Health and Fitness Addiction

Yes...it's possible! The word "addiction" give us images of people in dark rooms, listening to bad music and sticking needles in their arms, but many addicts can be found in the gym or on the local school track, getting just as addictive a fix. In fact, the positive nature of the word "healthy" makes health and fitness addiction all the more alluring. Despite the positive media, health addicts have done as much damage to their families and lives as any other kind of addict. In this article, we'll look under the surface of health and fitness addiction and find a path to recovery.
How Can Something So Good Be Bad? In our modern Western culture, those willing to pay the price for fitness are to be applauded. There are just so many temptations to do otherwise. Exercise is mostly boring, painful and smelly, so those who endure it for about an hour, 3-5 days a week, have achieved a level of discipline most only dream of.
Health and fitness addiction is not about health or fitness...it's about a compulsion to use healthy activities to fill a void we see in ourselves. Addicts are compelled, not disciplined. The addictive chemicals involved in exercise are much the same as those in sex and porn addiction. This may explain why many people suffer from both sexual addictions and health addictions.
Types Of Health And Fitness Addiction: These are addictions to the activities of health and fitness, as opposed to the TV, Internet and shopping addictions which could involve health themes. Health and fitness addictions are compulsions to engage in "healthy" activities, like exercise, dieting, etc. In fact, anorexia and bulimia nervosa have both been described as severe health and fitness addictions. Two key symptoms of these mental disorders are exercise and dietary control to a compulsive and excessive extreme. The specific exercise or diet plan doesn't matter. It's an addiction when you feel compelled to do it.
How Do I Know I'm Addicted? We addicts don't often recognize addiction because a common symptom of addiction is denial, which is even easier to have about health. That's why it's easier to find out from a friend or loved one if you have a problem in this area. For health addiction involving eating, see Anorexia Nervosa Quiz. Here are some things to watch out for concerning fitness exercise addiction:
1. Do you regularly spend more than 8 hours a week exercising and is the time you spend increasing?
2. Does your exercise schedule interfere with normal family activities, home or work responsibilities?
3. Do friends or family members complain about the time or money you spend on fitness?
4. Have you wondered if you're being too compulsive about your fitness program?
5. Have you lied to your family, friends, or employers about the time you spend in fitness activities?
6. Do you often see fitness as a way to gain acceptance or praise from others?
7. Have you ever pushed so hard in your fitness program you hurt yourself?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider yourself at risk of addiction. If you answered yes to 3 or more, you're probably addicted.
How Do I Recover From Health And Fitness Addiction? This is caused by a negative self-image, like any other addiction. Instead of alcohol, you use exercise to fill a void you feel in yourself. Since the relief produced by exercise is only temporary and you become conditioned, you need regular increases in the activity to produce the same relief. Unlike alcohol, a certain amount of fitness activity is required for health, so, you can't just quit. Instead, we have to hold ourselves to no more than an hour a day, 3-5 days a week.
Spend the rest of the time you used to exercise going to AA or other addiction meetings and engaging in self-development activities. You could read, go back to school, join a volunteer group. You could take up a hobby, like gardening or building model airplanes. To help in building yourself up, avoid negative mental inputs, like the news, drama, negative, insulting friends. Replace those with good music or reading or other activities that build you up. Push all the negative, self-defeating, limiting thoughts out of your mind with positive, uplifting, encouraging thoughts.
Because there are risks that health and fitness addiction could develop into full-blown anorexia, if you try and fail to get a handle on your addiction, please see a doctor. Sometimes medical and psychological therapy can prevent a more serious condition from developing, and allow you the mental energies you need to get control of yourself.
Health and fitness addiction can be just as severe as any other addiction. It can imprison us into destructive, compulsive activities. We can place our families, our careers, even, ironically, our health at risk through addiction to exercise and other fitness activities. The good news is, there is hope for anyone willing to live in and work on recovery.

Health News Through a Health and Fitness Blog

If you are like millions of others living and working throughout the world, you are probably concerned with how to make the most of your days on this earth. We have done an excellent job of improving our odds for a longer life, but keeping up with the changing trends in health news can be a daunting task. How do you find out about the latest reputable research and advice that could set you well on your way to 100? Many choose a health and fitness blog, because blogs are usually updated daily with useful content that one can dissect and incorporate in their day-to-day journey towards a healthier existence.
But you must be careful if you are going to follow the latest developments in health news through a health and fitness blog. There are many reasons to do it, and there are many reasons not to. It all depends on how analytical you are, and on each of the following pros and cons:
Pro - keeping your body apprised of new research and developments in the health news community: Face it. Advice and recommendations are constantly changing to conform to advanced research. While it may seem fishy how often the health news changes, keep in mind we are living longer today for a reason. In many cases, the things we used to think nothing of are now highly important. No one ever talked about the dangers of smoking when cigarettes first came along. Years down the road, it has been recognized as the true killer that it is. It's important for you to stay vigilant and do your best to learn of the changing trends.
Con - keeping up with how quickly health news changes: While staying on top of things is often good, it can also be cause for concern. It can frustrate you to the point that you give up entirely, or it can lead you down certain paths before medical research has had the opportunity to verify validity. You know counting calories works. You know where to find good diets. Stay conservative until you have reason to believe that a piece of research is genuine and authenticated.
Pro - trusting the credentials of health and fitness blog experts: There are a lot of great health and fitness blog writers out there who will provide you with invaluable information for free. You should listen to them.
Con - trusting the credentials of health and fitness blog experts: There are a lot of horrible health and fitness blog writers out there who will lead you astray and give you the kind of poor information that might negatively influence your health. You should not listen to them. But you should always research the person(s) providing you with health news and advice.
Eventually, you must take the health news available to you through a reputable health and fitness blog and figure out how to use it in your life. And you mustn't wait because each day you are not leading healthy is a day you could lose later down the road. Listen well and make good decisions. Your body will respond accordingly.

Health and Fitness News

Health and fitness news is playing a major role in every person's life. Right from news papers to morning news in television channels, all of them are constituting some space for health and fitness news. Focus on improving the living standards and creating awareness among masses, is on the raise.
Physical fitness and healthy living are closely connected. The secret to staying alive for long is to be physically fit. As a child most of us would have indulged in any form of sport and taken care of our physical fitness. As we grow older, the tendency of being physically active, gradually decreases. When you are constantly being exposed to health and fitness news through various medium, at least once you might consider taking physical fitness seriously.
The best way to maintain good health is by making exercising a permanent part of your life and being aware of what is right to eat. Health and Fitness news bridges the gap and spreads awareness among common public, as to what is right to eat and what not to eat. They bring to light certain facts which we might not have been aware of, till date.
These days you need not have to stick to the boring fitness routine, if you are looking for some adrenaline rush along with improving your physical fitness, then once in a while, try your hand at extreme sports such as white water rafting, rock climbing, water skiing, sky diving, mountain bike riding, skate boarding, etc. But make sure you have an expert guidance available, as these sports are extremely risky too and never forget to wear safety equipment such as helmets, gloves, elbow guards, etc.
Some of the television shows or health magazines, focusing on delivering health and fitness news, show you some new methods or techniques of working out, try them and may be you will stick to them for life. They not only focus on improving physical fitness but also let you know how to be cautious and how to avoid getting injured.
If you do not wish to do rigorous fitness training, then try out yoga, most of the health and fitness news have said that yoga is good not only for physical fitness but for mental fitness and peace too. Try learning yoga under the guidance of an instructor and see how relaxing it can be. Practicing yoga on a regular basis not only strengthens you mentally but also gives your body a great flexibility.
With the advertising media creating colorful ads, which attract you to unhealthy foods, on the rise and the number of individuals spending sedentary life on the rise too, it is time, we start focusing on improving our physical fitness and eating right.
Why not take the advantage of the health and fitness news brought to us through various mediums and work wonders. Eating nutritious food, staying physically active and avoiding stress are the key factors that decide how healthy we are. Health is wealth, as the old saying goes!!!