Ben Greenfield Fitness: Diet, Fat Loss And Performance

Exercise is supposed to be good for you. But for some people, exercise can become a deadly obsession. My guest in this podcast episode is Vanessa Alford, author of the new book "Fit, Not Healthy", which is a warning to all high achievers driven to extremes to excel. As a young girl growing up in Melbourne, Australia, Alford loved sports: she began gymnastics at age six, netball at seven, and tennis at age ten. She was, in her words, "born to compete", and both her gymnastics and netball teams won the state championships in her age group. During her early years of sports, she ran to train and to keep fit, but describes it as an obligation, not a pleasure. After graduating college, Alford began to run regularly: she would set the alarm for 6am, jog for 8k (around an hour) along the beach and be home by 7am, which gave her time to eat breakfast before cycling 15k to work. But soon, her 8k runs became 10k runs, and 12k runs on the weekends. Soon, both the runs and the ride became mandatory morning rituals, "