Exercising is really good for your overall health, but it can be taken to the extreme. Unfortunately, many girls over-exercise in order to lose weight. Over-exercising to the extreme can be a sign of an eating disorder, and can be pretty dangerous. Compulsive exercise might start out as just loving to get a good work out. Girls might feel very good about themselves through exercise, but they let this start to control their lives instead of keeping exercise under control. Remember that it is recommended that you only work out for 30 minutes a day for 3-5 days a week. If you’re on a sports team or are working toward a goal (such as a marathon), you’ll probably exercise much more than this. However, if you start feeling controlled by your exercise, and find yourself going to the gym every day or more than once a day, you may have a problem. Lots of times, compulsive exercising is a sign of a larger problem, namely an eating disorder. If you control your eating and also compulsively exercise, you’re putting yourself in danger. Compulsive exercise can have many of the same effects on your body as anorexia and can also cause serious injuries in your muscles and bones. If you think you might be a compulsive exerciser, or if you notice your friend has a tendency to over-exercise, seek help through your counselor at school, your doctor or through your parents. Some common signs of compulsive exercising include:

• You worry that you’ll gain weight if you can’t exercise for one day.
• You go to the gym twice or three times a day or more.
• You get depressed or sad if you miss a workout.
• You schedule everything around your workout.
• You have trouble sitting still and try to invent ways to burn calories, like jumping in place.
• You exercise based on how much you eat during the day.
• You force yourself to exercise, even if you’re sick.