Over exerciser needs a little support!

I am a recovering anorexic only held back by my over exercising habit.  I currently do about 830 minutes of cardio over the course of the week plus about an hour of heavy weight lifting about 5 times a week.  I am eating about 2200 calories a day to maintain my current weight and am wondering what may happen to my metabolism if I cut down on the cardio.  I have heard that I may be slowing down my metabolism simply by doing sooo much cardio.  I am terrified to cut down because, honestly, I love eating and do not want to cut out any more calories! haha! Am I technically putting my body in starvation mode through the extreme cardio although I am eating a lot?  If I cut back on the cardio will my metabolism speed up and therefore I will need to eat more?  I have been hurting my body like this for almost 4 years, have I permanently screwed up my metabolism?  

I would REALLY appreciate any help!!

Hey,

I was anorexic/over-exerciser and it's real scary having to give up over-exercising. In all honesty, I don't think you have screwed up your metabolism for good, although it may be slightly affected at first. It can be scary giving up something you are used to doing, so maybe you could do, say, 20 minutes less a day for a week (or as much as you may feel comfortable doing), see how you feel, and go from there slowly decreasing?

I don't know exactly how your metabolism will be affected, but that is A LOT of cardio, and when I stopped doing so much I realized that there are other things I could do instead- spend time with family, friends, etc. 

Good luck!

It really depends.  What are your stats?

118 minutes of cardio in a day is pretty much too much for a normal person.  Especially for someone who is undereating.  Depending on your age, height, sex and current weight, you might be putting yourself at a deficite of more than 1000 calories a day.  A deficite is the difference between what you eat and what you burn.  which is just as bad as severely undereating with no exercise.

Exercise bulemia (if that is what you have) can be just as dangerous as simply sitting around and starving yourself.  It still puts extra stress on your heart, body and mind.

Have you talked to a professional about this?

Thanks for your responses!  I actually am very interested in nutrition and health and do know the basics such as calorie in vs calorie out, starvation mode, and other terminology through my own reading and through seeing a dietician and therapist for the first couple years I suffered from an ED.  I actually went from being anorexic to what I am now which is, I guess, a slightly underweight exercise bulimic binge eater... wow.  As for my stats, I am a 22 year old female who weighs approximately 105 at a height of 5'4".  But because I keep such close count on calories and exercise and do understand the whole calorie in vs calorie out, I am not afraid of any type of food, carb, fat, or protein.  My binging is on HIGH sugar foods in LARGE quantities twice a week.  I'll eat 3575 cals in one sitting and not feel guilty as long as my weekly cardio adds up to the 830 minutes... so I really don't feel pressure from eating or working out.  I think I am truly just wondering if I am in starvation mode, then I should be eating more right now and I kind of want to add more cals/ cut cardio to compensate.  I remember going through my first recovery where I was eating 4000/ day and losing weight at first and had to bump it up to 4500 to gain weight quickly.  I just want to make sure that is not what is happening now.  Sorry I am rambling but I have been dealing with this for far too long and am trying to find answers!  

This isn't really a response to your OP, but I also suffered from over exercising and restricting.  I read a book called Diary of an Exercise Addict.  It was amazing.  I felt like it was written about my life.  Almist every detail was the same.  I highly recommend it to anyone that has exercise bulimia.

Awesome, thanks!  Just bought it :)