Molly Seidel shares more about her struggles with anxiety, depression and eating : "I will never overcome my eating disorder."

plant head wrote:

Yeah that ultra girl with all the pelvic stress fractures needs to come out and admit her disordered eating too. It’s blatantly obvious and she’s in healthcare. It sets a good example for others if they just admit they have a problem.

Are you talking about Kaci Lickteig? She has admitted she had one in the past and even went to treatment for it.

Unless you are saying she should admit she is still dealing with it which we shouldn’t just assume.

Engels fan boy wrote:

Seems to me like she basically has a bunch of issues, regardless of what she does. Running only makes it worse.

Think about how OCD someone has to be to do double workouts a day, 20 miles a day. You have to have a crazy gene in there.

It is a pretty fine line between dedication and craziness. A lot depends on how functional you remain.

act c wrote:

75% of Americans have an eating disorder. 65% can't control their eating and 10% do the opposite. Eating disorders did not exist 75 years ago because people were not wealthy enough to have unlimited resources and unlimited time, both of which are required.

Your post is on the mark. Anorexia, which was identified 300 years ago in Spain is a real tragedy and I've personally known 2 sufferers, but morbid obesity is an epidemic that shortens tens of millions of lives in the western world.

Have you battled an ED before? It's not something that's comfortable to talk about openly, especially for someone at the top of the NCAA and now marathon in the U.S. She should be praised for her courage and vulnerability that undoubtedly inspires others (including myself) to be a happy and healthy distance runner. You are promoting the damaging stigma rather than listening empathetically. Please stop.[/quote]

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I'm on the fence about how good it is for her to talk about her eating disorder openly. Maybe it's good because she admits that it's still a struggle while showing that she can still be a successful runner? My hesitation is that these stories get too much attention.

I worry that we ONLY hear about the elites who have eating disorders and that this may have the unintended consequence of normalizing EDs in elite women runners. I don't want to downplay the seriousness of the problem or its prevalence in a sport where disordered eating can lead to success in the short run. But I also think it's important for girls to know that many elite women eat the calories their bodies need to sustain high levels of training and that this is what everybody should aim to do if they want longterm success.

It is possible to run high mileage and be competitive while eating enough calories and getting a regular menstrual cycle.

It is possible to run high mileage and be competitive while...getting a regular menstrual cycle.

I'm not entirely convinced that it is (at least for some women). My own wife was/is a good runner...not elite by any stretch, but won/placed in regional-caliber races. The thing is that the weight loss creates a vicious cycle of success: the slimmer she got, the faster she was, the more she won, and the greater the problem became.

She had to significantly cut back her mileage and gain almost 20 pounds before she got her period back so we could have kids.

yep

And don't think for a second this affects only women. A year with an eating disorder will f*ck your body for life. Sad.

That's simply not true. I know many, many people who have recovered from eating disorders. Most of them are nowhere near fcked for life. Some of them have health problems related to the eating disorder. Some. Not everyone. Bodies are absolutely amazing at repairing themselves. You shouldn't spread false information like that - it will be massively disheartening for people to read, not to mention completely untrue.

A+

Say no to nonsense wrote:

It is possible to run high mileage and be competitive while...getting a regular menstrual cycle.

I'm not entirely convinced that it is (at least for some women). My own wife was/is a good runner...not elite by any stretch, but won/placed in regional-caliber races. The thing is that the weight loss creates a vicious cycle of success: the slimmer she got, the faster she was, the more she won, and the greater the problem became.

She had to significantly cut back her mileage and gain almost 20 pounds before she got her period back so we could have kids.

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This may be true that some women get into a vicious cycle of weight loss and lose their periods, but I think it's unlikely that elite women running high mileage with few injuries over many years are in that category. It seems that many girls look at elite women, many of whom are super slim, and think that they should try to look like them in order to be fast. In the short run, unhealthy weight loss will lead to success. The reality is that many elites have smaller body frames and are healthy at a much lower weight than the average person. If someobody tries to force their body to conform to a standard that is unhealthy for them, their body will eventually break down.

Low body weight is similar to height advantage in basketball, except that it's possible to make yourself thinner. Imagine if people could engage in unhealthy behaviors to make themselves taller. We need to be able to simultaneously acknowledge that body weight does matter in running and that many of the people who excel at long distance running have unusually slim bodies that give them an advantage over people with average body frames. These women can run high mileage and get their periods.

I'd practically bet my life that most women who have made an Olympic distance running team do not have EDs. In fact, having an ED would probably prevent a truly elite woman from maxing out her talent and making it to the Olympics.

Some of your statements are false.

In the short run, unhealthy weight loss will not lead to success. Otherwise it would not be unhealthy. And body frames are way more similar than Americans want to admit. Look at skeletons of slim people and so called big boned ones and you would have a hard time identifying which woman weighed 110 and which one weighed 180.

VroomVroom wrote:

And don't think for a second this affects only women. A year with an eating disorder will f*ck your body for life. Sad.

Nope.

People recover from CANCER dude! People recover from starvation and beatings in prison camps!

Over reaction doesn't help anyone.

act c wrote:

Some of your statements are false.

In the short run, unhealthy weight loss will not lead to success. Otherwise it would not be unhealthy. And body frames are way more similar than Americans want to admit. Look at skeletons of slim people and so called big boned ones and you would have a hard time identifying which woman weighed 110 and which one weighed 180.

When people talk about body types and "body frames" it has to do with more than just their skeletons. Some people have a genetic pre-disiposition to retain normal hormonal function at a greater degree of leanness than others. Some women lose their period when they cross 20% body fat whereas others can retain their periods at 12%. This has to do with genetics. All other things being equal, the person who can retain hormonal balance at 12% would have an advantage in distance running, although rarely are all other things equal. The person who loses their period at 20% has to work with how their body is.

NotPC wrote:

VroomVroom wrote:

And don't think for a second this affects only women. A year with an eating disorder will f*ck your body for life. Sad.

Nope.

People recover from CANCER dude! People recover from starvation and beatings in prison camps!

Over reaction doesn't help anyone.

My grandmother grew up in a war zone and had periods of malnutrition as a child and young adult due to that. She was fine as an adult and actually quite active and athletic (very into tennis), but she had some uncommon health issues, mostly related to kidney function and bone density that her doctors linked to her childhood malnutrition and mostly that showed up later in life. There are certainly long term health consequences that come up down the road to any period of malnutrition. That doesn't mean that someone can't live a full life and manage any of these issues, but it's also disingenuous to say that cancer, being in a prison camp, or having an eating disorder won't cause lasting permanent changes to your body that could affect your health.

yes you CAN overcome an eating disorder, you can overcome many obstacles in life

Oh no. Give any action or behavior a name and then you have no personal responsibility. I have an eating disorder and a gambling addiction and sex addiction and drug addiction. My wife has cancer. We stick with each other because we have incurable diseases so it is only fair.

olyrun wrote:

Eating disorders for runners is very much a U.S. phenomenon. Not that prevalent in other countries. The pressures on a college student/ athlete or a professional runner are great. I'm glad Molly is getting through it. But if it is too much for some women they should not compete. No running career is worth the negative impacts of a eating disorder.

Likely because Americans have more easy access to food.

She is, unfortunately, in the world of female LDR's, is in the majority, not minority, when it comes to looking like they could blow away with a stiff wind.

Engels fan boy wrote:

Seems to me like she basically has a bunch of issues, regardless of what she does. Running only makes it worse.

Think about how OCD someone has to be to do double workouts a day, 20 miles a day. You have to have a crazy gene in there.

What you are describing isn't OCD. OCD is really misunderstood by the general public, like "oh this person keeps their desk super neat, they are so OCD!" nope, not it.

OCD is when you have specific obsessions (anxieties, intrusive thoughts, etc.) that you feel the need to check with compulsions (this can be knocking your fist on something a certain number of times, waiting until it feels "just right" to close the door or light switch, running through mantras in your head to stave off the thoughts...really the compulsions can manifest themselves in a huge number of ways).

Someone being obsessed with being tidy or running a lot isn't OCD.