A woman who was obsessed with tracking her exercise and calories would cancel plans to workout - and felt "guilty" if she didn't move.
Dani Fernandez, 25, had always been sporty growing up but began to develop an unhealthy obsession with exercise and calorie counting as a teenager.
She developed an eating disorder and spent two years walking as many steps as she could a day and hitting the gym at any moment she could – tracking it all on her fitness watch.
The habit meant she would cancel plans or not go on holidays in favour of keeping up with her workouts.
After being hospitalised twice for heart problems, Dani checked herself into a clinic for six months and is now fully recovered.
Now she spends her time reading and doesn’t feel “guilty” about not constantly moving.
Dani, a content creator, from Atlanta, Georgia, said: “My identity was in how much I was working out.
“I was obsessed with it. It’s all you can think about.
“I’d cancel plans with friends. Like road trips or going to the cinema.
“You isolate yourself.
“I felt I had to deserve food by burning as many calories as I could.
“Now I spend a few hours reading without feeling guilty about it or feeling I need to constantly move.”
Dani used to be a football player and grew up training everyday but was told she could no longer play when her weight dropped aged 15.
She said: “I started developing an eating disorder.
“I looked very fragile.”
Dani swapped her training sessions for daily gym workouts.
She said: “I thought because I’m not doing soccer I’m not burning as many calories so I restricted even more.
“I’d make myself go the gym even if I was tired.
“I felt I had to deserve food by burning as many calories as I could.
“I started to move as much as I could and restrict things as much as I could.
“The day became scheduled.
“I’d walk for 30 minutes a day but if the next day I walked for 45 minutes I’d have to keep that up.
“It kept increasing.”
Dani would also track her calories and exercise on a fitness watch and app.
She said: “I tracked everything.
“I wanted to control everything in my life. It was very calculated.
“If my family went on a road trip I’d stay at home. I’d rather be comfortable with my routine.
“My feet hurt so bad because I was walking so much.”
Dani started to realise she was unhealthy and wanted to put on weight but struggled to get out of her obsession.
She said: “I wanted to change. I was miserable.
“My heart started struggling. I had chest pains.
“I thought if I don’t gain weight and recover and heal you’re going to die.”
After being hospitalised for heart problems, Dani researched where she could help.
She found a clinic in New York offering treatment for free in exchange for research.
Dani checked into the clinic in November 2017 and her exercise was limited and had therapy everyday to “retrain" her brain.
She spent six months in the clinic before she was able to come home and now has a different relationship with food and exercise.
She makes sure she has three meals a day and has hobbies such as reading to do instead of obsessing over working out.
Dani said: “They saved my life.
“I feel in a better place.
“Now I want to move to feel better rather than to lose calories.
“I don’t body check. I don’t fixate.
“I feel free.”
