Do You Have A Healthy Relationship With Exercise?
- Claire Shorenstein, MS RD CSSD CDN
- 22 hours ago
- 6 min read
Welcome to Season 8 of The Eat for Endurance Podcast! In Episode 128, I'm joined by Registered Dietitian Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN, CSCS, CEDS-C for an important conversation about exercise dependence, a pattern of compulsive movement that can threaten an athlete’s mental and physical health.
I heard Leslie speak on this topic at a conference and immediately knew I wanted to bring her on the show. This is partly because I struggled with exercise dependence in the past, and also because of how frequently I see people exercise beyond what is safe or recommended.
Leslie and I discuss:
What exercise dependence is, and who is most at risk
How to tell if exercise is healthy or potentially harmful
What Leslie's message, "If you fuel it, you can do it" means in practice
The connection between underfueling and over exercise
Signs that you might be weight suppressed
What compassionate change can look like
Also, toward the end of the episode, Leslie helps you evaluate whether you may be experiencing some level of exercise addiction by walking you through a validated questionnaire. It's an eye opening exercise, and I highly recommend that you do it!
I hope this converstaion helps you reflect on your own attitudes and behaviors relating to exercise with compassion and curiosity.
What Is Exercise Dependence?
Exercise dependence goes beyond dedication to training. As Leslie says, it involves an "overbearing urge or drive to engage in exercise even when it's not safe, recommended, or possible." Other terms that fall under the same umbrella include exercise addiction, compulsive exercise, and exercise abuse.
This need to move often is paired with guilt, anxiety, or panic when workouts are missed, even when faced with injury, illness, fatigue, or danger. For instance, you may force yourself out the door with a fever, push through an injury, exercise in unsafe weather conditions, and/or refuse to take adequate (or any) rest days.
In our conversation, Leslie and I talk about what separates healthy training from compulsive exercise, why exercise dependence can so easily hide behind words like “discipline,” and why endurance athletes in particular may be more susceptible to it.
We also explore the roles that sport culture, coaching environments, and even technology like fitness trackers can play in reinforcing unhelpful or unhealthy patterns. (Please pay attention to the signals your actual body is sending you, and not just your tech!)
For many athletes, exercise dependence doesn’t exist in isolation. It frequently overlaps with things like underfueling, low energy availability/REDs, eating disorders or disordered eating, chronic injury or illness, and weight suppression. Looking at the whole picture, not just the exercise portion, is essential.
Red Flags That Your Relationship With Exercise May Not Be Healthy
During the episode, Leslie and I explore some of the most common warning signs of exercise dependence.
These red flags include:
feeling guilty, anxious, or irritable when you can’t work out
exercising through pain, illness, or injury (because “missing” feels worse than the symptoms themselves)
prioritizing exercise over sleep, relationships, work, or recovery
rigid rules around training or movement
increasing volume/intensity despite negative consequences
planning your day or food intake entirely around exercise
ignoring hunger, fatigue, or medical advice to continue training
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yikes, that hits close to home,” it’s not something to be ashamed of. Plenty of other athletes have these same struggles (I did for many years).
We also discuss why many of these same behaviors are praised in sport culture. Words like “no days off,” “earn your carbs,” “no excuses,” and "stay hard" make it easy to confuse imbalance for commitment and strength. That can make the problem much harder to recognize…and harder to talk about.
Exercise Dependence, Underfueling, and Weight Suppression
A major theme in our conversation is how poor fueling and compulsive exercise tend to feed off of one another (pun fully intended). Chronic underfueling can actually change how your brain functions, increasing rigidity, preoccupation with food and exercise, and black-and-white thinking around “good” and “bad” foods or workouts. Exercise dependence is also closely linked with eating disorders and disordered eating, even in athletes who don’t fit stereotypes about what those diagnoses “should” look like.
Leslie and I talk through signs that you may be weight suppressed (meaning your body is sitting below its natural, healthy weight range), and how hormonal health, bone density, injury risk, recovery, mood, and overall well-being can be affected when the body isn’t getting enough energy.
Spoiler: your body keeps the score.
We also emphasize why “just stopping” or “cutting back” on movement isn’t a realistic or compassionate solution for many people dealing with exercise dependence. If it were that easy, you would’ve already done it.
Instead, Leslie shares practical guidance on recognizing when you may need more support and why consistent, adequate fueling is truly non-negotiable for both mental and physical health.
“If You Fuel It, You Can Do It”
One of Leslie’s key messages in this episode is her phrase, “If you fuel it, you can do it.” We spend time unpacking what she really means by this.
It’s about honoring the real demands of your training with enough energy (yes, that usually means more carbs), separating your self-worth from paces and numbers, and recognizing that rest and recovery are not optional or a sign of weakness…they’re a key part of training and performance.
It also means cultivating a more flexible, compassionate approach to movement rather than living by all-or-nothing thinking or rigid rules like, “I have to run X miles or it doesn’t count.” This message is not about pushing through no matter what. It’s about fueling the work you're doing, rather than trying to “earn” your fuel through exercise.
A Self-Assessment: Are You Addicted to Exercise?
Toward the end of the episode, we walk through a detailed questionnaire (the Expanded Exercise Addiction Inventory or EAI-3) that you can complete to reflect on your own relationship with exercise. While not a diagnostic tool, it can raise self-awareness, highlight possible red flags, and help you identify whether additional support might be helpful.
Key Takeaways
Exercise dependence is a real and serious issue that can impact both physical and mental health
Athletes who are underfueled or weight suppressed are at increased risk
Red flags include guilt around rest, training through injury, and rigid rules about exercise
A healthy relationship with movement includes adequate fueling, rest, and flexibility
“Discipline” isn’t always healthy, sometimes it’s a signal of imbalance
Professional help from a sports dietitian and/or therapist can be transformative
Ready to Work on Your Relationship with Fueling and Training?
If today’s episode resonated with you, you don’t have to navigate it alone. I work with endurance athletes every day who are learning to:
Fuel adequately and consistently
Rebuild trust with their bodies
Perform well without sacrificing health or joy
Enjoy exercise again, not fear missing it
Here’s what one client had to say about working together:
"Working with Claire has been a wonderful, enlightening experience. She has given me practical advice on how to eat to support my energy needs as an ultrarunner. More importantly, she has given me a much deeper understanding of the hang-ups in my relationship with body image and food, how these influence my physical and mental health, and how to overcome them and build a relationship with food based on overall joy and wellbeing. I could not recommend Claire with greater warmth or enthusiasm." - Veronica L.
Here are a few ways we can work together:
Join my low-cost, low-commitment Fuel for Life Crew membership for just $39/month, (cancel anytime)
Browse my nutrition masterclasses (all are also included in the membership)
Download my free fueling resources
Fill out a new client inquiry form for comprehensive 1:1 coaching (limited spots available)
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Disclaimer: All information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations.
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