How to realize that you’re too obsessed with HEA and fitness

Addiction to sports is as much an addiction as alcoholism or the need to start the morning with a cigarette. And the main reason is a psychological loss of control over life, not a desire to get in shape. A person in this state constantly feels the need to improve performance and increase the weights with which he works. Even though the load is already high, the barbell becomes heavier and the dumbbells more massive – this can have serious consequences.

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Exercise is a great solution. But sometimes it happens that we get too carried away. And besides the fact that it negatively affects the state of the body, this approach can lead to nutritional problems.

And addiction can begin even in a person who simply decided to improve the figure. At first everything goes calmly: the values on the scales fall, training becomes more successful, the desired indicators are achievable. From this euphoria begins – and if at least some aspects of life go wrong at this point, the euphoria can have a substitute effect.

Compensatory mechanisms are maxed out, and the desire for optimal results takes on forms that negatively affect the overall condition.

The norm is the desire to do sports in accordance with the advice of the coach. Or it is simply the observance of regularity, when there is a one or two day break between strength training (to allow the body to gain lost resources), and cardio is done either in the morning or immediately after the main gym visit. When a person wants to increase the intensity, provided that he is not a professional athlete, we can talk about the beginning of addiction.

In this situation, you can fear the appearance of orthorexia – this is a type of eating disorder. It is also called the disease of ZOJniki. In fact, it is a compulsive desire to follow the diet and exercise. And not for nothing doctors gave it a separate name: manic desire to take care of your body can grow into a problem.

To understand that you begin to manifestations of orthorexia, it is worth tracking your behavior in stores: if you spend too much time studying the label, as well as choose exclusively organic products, it is a bell.

If you notice symptoms of addiction to sports or proper nutrition, it is worth contacting specialists. If you try to cope with the problem on your own, you may experience withdrawal syndrome – if you have an unstable mental state, which actually provoked the addiction, it is easy to fall off again.

You can draw an analogy with the desire to hangover in people who abuse alcohol. The situation will get better in the moment, but in the long run the consequences will be serious.

Even if the values on the scale remain unchanged, you should not worry: perhaps the ratio of subcutaneous fat and muscle is changing. The main thing is to monitor your psychological health and notice negative changes in time.