Running and eating disorders?

Question

I've been checking out the Female Athlete Triad stuff, which is all pretty new to me. I am a female track and field runner and am familiar with eating disorders. My question goes out to all runners and coaches: what do you think about eating disorders amoung female runners? I've read stories where coaches have discouraged it and tried to help runners through it and others where coaches have encouraged weight loss to help running. Give me your views on this subject.

Answer 1

Well, unfortunetly I can speak from experience with this topic. When I first joined Cross country in 7th grade I was a little chunky. Than as I was running I was naturally losing the extra chunky weight (at this point in time I wasn't trying to lose weight) As I lost weight my times in running kept coming down. Than in 8th grad I was 5-6 and 110 pounds, and I was winning races left and right. I began to think that the more weight I lost the better runner I would be so I started to only eat things like crackers (maybe 2 crackers) and I would drink juice and much on ice cubes. In about 3 weeks I had lost another 10 lbs. I was still winning races and I was getting course records and I could be happier. Than as the year went on I kept myself at 100 lbs and track came along and I was getting really bad injuries. I had a stress fracture in my phemur, a torn hamstring, a tear in my MCL, a ruptured nerve in my ankle, and a few more things. I didn't put 2 and 2 together because when I wasn't injuried I was still winning and getting school records. The day I won my district meet is the day I went crazy. I started to barely eat at all, thinking it was just a waste of time. I would spend the time I had to eat at the track running. The next year when I came back to cross country I was a little more than 90 pounds and now 5-8 tall. This is when my coach noticed something was drastically wrong. He called me into his office one day and he said he knew I had a problem and that everything was going to be ok. He had me talk to the school counselor everyday, and he wouldn't let me run till I got back up to at least 100 lbs, than he wouldn't let me compete until I got back up to at least 108 lbs. He would come eat lunch with me, he didn't force me to eat things like burgers. He always asked me what I wanted to eat than he would go get the food, but I had to eat everything on the plate. Than he would never let me go to the bathroom for about 45 minutes after I ate.

He knew I was really affraid of not being a good runner once I gained the weight so eventually he started teaching me about eating really good healthy foods, and I started weight lifting to help my muscles get back to normal. Than once I got up to 115 lbs he started letting me do as many workouts a day as I wanted but the one condition was the more I ran, the more I had to eat. So I thank my coach very much for everything he did in high school. When I graduated I had pretty much rewritten my high schools record books and I was 5-8 and a very healthy 133 lbs.

Than when I got to college I had gained some weight over the summer (i was than 139) and my coach started making comments about my weight. It was terrible, I started to feel really bad about gaining the weight I had gained and I started doing really long runs at like 3am and I would eat 2 meals a day and my 3rd meal was just soup usually. I got back down to about 120 when I started to realize it wasn't me. There was nothing wrong with me and I quit the track team.

I completely disagree with the coaches that tell athletes they need to lose weight. If an athlete is getting in good workouts and they have a good diet, their body will naturally go to the weight it should be at. My advice to any runner is just be happy with who you are. don't let anyone tell you whether you are to fat or to thin. Just be you.

PS

but thanks to the coaches out there that do help their athletes with eating disorders, it is something he/she will never forget

Answer 2

i think that no one (athlete, nerd, prep, jock, parent, college student) no one should have eating disorders.

i would also discourage it if i was a coach and some girls in my team had eating disorders. i would sit down and talk with them and try to encourage them...idk if this is the answer u were looking 4, but i hope i helped!

Answer 3

I have seen a couple of runners with eating disorders (one of them was a man who died a few years ago due to running and anorexia), its a dangerous combination.  Nutrition is so important for runners and plays an important role of being a good runner.  To me a good coach would teach runners about nutrition, hydration, and to mentally prepare for training, injury prevention, etc.  Coaches shouldn't give you advice for weight loss, that should be advice from your doctor.

Answer 4

eating disorders cripple athletic performances.  the body does not get the energy it needs to function properly or rebuild itself.  eating disorders=not cool