Being a person who once had an eating disorder and being around people who are prone to getting them…I’m always aware of the thin line between being discipline and having a disorder.

Some clues include:
- thinking about your diet and workout ALL day long
- not allowing room for ‘cheat’ meals every once in a while
- obsessing over your body
- lack of social activities with friends
- highly perfectionist attitude towards diet and exercise

For you exercise-holics, watch out, for studies have shown that both athletes and exercises are at risk for an eating disorder.

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Eating Disorder Symptoms More Common Among

Female Athletes And Exercisers

ScienceDaily (July 29, 2008) — A recent study reveals that university undergraduate women who actively participate in sports and exercise-related activities tend to have higher rates of attitudes and behaviors related to eating disorders compared to those who do not regularly exercise.

The researchers concluded that women who have higher anxiety about their sport or exercise-related performance were even more likely to experience eating disorder symptoms and body dissatisfaction. This study is one of the first to document that women who participate in high levels of athletic competition and have sports anxiety are more likely to experience eating disorder symptoms.

The study was conducted with 274 female undergraduates from a large southeastern university. It examined whether differences in eating disorder symptoms exist between women who are varsity athletes (exercised an average of two hours per day), club athletes (practiced their sport an average of four times per week), independent exercisers (people who exercised on their own at least three times per week) and non-exercisers (people who exercise 0-2 times per week on average). read the rest here.

Exercise is medicine when taken with the right dose.