Eating disorders encouraged?!?

this is a fantastic thread.

Then again, there are also studies done (I'll look for the link, but if anyone has one then post it) that show that runners with an extremely low fat diet have higher injury rates. While correlation doesn't prove causation and that could maybe have nothing to do with fat, and possibly more to do with an overall low calorie consumption, it bears keeping in mind. Everything in moderation. I really think eating gets a little over-thought at times.

Go back to the research. Low fat diets have within the last few years been shown not to lower cancer rates, help with weight loss, or lead to longer lives. Runners need to eat some fat for good health; without it the body has trouble absorbing vitamins from food.

I think this thread is great! The more that is said the better.

A happy runner is a better runner.

A happy runner is also healthy.

You may be happier if you have goals and strive for them.

The focus should not be on your weight.

I went to an ACC school and it does seem like a school in the league stock-piles unhealthy runners. Whether it starts before or after going there, it shouldn't be tolerated by the coaches if it is actually a case of an eating disorder.

But---I would be lying if I said being thin wasn't encourage at my school as well. The line was never crossed when it came to forcing someone to diet or get weighed in. It could be encouraged, but not forced. It sort of came off as "if you say you want to be great...losing weight is part of showing that you actually care." At the same time--training hard, getting sleep, stretching, icing...etc are all outside things that help with running. As a runner, YOU should get to decide what measures you will go to to better yourself. That being said, full-blown eating disorders were not tolerated and several cases of severe weight-loss resulted in not being held out of practice even if you were running well.

it's a hard balance...and the psychological trouble associated with restricting calories blur the lines even more.

At the end of the day though, if losing weight isn't something you want to do then your coach needs to be OK with that.

I too noticed a huge emphasis on weight once I reached the college level. I was an elite runner all through high school, and never really thought about what I ate. If I gained a few pounds, I simply cut out snacks and lost the weight in a month or so. It was never a stressful thing until I got to college, and really noticed how weight received about an equal amount of emphasis as the actual training. The girls on my team only talked about food, and watching the way they ate, or didn't, drove me crazy. I eventually had to take time off from running and school to get things back under control, as the environment was extremely unhealthy. The coaches I don't think intentionally drove girls to lose weight, but rather they turned it into an unhealthy competition among themselves to see who could lose the most weight.

DIF runner:

This is almost exactly my experience. If I gained a little weight in high school, it was never a big issue in high school. I would cut back a little - no big deal - and lose the weight.

My D1 coach regularly preached weight loss as a way to run faster. Perhaps the coaches aren't aware of the affect their words have, but my team was obsessed about weight. Unfortunately, I found myself slowly joining in on the obsession - lost a great deal of weight - initially ran PR's - then began the injury cycle.

My team had numerous girls with eating disorders. My coach knew it and never stopped a girl from running unless a parent demanded it.

D1 freshman wrote:

I\'m a freshman and run for a D-1 program and it seems that everyone on the team is on a 1200 calorie diet, no matter how many miles they\'re running. Its a little messed up in my mind. And today was when my coach finally had his chat about nutrition with me. It seems I was one of the last ones that wasn\'t told to log everything and get weighed. Is this normal? Like I feel that everyone on the team is extremely unhealthy about eating, especially mentally. Talk about low-self esteem. Should I just fall along with it, cause in the end I\'ll be a less happy, but better runner for it, or should I consider transferring?

I ran at a D1 school and our coach was always telling the girls' team to lose weight. He once told a girl she looked like a line backer. I'd say about half the girls on the team developed some kind of eating disorder. At first these "dieting" girls would run better, but after a few months they would start sucking @$$. And thus ended their running career...

Eventually the coaches realized that the combination of praising Jesus and anorexia wasn't getting the job done, so they just recruited a mass amount of Kenyans (Sally Kip-missing-link-o) and now dominate.

Sidenote: The one girl totally unaffected by the eating disorder hysteria, and probably the slowest and least personable girl on the team, now works for Letsrun. Wow.

As a Coach I just stress the importance of a good healthy diet and making the right decesions in what you eat but by all means eat enough....good lord you can have a freakin candy bar but just don't eat 5 of them at once.

WTF about weighing your girls!

Eat veg..eat fruit..eat meat...wheat...some pasta..rice...drink milk........a little choculate.....a little ice cream......run.....run....run.....run ...and run

My philosphy when I was once a runner was run 100 miles a week and eat/drink anything I felt like.Now I am mid 40 and I run 40-50 miles a week and I gained 20-25 pounds

johnnywaterski wrote:

Sidenote: The one girl totally unaffected by the eating disorder hysteria, and probably the slowest and least personable girl on the team, now works for Letsrun. Wow.

Okay....

Unaffected you say? While I don't enjoy revealing too much about my personal issues, I think in this case I will.

I may have seemed unaffected because I was on the other end of the spectrum. I had an eating disorder (anorexia) before I ever started running (around age 14). To tell you the truth I used running as a way to hide it. Eventually, I loved running and it pretty much saved me to some extent as I knew I had to eat to fuel myself, but I still never ate enough for how much I was running. It did not go away completely, however. I continued to obsess over what I ate for years, including when I got to college. Then came the stress fractures that led to me slowing down and eventually the end of my college running career. Same old story, but I was in denial about my problem for a long time.

And a sidenote: I'm sorry you saw me as not being personable. I was just insecure.

To the OP: Remember that you have to look out for yourself first. Just because he's your coach does not make him right.

D1 Freshman,

I didn't go to college. For me to join in this chat about weighing in may seem unlikely.

I did however, have one person encouraging me to be "smaller" "lighter" so that I would go faster. Seemed to make sense to me. Though how I went about it was not in the best interest to moi's well being.

My experience as a runner who lived and raced with a food disorder for years may be helpful to some of you.

And having suffered through the recovery to become a healthier person than I ever was, took me years.

A food disorder is an insidious,unrelenting and unbiased disease. It's like an octopus, as soon as you are within its range it'll stun you.

Having a food "disorder" is not like other addictions. You have to eat to live. Food is not the enemy. Though it can be treated like one.

Much like running/training it s journey. You really get to know yourself under pressure.

I found it amazing how badly I could treat myself and still function, perform. I, also, have found it amazing at how well I could treat myself and not just function but LIVE.

The slogan..."you are what you eat"...well yeah, if you eat junk your body will sputter. If you don't feed it, it conk out on ya.

Vibrant foods, Veggies, fruit.....give vibrant energy

"It's alive" (Young Frankstein)

If you want good performance you need good fuel.

The key is not to hang your hat at the junk food table.

Moderation is a key.

One key missing from my life at the time I started running was moderation...gosh, I ran for an hour my first time out. A WHOLE HOUR! I'd still be out there running if the cop didn't stop and asked "whaddayadoin?"

Another thing missing in my life at the time was self-discipline.

Now, don't get me wrong I wasn't thinking..."I need moderation in my life"..."I need to develop my self discipline"....nah, wasn't like that at all...I just wanted to have fun and be happy..and I stumbled upon running. TA-DA!

Now back to those weighing people...I get weighed about every other year at the Doc's.. I went to the doc's for a referral for hurt heel and they wanted to weigh me. I said "No" And they said "alright then." However, I do not know what they wrote on my chart. LOL! But I didn't get weighed.

The lower your body fat= the higher your VO2 max. Obviously this is only to a certain extant.

JimJamesrunner wrote:

The lower your body fat= the higher your VO2 max. Obviously this is only to a certain extant.

Yes, to an extent, but weight is comprised of more than fat. When you starve yourself to lose weight, you also lose muscle. Your heart is a muscle. Not good if you're a runner.

I'm 6'1" and 120 pounds but I eat like a 300 pound linebacker and when I eat less I find it negatively effects my running. go with whatever works for you

dx12,

Nice post. Thousands of girls should be thanking you for being so honest and insightful.

OP, you really need to do the right thing for yourself. I hate to admit it but the coach is after one thing; his job. He wants you to be fast for him for 4 years. After that, few coaches care what happens. I know there are some that do but there are a lot that don't. Always, take care of yourself. Most girls don't run competitively after college. Even if you do not, you still need a healthy body for the rest of your life.

Weighing girls? Maybe it is no longer allowed. I don't know. I have not coached D1 for several years now. The worst aspect of weighing the girls wasn't the numbers, it was the psychological beating they took from themselves and the other girls on the team. I stayed up too many times talking to young girls that cried half the night.

Anyone who thinks girls and guys are similar in competitiveness, weight issues, or training issues hasn't worked with enough of them at a high level. Of course, they are both 'running' but the similarities end very soon after that. Heck, I couldn't even get TWO girls to run next to each other on an easy day let alone have them like each other.

unnamed coach wrote:

Anyone who thinks girls and guys are similar in competitiveness, weight issues, or training issues hasn't worked with enough of them at a high level. Of course, they are both 'running' but the similarities end very soon after that. Heck, I couldn't even get TWO girls to run next to each other on an easy day let alone have them like each other.

I agree. There are too many coaches who don't know how to coach. In a competitive environment such as a college cross country team, no one questions the coach if they want to be one of the top runners. All you can do as an athlete is arm yourself with knowledge and look out for yourself. It's your body, your mind and your running career.

Your coach should be shot!! I was on a D1 top 10 team (when I was there at least) and that was my experience as well. However, I was one of the few girls who did not give in to the eating disorder mania. Now 10 years later, many former teammates are having a hard time getting pregnant or can't run for enjoyment because when they do--they immediately get a serious injury! Weight, body fat and calories are not something to get caught up in...

Eat to fuel your body for the work. Trust me, your body will take care of itself if you eat a healthy diet and enough to meet your caloric need. You will continue to gain strength and speed throughout your collegiate career if you are smart and healthy. Run your easy days easy and your hard days hard, fuel your body after hard workouts and have fun with it!

I would say a diet is never okay for a distance runner. Being healthy is the main thing that should be the focus, not BMI or weight. Getting a sufficient amount of calories to refuel and get in the above normal amount for an athlete is the most important thing. Energy energy energy. Just don't eat crap.

This thread has actually inspired me to lose a few pounds. Thanks, LR!