When healthy habits go haywire: monster zits, bloody shinsplints, freakish muscles, and the attack of bigorexia!

Men's Fitness, Nov, 2003 by Jacob Ditkoff

CASE STUDY A patient in Chicago ran a fast eight miles a day, seven days a week, regardless of weather, holidays, or injury. Having once run a marathon with a 101-degree fever and an ear infection, it wasn't long before the patient suffered three stress fractures--two in one foot--but continued riding a bike 15 miles a day, even in a cast.

MF EXPERT WEIGHS IN Gerald Fletcher, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the Mayo Clinic, recommends 30-60 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise six days a week. Any more than that has "no benefit" unless you're training for specific events. "We most often see musculo-skeletal problems, with people rupturing ligaments."

FIXING THE PROBLEM See a doctor before beginning a running program, especially if you have any severe or ongoing pains--or immediately if you have chest pain. If you find yourself becoming antsy or depressed when you miss a run, seek counseling immediately.

SLIMMING DOWN

STARTS AS a way to avoid obesity, heart disease, lethargy, hypertension, diabetes, and new pants expenditures.

BECOMES an endless hell of starvation and malnutrition. Because of the stigma attached to eating disorders as a "woman's disease," no one knows how many men are afflicted. Wrestlers and others in sports where emphasis is put on weight are particularly susceptible.

CASE STUDY Harrison Pope describes a 21-year-old patient who, continually unsatisfied with his love handles, embarked upon a diet of a single piece of lettuce for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He eventually reached 85 pounds.

MF EXPERT WEIGHS IN Most weight lost on crash diets is not fat, notes Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D., a kinesiologist and president of the exercise-and-nutrition consulting firm Simply Fit. "If you look physiologically at how much body fat you can lose per week, it's approximately 1% of body weight." Ergo, under normal conditions a 200-pound man can only lose two pounds of fat per week. Any weight loss beyond that consists of lean muscle, bone, or water.

FIXING THE PROBLEM Crash dieting, bingeing, throwing up after eating, continually losing and gaining back weight, or constantly obsessing over what you eat and how much you weigh are signs of incipient eating disorders. If you do any of these things, see a psychologist or nutritionist trained in this problem.

EATING RIGHT

STARTS AS a desire to maintain a healthful diet for mental and physical well-being and reduced risk of headaches, fatigue, and sexual dysfunction.

BECOMES an antisocial compulsion that puts diet ahead of all things. Friendships and relationships suffer, and in extreme cases a diet becomes so restrictive that balanced nutrition is impossible. This can lead to extreme weight loss, fatigue, kidney failure, and even death.

CASE STUDY Colorado physician Steven Bratman, M.D., author of the book Health Food Junkies, had an asthmatic patient who attempted to stop eating any food that could cause allergies; in the end, all that was left was sugar and lamb.

MF EXPERT WEIGHS IN Kansas State University psychologist Leon Rappoport, Ph.D., says people who adopt restrictive diets usually suffer from a psychological problem. "Their eating behaviors can become an obsessive-compulsive disorder analogous to drug addiction. The apparent health benefits simply serve as a rationalization."