Disordered eating. Found a blog with challenging perspectives for young athletes

Meredith

It feels like a lifetime ago, but once upon a time I was a college runner. I had to set intensive training aside but I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. In doing so I'm reading some new running blogs and want to recommend bellelap.com as a resource for those of you who have daughters that are high school and college athletes, especially runners. Right now they have a very powerful series of posts about disordered eating that are refreshing perspectives in a world of pressure. The site is targeted to high performing college runners, but the lessons and wisdom could be of value to any athlete, or couch potato, that has a complicated relationship food or body image. This can be such a tough topic, so I wanted to share this resource in case it is helpful to anyone.

9 years ago

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6 replies

Latest reply was from Helen11

Helen11

Veteran

It sure is a difficult topic. Thanks for sharing the link. I'm am so far from athletic it's not funny, but I have seen how food and body and self image can be problematic.

9 years ago

Gail

Veteran

This is SO timely for me. My son, a junior who swims at a Division 1 College is having problems with his eating. He returned to school last fall and was told he had to lose weight. He then proceeded to starve himself and has subsequently developed an iron deficiency. He has been sick with one thing or another ALL season. Anyone that has had a college swimmer or athlete knows that the training is pretty rigorous and they really do need to eat properly. He wasn't "heavy" when he went back in the fall at all ! Now he has trained himself to not feel hungry most of the time and when he is hungry he binge eats. He was scheduled to swim at a meet this weekend but came down with the flu. The school dietician wants him to go and see a counselor.
One more year ...........!

9 years ago

Carla

Veteran

Powerful narrative. I ran high school, city, and university track and cross country. There weren't a lot of women in those days, so anyone who showed up was welcomed. During a one-on-one my coach explained that mine was not the best body type for a distance runner, but that with hard work, etc. I could set and reach 'personal bests' and be an asset to the team, enjoy a healthy lifestyle, etc. There was no talk of loosing weight or dieting though.

Disordered thinking about food intake cuts across all sports now, it seems. I read about a male triathlete in his prime (mid thirties) who rinsed his cottage cheese (?!) and my boys joke when we have chicken breasts that we are having 'body builder chicken'.

Interestingly, when I engaged a coach to help me train for a marathon (a 40th birthday present to myself) the first bit of 'homework' he assigned was a book 'Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Handbook'. Full of wisdom (and some good recipes) it addresses issues around nutrition and body image.

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks for sharing the resource, Meredith. Good to know. Glad you are running again.

9 years ago

Anonymous

My DD was on the cross country team while in high school. There were dietary guidelines, but never talk about losing weight, etc.

9 years ago

Helen11

Veteran

Just to sidetrack....I was thinking of you, Runcarla, this morning when out for my jog/walk, and wondering if you had always run, or started later in life. Now you've answered my question!

I was questioning whether taking up running later in life Is a good idea for me!

9 years ago

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