Working Out While Recovering From Anorexia

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

Is it possible? Yes. Is it helpful? Not always.

After being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, I was told to stop exercising. I wasn’t happy about that, because I was addicted to exercise. Being a Division 1 athlete was serious business, and for five years straight, I worked out like it was my job because it sort of was. I’d been running a lot and slowly starving myself for years prior to my diagnosis. I pushed myself through workouts only to go home and sleep for hours. I bonked countless times in the middle of runs. My gastrointestinal system was so messed up that at one point, I couldn’t run more than a couple miles without having to stop to use the bathroom. My athletic performance wasn’t anywhere near good, but I was so indoctrinated into my eating disorder that losing weight mattered more to me than running fast. I needed to keep moving so I could avoid any unwanted weight, or so I thought.

After I graduated, I kept trying to run while in treatment. While running after work one day, I nearly passed out on a bike path, injuring my knee. Without the training schedule I was accustomed to in college; without races on the horizon and teammates around, I didn’t feel motivated to run. I was tired all the time and I kept experiencing nagging injuries. At the urging of my…