Obsession

ha ha .... just had a regular conversation with the OH 10 mins ago, then I read this.

OH: "Are you running tomorrow",  me: "No, not tomorrow, just a short recovery jog"

Sighs and raised eyebrows followed.

1 hour of exercise seems very healthy to me, particularly for those of us with a sedentary job. I have a similar 'issue', having lost lots of weight, and now having a normal bmi. I am constantly being told to put weight on by family and friends - it drives me nuts. Told I look unwell etc etc. I used to explain patiently, now I just loose my ragg!

Is it time exercising or time away from home that is the cause of friction?  The trouble with gym work is that there is additional time spent in travel, changing, showering etc. that can add quite a bit to the total.  Having said that I think you are doing really well and your actual regime is not obsessive (you should see mine !!).

perhaps its guilt, because they know they should exercise more, or feel they should but never do, they see you doing so much and feel guilty and being defensive about it is an easy way of releasing that.

Hi All

Thank you so much for all the responses and advice - I honestly did not expect sdo much feedback

The funny ones made me laugh, the accounts about running ultras helped me put things into perspective a bit more and the ones about similar experience made me feel less isolated with this problem.

I have managed to identify that the root of the problem is how my exercise regime impacts the amount of time I can spend with family. In particular, with my hubby, as some of you have guessed correctly! Our difficulties started to arise from the fact that we did not live together before we got married (I know this is shocking, we are the old fashioned type!) and these things started to emerge only once we started to live under the same roof. Whilst we did not live together, I came and went whenever it pleased me, I did not need to concern myself with how the other person may feel about me not being around at certain times.

We did have a lengthy convo last night about this and managed to establish a good way to tackle this going forwards - we will agree in advance when we wanna do something together and I will schedule my wourkout around that rather than letting my workout schedule dictate everything else. I still do not believe that I am "obsessed" but I appreciate that someone who does not exercise much (like my hubby and all my other family members) the amount I do may seem a bit too much for them.

What I have learnt from this is that it is all about understanding what the real issue is, know what is really important for you, work out some solutions together, compromise when possible, and keep communicating in an open, honest and non-judgemental manner.

A boxer could give you a diaganose??

Sussex runner....wow....I love your answers! But seriously what I was going to say has been said; your solution also seems great! But I keep reminding myself of the words of Doug Larson who was a gold medal winner in 1924; "For disappearing acts it is hard to beat what happens to the 8 hours left after 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of work". 6 to 7 hours a week is nothing. Inactivity is a killer; the health problems associated with not excercising have been estimated at costing a thousand million dollars in the US (Professor F Booth; British Journal of Sports Medicine). I do not feel the need to 'get my moneys worth' out of the NHS; whether or not to do some sort of quality excercise is an easy decision for me!

I bet a lot of people on this forum would do 6-7 hours just at the weekend

Timi, the time I met you was at a running club, and you brought him along.Can you include him a couple of times a week? And get him to do his own thing on your gym times?

Then there shouldn't be even a hint of a problem!

ps well done on keeping it traditional...too many laissez faire types around these days

running chemist is right - lots of triathletes on here go out and do 6 or 7 hours over a weekend, plus shorter workouts during the week. You're deffo not obsessive.

i agree with everything said here.  like also-ran i have lost a lot of weight through running.  i come from an overweight family and we grew up on tv and deep fried food. my sister and i have both lost lots of weight over the past 5 years through running (for me, my sister has done a million different programmes at the gym).  We are constantly being told we are too skinny and need to put on weight, mainly by people who are overweight and dont excercise.  they dont understand.

I remember (at 17 stone) that i used to lie on the sofa on sunday mornings hungover after 12 beers and a kebab the night before.  I'd be eating a sausage sandwhich and the local running club would go past my window. 'freaks' i would say!  I just couldnt comprehend why someone would go for a run at 9am on a sunday.  now i am one of them.

sometimes my wife still thinks i run too much but it is not obsessive, i run as much as my lifestyle (busy job, travel, family, kids) allows.  I asked one of the better runners at my club how many times per week he runs and he said about 11 or 12! it took me a minute to figure it out, 'thers only 7 days in the week!' thats obsessive.

an hour a day is perfectly healthy and if you were doing it before you got married he should accept that its part of the person he married.

you could give it up, lie on the sofa, eat pringles, watch soaps etc  see if he is happy with that in a year or two when you are four dress sizes larger and covered in pimples!