But, exercise is not immune to the same types of dependency and abuse that booze and drugs carry when it's escalated to a level of obsession. Fresh out of rehab, I assumed I was mentally capable to go back to a "healthy running" routine, but I quickly found myself sucked back into the hole of calorie counting and compulsion. Running had been my identity for so long that I felt anxious without it. At the advice of my therapist, I turned in the towel and spent all of last year using my old gym time to discover the other things I wanted out of life. I changed jobs. I went to a book club. I finally started a blog . I recently started dating again and instead of shying away from my past, I told him exactly who I was — and much to my surprise, he stuck around.