eating disorders in college

" I have heard numerous stories of people who just starved themselves and are now all stars."

Then you need to improve the quality of your sources.

What typically happens in a situation resulting in an outright ED is that a young runner with some degree of high-school success enters a college situation, where the training is most likely far more intense than it was when she was a prep.

At the same time, she, for whatever reason and as the result of whatever influences, decides that she needs to lose some weight. Maybe this is attempted in a "healthy" way at first; maybe self-starvation with or without binging and purging, or only binging and purging, is present from the get-go. In any event, the young woman loses weight and concurrently sees a big jump in performance. Rather than attribute this improvement to the bump-up in training load, she sees it as chiefly the by-product of losing weight, and so she immediately is trapped in a cycle that becomes nigh impossible to break.

(Note that this can all happen when an athlete is still in high school, and often does.)

But here's the deal -- after a "grace period" in which an undernourished runner manages to perform up to par or even excel (and examples are legion), she invariably crashes and burns. Anorexia is a prescription for a truncated running career -- period. I saw it happen in college, I know of many other stories first-hand and via reliable anecdotes, and the only common themes are misery, serious health problems (some of which can persist for a lifetime), and disappearing from competitive running, often but not always permanently.

Is this plausible wrote:

While sports nutritionists may say otherwise. Why is it that people who seem to have eating disorders are so succesful in distance running. I have heard numerous stories of people who just starved themselves and are now all stars.

It's sort of taboo to talk about, but the truth is that going from normal weight to slightly underweight is a big performance booster. Imagine if you were wearing a 20 lb vest running. Then imagine how much easier it would be to run when you take it off.

I dunno, I bought into the whole "racing weight" thing for a while, but I only got slower. I dropped from 134 to 128 and ran like crap. I also got a stress fracture that summer. The next year, I did more lifting and ate more and healthier, and weighed 138. And I also ran faster.

You described the process quite accurately, except for the persistent use of "she". Males can have eating disorders, too. It's not as frequent as females, but it happens. In fact, the number of male eating disorder cases is likely very underreported because of the stigma that it's a "female problem." Shame keeps them from seeking help.

Supernintendo Chalmers wrote:

You described the process quite accurately, except for the persistent use of "she". Males can have eating disorders, too. It's not as frequent as females, but it happens. In fact, the number of male eating disorder cases is likely very underreported because of the stigma that it's a "female problem." Shame keeps them from seeking help.

Sorry, bad link, RT has re-done their site sometime in the past decade.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4025

Plain and simple, running is a strength to weight ratio sport...similar to cylcling but even more so. The lighter you are the better off....to an extent. There is a point where you you simply get too light and then bomb...a point where you are not providing your body with the proper nutrients necessary to complete the training/races.

So it's like climbing a mountain (with the mountain being your performance) the better your strength to weight ratio, the better your VO2max the better you perform, the higher you climb...until you reach the top and the next step is off the edge of the cliff face. The end.

Purple Haze all around wrote:

It's sort of taboo to talk about, but the truth is that going from normal weight to slightly underweight is a big performance booster. Imagine if you were wearing a 20 lb vest running. Then imagine how much easier it would be to run when you take it off.

Special Informant wrote:

Plain and simple, running is a strength to weight ratio sport...similar to cylcling but even more so. The lighter you are the better off....to an extent.

Sure, but there is a lot of territory between "being too heavy will hold you back" and "starving yourself is they way to go."

Maintaining a proper racing weight requires some combination of favorable DNA, dietary discipline and heavy training, and so most top distance runners engage in habits that make the typical bloat-inclined American skeptical ("why would someone already so skinny be worried about fat intake and drink diet soda and black coffee?", etc.). But these kinds of obsessions, while often seen in the histories of those who ultimately become anorexic, are a far cry from the pathology seen in outright starvation.

I used to be amazed at the number of female Foot Locker finalists who manifested "lanugo hair" (the fine, light-colored coating of hair on the arms that starts to show up once anorexia is fairly well entrenched). Now I just expect it from a certain fraction of the field.

Is this plausible wrote:

While sports nutritionists may say otherwise. Why is it that people who seem to have eating disorders are so succesful in distance running. I have heard numerous stories of people who just starved themselves and are now all stars.

Short term success-- long term they're screwed.

Supernintendo Chalmers wrote:

You described the process quite accurately, except for the persistent use of "she". Males can have eating disorders, too. It's not as frequent as females, but it happens. In fact, the number of male eating disorder cases is likely very underreported because of the stigma that it's a "female problem." Shame keeps them from seeking help.

Exactly right. I was that guy. It all started innocently enough...I lost a few pounds without even really trying as I increased mileage while training for a marathon. I noticed a performance improvement, so I figured if a few pounds is good, then...

I was anorexic within a few months. Then I started occasional binge eating sessions, which led to bulimia. My favorite forms of purging where running and puking. Pretty soon, my running was no longer about competing and getting faster; it became a way to control my weight and work off my last binge. I'd actually plan my post-long run binge sessions with the idea that I could puke it all up afterward.

The really messed up part was that I'd kind of get a high off the puking. I think I actually got some kind of endorphin rush from the combination of running, binging, and puking.

This process was a slow and gradual one. I never dreamed that I'd someday be sticking my fingers down my throat to purge after a pig out session. I knew it needed to stop, and I swore "never again" more times than I care to remember.

After a couple of years, my race performance deteriorated to a a shell of its former. I just couldn't run like I used to. I'm probably lucky I lasted that long. I was tired and pale all the time, and people started to notice, although they had no clue what I was going through. I also started to notice some erosion of my teeth. I didn't dare go to the dentist for fear of being discovered.

Eventually, I was just exhausted from the continual struggle. I sought professional help from a counselor, but had to go through a few before I found one that was helpful. The first few would tell me, "well, just stop running". That was all they had to offer.

That was almost two years ago. I still go to counseling about twice a month to talk through the eating disorder, and I learned, a host of related emotional and mental issues. It's pretty well under control now, but I admit I'm still tempted. I manage it through prayer (sorry, athiests) and by never stepping on a scale. The only time I get weighed is at a doctor's office, and even then I try not to give the number a second thought. I make an active attempt to not think about my weight.

I'm still running and racing, although I'm no longer what I used to be competitively. I'm just enjoying the fact that my running is once again about running, instead of being about weight control.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I'd share as someone who's been there. If this helps someone, great. If not, oh well.

The body is in starvation "fight or flight" mode.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

The body is in starvation "fight or flight" mode.

Can you elaborate on this? You seem like a physiology expert already.

A good friend is a therapist specializing in eating disorders at a university that is a factory for Olympians. I gather that eating disorders are endemic to elite athletics - not just among runners, and not just among women.

I had a slight eating disorder for a few months when I was a freshman in college.

- ignore the title and the paleo stuff if you arn't interested, but my story is here

http://primaltoad.com/max/

Also, I ran my 5k and 3k PR while weight 115 pounds, but my best 8k and 10k come from 2+ years later weighing at 130 (and I most likely could have PRed in the 5k and 3k too if I raced it then)

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

The body is in starvation "fight or flight" mode.

So you're saying that in response to total or near-total food deprivation, metabolism *increases*? That's one idea I haven't heard.

Read this abstract:

"During the phase of the disease in which body weights were more than 20--25% below ideal, patients' blood pressures and pulse rates, plasma levels of norepinephrine, and 24-h urinary excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenol glycol and homovanillic acid were lower than those of a group of normal volunteers."

.

The "fight-or-flight" response you mention is mediated by norephinephrine release (mostly) and the other catecholamines noted.

I can't say that I ever experienced a fight or flight reaction to my starving. I've never heard of that happening before.

In my own experiences, for a short time I did run well as I got thinner, but it didn't last. Generally runners who have longevity in the sport and are successful don't continue their disordered eating patterns long term. It's impossible to run well without proper nutrition. Dropping weight can increase VO2 Max up to a certain point, true, but that's only one aspect of running well. Without a healthy body, it doesn't matter what your aerobic capacity is.

Here's an excerpt from my book, Training on Empty

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/243502

:

Training without proper nutrition can lead to many complications, yet it’s common for athletes to restrict their nutritional intake in order to achieve a lighter weight. According to world-renowned running coach Bobby McGee: “From a plain exercise physiological point of view, the lighter the runner, the higher their VO2 Max. This is their ability (measured in milliliters) to utilize oxygen per kilogram of body weight. This is a key performance factor in endurance events. The lighter the athlete, therefore, the better they perform – hence the warped ‘reward’ that these athletes receive for losing so much weight. Of course this period of heightened performance is finite as the effects of the illness start to shut down the system with its all too often inevitable outcome – terrible, terrible illness, anguish and even death.”

A doctor told me, but I forgot, this is letsrun and we don't listen to them. Here's something I found that explains it:

"The unit looked at the biology of stress mechanisms, in particular the fight or flight response. This is where the body prepares itself for action when confronted by a stressful situation. Heart rate and blood pressure rise and two of what are usually humans' highest priorities, eating and reproducing, are put on hold. It is possible that anorexic people are chronically in an acute state of stress reaction - they are constantly in a fight or flight state of mind."

http://ed-bites.blogspot.com/2010/01/serotonin-antidepressants-and-anorexia.html

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

A doctor told me, but I forgot, this is letsrun and we don't listen to them.

Well, you didn't say where you got your "information" in your previous post. But anyway, I'll take the conclusions reached in the study I linked to (which are hardly obscure and can be safely said to represent common knowledge) over "I have it on good authority." But your snark is appreciated nonetheless, because this is Letsrun.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Here's something I found that explains it:

"It is possible that anorexic people are chronically in an acute state of stress reaction - they are constantly in a fight or flight state of mind."

It is also possible that the world wil end on Dec. 21. I'd like to see some actual evidence, though. Same goes for the "chronic fight or flight state of mind" claim. And by the way, a state of mind isn't the same thing as a state of body. One is subjective, the other objectively measurable.

So in summary, I can't give a blog post from a lay recovering anorexic that draws on the uninformed words of an uninformed BBC journalist more credit than a very simple abstract in a study published in a reputable journal. Fair enough? If not, just Google "anorexia catecholamine levels" and see how many reputable sources agree with the idea that sympathetic nervous system activity in active anorexics is higher than normal. (I can save you a few minutes and tell you that you won't find many, if any.)

Much of this reduces to common sense. Do you really think a body wasting away is apt to trend toward a state in which it maximizes caloric expenditure?

My only eating disorder in college was 5 bowls of cereal at breakfast and 3 plates of mexican food for supper.