A woman who was obsessed with tracking her exercise and calories would cancel plans to workout - and felt "guilty" if she didn't move.<br /><br />Dani Fernandez, 25, had always been sporty growing up but began to develop an unhealthy obsession with exercise and calorie counting as a teenager.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The habit meant she would cancel plans or not go on holidays in favour of keeping up with her workouts.<br /><br />After being hospitalised twice for heart problems, Dani checked herself into a clinic for six months and is now fully recovered.<br /><br />Now she spends her time reading and doesn’t feel “guilty” about not constantly moving.<br /><br />Dani, a content creator, from Atlanta, Georgia, said: “My identity was in how much I was working out.<br /><br />“I was obsessed with it. It’s all you can think about.<br /><br />“I’d cancel plans with friends. Like road trips or going to the cinema.<br /><br />“You isolate yourself.<br /><br />“I felt I had to deserve food by burning as many calories as I could.<br /><br />“Now I spend a few hours reading without feeling guilty about it or feeling I need to constantly move.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />She said: “I started developing an eating disorder.<br /><br />“I looked very fragile.”<br /><br />Dani swapped her training sessions for daily gym workouts.<br /><br />She said: “I thought because I’m not doing soccer I’m not burning as many calories so I restricted even more.<br /><br />“I’d make myself go the gym even if I was tired.<br /><br />“I felt I had to deserve food by burning as many calories as I could.<br /><br />“I started to move as much as I could and restrict things as much as I could.<br /><br />“The day became scheduled.<br /><br />“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.<br /><br />“It kept increasing.”<br /><br />Dani would also track her calories and exercise on a fitness watch and app.<br /><br />She said: “I tracked everything.<br /><br />“I wanted to control everything in my life. It was very calculated.<br /><br />“If my family went on a road trip I’d stay at home. I’d rather be comfortable with my routine.<br /><br />“My feet hurt so bad because I was walking so much.”<br /><br />Dani started to realise she was unhealthy and wanted to put on weight but struggled to get out of her obsession.<br /><br />She said: “I wanted to change. I was miserable.<br /><br />“My heart started struggling. I had chest pains.<br /><br />“I thought if I don’t gain weight and recover and heal you’re going to die.”<br /><br />After being hospitalised for heart problems, Dani researched where she could help.<br /><br />She found a clinic in New York offering treatment for free in exchange for research.<br /><br />Dani checked into the clinic in November 2017 and her exercise was limited and had therapy everyday to “retrain" her brain.<br /><br />She spent six months in the clinic before she was able to come home and now has a different relationship with food and exercise.<br /><br />She makes sure she has three meals a day and has hobbies such as reading to do instead of obsessing over working out.<br /><br />Dani said: “They saved my life.<br /><br />“I feel in a better place.<br /><br />“Now I want to move to feel better rather than to lose calories.<br /><br />“I don’t body check. I don’t fixate.<br /><br />“I feel free.”
