8 signs of anorexia athletica — an obsession with excessive exercise

Imagine collapsing on the gym floor after an energetic session on the treadmill. You haven’t eaten enough for fear of ruining your caloric goals for the day, but you decided to up your workout nevertheless. All in a bid to attain that perfect number on your weighing scale. Sounds familiar? Brace yourself. If you are an athlete, you could be suffering from Anorexia Athletica, or obsession with attaining the perfect body through intense exercise routines and food regulation. Having a low body weight can give the athlete advantage over his or her opponents, especially in sports like gymnastics, acrobatics and cycling. This is why this disorder is seen mostly among athletes. But as opposed to disorders like anorexia nervosa or bulimia, anorexia athletica mostly has to do with athletic performance. Although it is not recognised as an eating disorder, it is used by mental health professionals to describe a set of symptoms that exhibit abnormal eating patterns. These are classical signs of anorexia athletica or hypergymnasia [1]. Counting calories and weight Preoccupation with food, calories and body weight is a classic sign of someone suffering from anorexia athletica. When counting calories, planning your next meal and obsessively keeping track of your body weight becomes your primary concern, you could be exhibiting signs of anorexia athletica. Read our article on orthorexia. Being dissatisfied with physical appearance People suffering from anorexia atheltica are often dissatisfied with their physical appearances. They aim for a leaner or thinner body and obsessively work towards achieving it through their diet and exercise. Exhibiting symptoms like checking weight and being upset if it doesn’t match the expectations is a classic sign. Emphasising too much on body weight Anorexia athletica causes the sufferers to place too much emphasis on their body weight, so much that their self-worth is directly tied to it. Decreased body weight equals higher self-esteem for the sufferers. Fearing weight gain Since so much of their self-worth is tied to their body weight, for someone who suffers from the problem, there couldn’t be a bigger nightmare than gaining weight. Gaining weight or even feeling fat is something that sufferers are frightened of. Using multiple methods to maintain low body weight Along with restricting calorific intake and limiting food choices or food groups to drop the excess weight, sufferers also indulge in intense and vigorous exercise routines. Some may even abuse diuretics and laxatives to achieve their target weight. Inducing vomiting to expel food is also not uncommon. Feeling guilty about breaking diet rules Suffers often stick to a strict diet routine, omitting certain “bad” foods or food groups altogether. They exhibit a lot of guilt for transgressing these self-set rules. Having no underlying medical conditions Suffers often have no medical conditions that call for restricting food intake or excess exercise. They indulge in these restrictions simply to keep their weight under control. Exhibiting amenorrhea Female athletes who exhibit anorexia athletica often have irregular menstrual cycles and amenorrhea or absence of periods. Their focus on restricted […]

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