBT sessions or refer you to an ASTI (adult short term intervention) assessment. Yet another avenue to explore is: I'm very obsessive about everything in my life even down to the hoovering! The example I have is that I am Autistic (with high function, and a degree from Cambridge - and only finally diagnosed as I approached my 40s) whilst my friend is crippled with OCD and in both our cases that description can apply (my routines, their compulsions), so it might be useful to delve deeper - to learn more about yourself and what makes you tick. |
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