Over exercising?

menutrit

I have struggled with excessive behavior for most of my life (anymore from food, drinking, smoking - I've been through it all). And though I have made a good effort in trying to shift them into more health-conscious forms, any behavior in excess is never a good thing.

My problem right now is excessive exercise... or is it? I probably will go to the gym 2 (sometimes even 3) times a day since it is so convenient for me. I have problems dealing with anxiety and exercise is a great outlet for me, much healthier than the ones I've had in the past. I've become really fixated on my fitness that I'd rather be spending time in the gym than going out... but at the same time, I don't really feel bad about it? I convince myself that I'm dedicated and just "training" for that next big event, but then I find myself obsessing over how much faster, better, stronger I get for pushing that extra half hour which actually ends up turning into an extra full hour. I'm just worried that I might be deluding myself. How do you know it's a real problem? It's a weird issue since exercise is healthy, but where do you draw the line?

finchest

If you have a history with addictive behaviors, I guess i'd keep an eye on it and make sure that you're "motivated" for the right reasons (health and well-being) as opposed to feeling obsessed with pushing yourself to the max regardless of what your body is telling you. Two or 3 times a day at the gym every day does sound a little obsessive to me and while it's a healthy habit overall, it's not if it controls your life in any way or prevents you from doing other things (like seeing friends or loved ones...being social...getting work done...etc)
If you think it is interfering with other areas of your life, perhaps there is a counselor you could work with to find balance in life. I'd say you could just decide to limit your workouts to once a day for no more than 2 hours or something, but if you're obsessive about it, you probably wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it so that wouldn't really help. If it's interfering with your life in any way, I would perhaps turn to professional help as it can be a hard thing to control any kind of addiction on your own, or maybe you could do something that's the opposite of addictive behavior, like begin to meditate. Just my two cents..