SO you’re finally at that point in recovery when you’re allowed to exercise again! Yayy!! Congrats! Now, how do you make sure it doesn’t get out of control again?

There’s a bunch of stuff that I’ve learned from my own experience that is really helpful with handling this kind of situation.

• Set limits for yourself. Tell yourself “I am going to spend X minutes doing cardio” and that’s all you’re allowed. Make sure it’s a reasonable amount of time though. Especially starting out… start with shorter periods of time. Not stick to that. There will be times you’re going to have to force yourself off a machine… believe me, I have to do it all the time. Don’t start trying to round up or even things off… no more “just to the next half mile”, no more “I just need to round my time up to the next five”, no more “I have to round my calories to the next ten”. Don’t do it! I have legit got myself STUCK on machines for over 40 minutes trying to even things off. This is not a healthy way to exercise.
  If you DO find yourself thinking this way and are having a difficult time getting yourself to stop completely- get off the machine and do a less intense workout for about 10 minutes to transition yourself out of exercise-mode. If you have too, lower the intensity of the machine then find a less intense exercise to transition yourself. It depends on how stuck you are. 
• Speaking of rounding calories… don’t even pay attention to the amount you’re burning. Before you get on the machine set it so you won’t see the calories or, if that’s not an option, cover the screen with a towel.
• Do NOT get into a routine. I know, this is not what you normally hear in regards to exercise… but if you are working out at the same time everyday… it’s going to become a habit, the habit will then become an obsession, and from there you are stuck in a vicious cycle again. If you are recovering from an eating disorder it is too risky to put yourself in that situation. You are more likely to take things too far. Change up the days you exercise (and don’t exercise 7 days a week), exercise at different times of the day, and just keep mixing things up. Don’t even work out at the same time on Mondays. Make it different every week… unexpected. Don’t always plan it. Just see where it fits naturally into your day if you know it’s going to be an exercise day.
• Do the same with your workouts- mix up the actual exercises. Not only is this good for your body, but it’s also a great way to make sure you don’t form such a rigid habit around exercising.
• Do NOT keep exercise equipment, DVDs, or anything related to that in your room. Keep it in another room. Do your workouts somewhere that is not your bedroom. 
• Make sure you eat PRE-workout. The food is fuel for your body and you are putting yourself at risk if you are not properly nourished.
• In some cases, it may help to have an exercise buddy (at least on some days) that knows you’re in recovery and can help you if they feel you’re going overboard. They can tell you to get off a machine or stop what you’re doing and be supportive. But if you are too competitive of a person, you don’t want to be trying to outdo them will exercising.

This is just off the top of my head right now… I may have some other stuff but it’s not coming to me right now. These are some of the key points though, I’ll add on if I think of anything else.

xx