What is the point of all this exercise?

"What is the point of all this exercise?" the GP asked when I saw him on Friday.

I shrugged.  He said "You tell me!".

I said "it keeps my eating disorder symptoms manageable.  If I exercise, then I don't really worry about the calories, whereas when I don't, I start counting them".

But thinking about it, it is far more than that.

* It gives me a routine
* Sometimes it gives me endorphins or a sense of achievement
* It's sometimes a sociable occasion
* It counteracts the hours spent sitting on my bum at work or on the sofa at home
* I set goals for the summer months and during the winter aim to achieve them
* It gives me a sense of purpose