Is Your Relationship With Exercise Actually Healthy?

We live in a culture that praises the grind. Hustle. Wellness. Discipline. We’re bombarded with messages that more movement is better, fitness is identity, and rest is weakness. But what happens when your relationship with exercise crosses a line? When it starts to feel more like a compulsion than a choice? When skipping a workout spirals into guilt or shame?

For many people in recovery from eating disorders—or even those who don’t meet diagnostic criteria but have had food and body struggles—exercise is often the final frontier of healing. It's easy to mask disordered patterns under the guise of "healthy habits." But the truth is, our culture’s obsession with productivity and body image makes it really hard to notice when fitness becomes unhealthy.

Let’s break down a few red flags that might help you reflect:

1. Do You Take Rest Days?

Planned and unplanned rest days are essential. But if you're constantly rescheduling them, turning them into "active recovery" that still feels intense, or ignoring them entirely when life throws curveballs (like sick kids, bad weather, or your own body asking for a break), that's worth examining.

2. Is Exercise Your Main Form of Emotional Regulation?

It’s amazing that our bodies can move, and exercise can be a great outlet for stress. But if it’s your go-to solution for every hard emotion—anger, anxiety, overwhelm—you might be relying on it more than you realize. What else do you do to cope? Do you talk to friends, journal, go to therapy, meditate?

3. Do You Feel the Need to "Earn" or "Burn Off" Food?

We’ve been fed so many lies about calories in, calories out. But here's the truth: food is not a reward, and exercise is not punishment. If you find yourself adjusting workouts based on what you ate or plan to eat, that’s a sign of compensation—and it can be harmful to your body and mind.

4. Do You Exercise in Secret?

Some people follow their training plan to the letter—and then quietly add more miles or sneaky workouts that never get logged. If you’re hiding your extra movement from your coach, friends, or even your smartwatch, ask yourself why. Who are you hiding it from? And what would happen if someone knew?

5. Do You Panic When Workouts Get Disrupted?

We all have days where things don’t go to plan. But if a missed session throws off your entire mood, disrupts your ability to focus, or causes you to cancel other parts of your life, it may be time to reassess your flexibility—both physical and emotional.

These red flags aren’t meant to shame you. They’re invitations to get curious. If something here feels familiar, you’re not alone. And there are ways to build a better, more supportive relationship with movement.

If you’re ready to dig deeper, stay tuned for part two where we talk about identity, priorities, and the pie chart that changed everything.

Watch the series on YouTube.

Want more gentle guidance? Catch the full Red Flags series on our YouTube playlist Body Image Motivation → Watch now