Women, Exercise, and Eating Disorder Recovery: The Normal and the Pathological

The appropriate form, regularity, and intensity of exercise for individuals recovering from eating disorders is not agreed upon among health care professionals or researchers. When permitted, it that which mindful, embodied, non-competitive considered normative. Using Canguilhem’s concepts “the normal the pathological” as a theoretical frame, we examine gendered assumptions shape medical understandings “healthy” “dysfunctional” in context recovery. data set this article comes longitudinal semi-structured interviews with 19 women United Kingdom who engaged weightlifting during their disorder We argue recovery navigate multiple conflicting value systems regarding exercise. Faced aspects are pathologized within literature (such structure/routine, body transformations, affect regulation), re-inscribe positive to these experiences, thus establishing practices serve them.