# Trying to keep food and exercise from becoming all or nothing

**URL:** <https://forum.sharedquill.org/t/trying-to-keep-food-and-exercise-from-becoming-all-or-nothing/52061>\
**Category:** Eating Disorder\
**Created:** [September 29, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://forum.sharedquill.org/t/trying-to-keep-food-and-exercise-from-becoming-all-or-nothing/52061 "2026-09-29T22:00:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jamie\_Johnson](https://forum.sharedquill.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b782af/32.png) [@Jamie\_Johnson](https://forum.sharedquill.org/u/Jamie_Johnson)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://forum.sharedquill.org/t/trying-to-keep-food-and-exercise-from-becoming-all-or-nothing/52061/1 "2026-09-29T22:00:12Z")

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I’ve been trying to keep food and exercise from turning into an all-or-nothing thing. If I eat more than I planned, I don’t want to decide the whole day is ruined and skip my next meal. Same with exercise. Missing a workout shouldn’t mean giving up for the week, and pushing myself extra hard to “make up for it” usually just makes me feel worse.

I’m working on having more regular meals, taking rest days without feeling like I’ve failed, and noticing when rules start getting too rigid. It’s harder than it sounds because the extreme choices can feel weirdly satisfying in the moment. Lately I’m trying to focus on consistency instead of being perfect. Small, normal choices seem safer than swinging between extremes.

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**Author:** ![Michelle\_Jordan](https://forum.sharedquill.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Michelle\_Jordan](https://forum.sharedquill.org/u/Michelle_Jordan)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://forum.sharedquill.org/t/trying-to-keep-food-and-exercise-from-becoming-all-or-nothing/52061/2 "2026-09-29T23:03:20Z")

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The “make up for it” workout was a big trap for me too. It felt productive at first, but usually left me sore and more likely to skip the next session.

What helped was setting a minimum version of exercise for rough days, like a 10 minute walk or a few basic stretches. If I did more, fine, but stopping at the minimum still counted. That made one missed workout feel like one missed workout instead of a reason to scrap the whole week.