The topic of anorexia and athletes came to mind yesterday as I was leaving an indoor tennis facility and saw this extremely thin woman walking ahead of me. I’m guessing she was in her late 40’s, maybe mid 50s.
I read an article about a month ago which announced the publication of a new book written by a one time athlete who revealed how she masked her secret of having an eating disorder while training and competing in track events for Great Britain.
She describes how she first began cutting out certain foods that were high calorie to get into good shape for running. She then progressed to eliminating carbohydrates and fats from her diet then cutting out everything that wasn’t certain vegetables, salads or fruits. At the same time she increased her exercise regime.
She spent 2 years as an inpatient in a hospital eating disorder unit.
She explains that other athletes and coaches not only didn’t consider her eating behavior abnormal, they frequently encouraged her to continue her eating style. The reasoning behind this is that a relatively low body weight is beneficial for elite athletes to perform their best. When athletes lose weight the oxygen goes directly to their muscles instead of fueling the surplus fatty tissue.
Allie Outram, author and one time world class cross country champion, claims that most of the other young women on her team also had eating disorders so no one noticed her and her team mates were supporting. She also reports that coaches don’t know much about eating disorders and often encourage team members to lose weight for optimal performance and exercise more.
The book is titled: Running on Empty by Allie Outram. I haven’t read it yet but the reviews were fairly decent. You can order it through Amazon. There’s a link to Amazon on the left side of this page.
I’d be interested in your review of the book. You can e-mail it to ruthanb@balanceyourhealth.com
To a successful and healthy lifestyle,
Ruthan
