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"You're applauded when you go to the gym and your arms look great in a sun dress," says Paula Quatromoni, a registered dietitian, sports nutritionist and chair of the department of health sciences at Boston University. It's not new, but experts say the disorder may be on the rise - fueled, in part, by a selfie culture that privileges extreme healthy living, our near-worshipful embrace of the carb-and-gluten-free lifestyle and reverence for a virtuous diet and fit body. It's hard to quantify precisely how many people struggle with exercise addiction, also known as exercise bulimia, exercise anorexia or driven exercise. "I worked so hard to be healthy, but I'm not," she says. She hasn't had a period in six years. Now, as a result, Lisa, who is 25, has osteoporosis in her lower spine and hip. Her weight dropped to 112 pounds on a 5-foot-6 frame. Thoughts about food and exercise consumed her: "Any extra energy I had would go to.thinking about my next meal, my next snack, what I'd be able to eat next. She had "fear foods" she'd avoid: no cake, brownies or cookies, of course, but also, no cheese or pasta.
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And as her exercise obsession deepened, she began restricting her food intake too, mostly to salads and vegetables. The thought of missing even one daily workout triggered massive anxiety, she says. "Every aspect of my life was dictated by exercise and food and the need to control it all." Lisa M. "Every aspect of my life was dictated by exercise and food and the need to control it all," says Lisa, who asked that her last name not be used because she is still in treatment. In order to fulfill her self-imposed exercise requirements, Lisa skipped Christmas Eve gatherings, birthdays, weddings and dates with someone she loved and "very likely lost" because of her illness, she says. "I didn't want that to happen to me."įor the next six years, Lisa says, she never missed a day at the gym unless it was preplanned and she could make it up later. "In my head there was that picture of my sister," Lisa said in an interview.
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joined a gym as soon as she started college at Bridgewater State University, determined not to pack on an extra 15 pounds freshman year like her older sister. (Courtesy of Scott Webb/Unsplash) This article is more than 5 years old. Experts say it’s tricky to determine precisely how many people struggle with exercise addiction because it can masquerade behind socially acceptable intentions like getting fit at the gym.