Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueberrybook
I get not wanting to be cooped up inside all the time, and if walking is what you have to do to get place to place then I suppose it would fall under exercise unless you are walking more than 4 mi daily, that's a bit excessive to just be considered what you need to do to get by. I think there is a fine line between exercise vs. purging exercise and it's different for everyone. I mean, if I walked 4 mi to get places, it would be purging for me as I have a car and secondly, the only place I can easily walk to is Walgreens (which is like a quarter mile at most). There are no sidewalks, no bus stops, etc as walking places is not encouraged around here. If I walk 4 miles, it's exercise for me simply because I wouldn't be going anywhere except all over my suburb, and if I didn't eat enough calories to support that it would be purging. I don't know if that makes sense? Have you ever consulted a dietician as to how many calories you need to eat daily? It works out differently for everyone depending on your activity level and if you need to gain weight, lose, or maintain.
@ Autumn88 Welcome! |
I get that intentionally overexercising to lose weight is purging, yeah, but I don't get why walking to enjoy being outside and not go insane is purging just because I'm restricting my calorie intake. Like if I didn't restrict I wouldn't be "purging" even though I'd be doing the same thing, that's what I don't get. So I'm wondering what the difference is between walking and ANY activity that burns calories (cleaning, cooking, studying, shoveling snow, playing instruments some to a greater extent than others) and does, say, playing a tuba count as purging just because the tuba player hasn't eaten enough to maintain their weight lately?
Before ADHD meds, I'd bounce my legs and do other fidgety stuff an insane amount and was absolutely incapable of sitting still for five minutes, does that count as purging if it was on a day I didn't eat as many calories as I burned if I wasn't supposed to lose weight at that time?
I get if I suddenly took up HIIT, running, or whatever again that would count, or if I went for actual hikes on days I didn't nourish enough to do it safely thinking "this is a good way to lose weight," but I feel like me checking out a hidden gem park I never went to today, going down the trail, sitting on a bench for a bit to watch the brook, and coming back wasn't purging.
I looked up definitions of purging, and it says "excessive exercise," but can't find a clarification of what this means. I understand I'm probably burning more than I'm eating most days and the word "excessive" probably means exercising to a point your calorie deficit is more than it should be (and right now I probably shouldn't be at a deficit at all), but as someone who used to be able to trail run
The Pemi Loop without stopping to sleep at one point, I have a hard time grasping that walking to get my meds, coming back, and then walking back for an appointment and back is "excessive exercise" now-- especially when I only once felt physically unwell in the past week (since discharge), and I wasn't even walking beyond my med run and going to the laundry room or community room that day.
I hate that my best coping skill, like the reason I haven't murdered certain people or committed arson or am dead from drug/alcohol abuse or suicide by now or been kicked out of this apartment for freaking out daily, and the way I travel to get my medications, see my treatment team, (get to the bus if I have to go what
I consider a far distance), pick up groceries and other supplies, etc. is being called "purging/disordered eating behavior" just because my issue right now is not getting enough calories in.
I'll make sure to pick up a pint of Ben & Jerry's when I get my meds tomorrow and eat at least 2/3rds of it just so I can get enough calories that getting my meds and going to read at the park isn't considered purging though...