Allie O Admits Eating Disorder and Enters Therapy

Well put. My sister suffered from anorexia for many years and it was frightening. She finally got therapy and was a new person.

Haven't seen this mentioned on this thread, but she is listed on the USATF website as having declared for the steeple and the 10K (and scratched for the 5K) at the Trials. That means she (or I guess her coaches) told USATF on or after last Tuesday that she was running.

https://www.usatf.org/events/2021/2020-u-s-olympic-team-trials-track-field/status-of-entries

Also perhaps of interest given all the threads about her; Quigley has declared for the steeple.

Big car daddy wrote:

Nope. You aren't running sub 15 for 5k. Most elite women miss their period.

See this is the problem. We were even gives stats on this as college runners. No, you shouldn’t be missing your period and/or have disordered eating habits to reach peak performance. The best athletes are healthy, stromg, and get their periods. Let’s make getting periods a sign of good health and the strength to perform at your best. These are the women who have longer running careers too.

normalize monthly periods. wrote:

Big car daddy wrote:

Nope. You aren't running sub 15 for 5k. Most elite women miss their period.

See this is the problem. We were even gives stats on this as college runners. No, you shouldn’t be missing your period and/or have disordered eating habits to reach peak performance. The best athletes are healthy, stromg, and get their periods. Let’s make getting periods a sign of good health and the strength to perform at your best. These are the women who have longer running careers too.

I mean Sally Kipyego talks about how she was incredibly lean and fit and thought there was no way she could get pregnant so wasn't super careful with birth control, but was actually pregnant when was 2nd at New York in 2016. So there certainly are women who retain normal enough hormonal function to retain reproductive health while training at an elite level.

Weight is a proxy because nobody is out getting dexa body scans weekly to see how things are going. Nobody cares if you lose 10lbs of water weight and that isn't what we are talking about. But if you weigh average 115lbs on your morning weigh in and 4 months later you are averaging 105 for the month, we are talking about significant changes

We might have better treatments but is there any evidence that we are catching it any quicker? Or are we all pretty much stuck waiting til someone reaches rock bottom? Maybe we don't hear about the early detection cases, but the list of elite HS athletes who struggle in college with ED issues seems endless.

As far as looking like a runner, it means exactly what it sounds like. If you go look at a pro race 9/10 have the same frame and look. Occasionally you get some exception. Same thing is said in tons of other sports.

In the end the problem will be that lighter is faster up until you get too light. And for a ton of people to get close to the too light category requires actions that border on ED.

It is interesting that there are a few woman who do seem to go a career being skinny without an ED. Jordan Hassay is pushing 30 and having been talking about when she would break down since HS.

If you were a coach, would you be able to tell the difference between her and say Seidel or Allie? Especially in HS.

Why isn't this an issue of choice?

Why can't these women do what they want with their bodies?

Why are we going to coerce them into having healthy eating habits?

Why only on this end of the spectrum (not eating enough)?

Why not when overeating?

Why not when drinking too much?

I watched the video and I think it's great that she wants to live a healthier lifestyle as a result of this intervention. I hope she inspires others to make healthy choices, too.

I had a stay at the Mayo Clinic (I received a recently approved cardiac device) and ran into some members of the eating disorder clinic at Mayo as my stay was longer than I expected. When Allie says it is hard, I believe her. My heart went out to these folks as their anxiety was through the roof. I hope she gets better. My heart goes out to her. She is a very likable young lady and has a lot to offer and above running.

I think a piece we forgetting is, that yes whole an eating disorder does focus on weight and food- it is really a MENTAL health issue. I think that is why it’s so hard to see from the outside of the coach/athlete relationship is not super strong. Just looking on the outside a lot of ED might be easy to miss because so many runners are viewed as thin.

Also we have coaches who are trained to coach.l and are not medical professionals or counselors so they do not have any clue how to address the issues.

Instead of weigh ins or addressing athletes based on appearance, another option would be to allow or force every NCAA or pro athlete into regular counseling or therapy, just for life in general, then these trained professionals would be better suited to spot and hopefully address ED and others issues before they get to a breaking point. Let’s be proactive,

is this not a choice wrote:

Why isn't this an issue of choice?

Why can't these women do what they want with their bodies?

Why are we going to coerce them into having healthy eating habits?

Why only on this end of the spectrum (not eating enough)?

Why not when overeating?

Why not when drinking too much?

I watched the video and I think it's great that she wants to live a healthier lifestyle as a result of this intervention. I hope she inspires others to make healthy choices, too.

It's a mental illness. There is no issue of "choice" involved here. I wanted to recover so badly. I didn't want the eating disorder anymore. Yet I couldn't recover without a bunch of help.

Big car daddy wrote:

2/3 of Americans are overweight and 1/3 are obese. This is causing heart disease and diabetes and cancer. For every 1 person who has an eating disorder that causes them to be underweight and unhealthy, there are 100 who have an eating problem that causes them to be overweight and unhealthy. I don't know where this new logic came from that being overweight is healthy.

So 100% of Americans are overweight or obese? Really interesting! Could you post a link to the source you’re citing? :)

Maybe you failed math class or you didn't realize that obese people are overweight. The CDC says the numbers are even higher.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

This all is good and makes sense EXCEPT where you are talking about looking at a race and seeing the same frame and then saying that lighter is faster is not good yet Hassan is at a weight many are not willing to drop down to and of course out preforming everyone.

Thats what I am saying even the ones who don't have problems but are performing the best make your average collegiate runner, including me, feel heavy. Which they do to a lot of people. Even though Indont have a restrictive eating disorder, more likenperiods of binge eating but small binges, it messes with my body image. And many do not fall into bad habits but have bad body image.

The reality is, Hasan is most likely underweight by a BMI chart. Would anyone disagree? Its probably healthy for her and 5 to 10 percent of runners but the majority cannot stay that lean healthily.

1. Who is paying for this mandatory therapy?

2. Where do you think someone would find the time for this therapy?

3. It’s unethical to force people who don’t need it into therapy.

The ability to run a sub 15 5k requires not only talent but consistency in training. Failing to get your period as a female runner is an indication of RED-S, stemming from insufficient caloric intake in relation to activity level. In turn, ammenohea occurs as a result of an energy deficiency. As a result, the bones of the body are significantly weakened due to lack of estrogen. Consequently, stress fractures are much more likely to occur, especially those in large weight barring bones such as the sacrum. Additionally, RED-S can in increase the risk of other injuries because the body does not get the energy and nutrients necessary to properly repair itself. If you are getting injured all the time, you are definitely falling short of your potential, as you can not run as much and as intensely. Look at Molly Seidel. She had a very good college career as a runner despite constant injury but an even better career as a pro as she made the Olympic team in the marathon despite little marathon experience. Fixing the energy imbalance problem allows her to do the training to be the best she can be. Anouther good example of this is with Elise Cranny. She also suffered from stress fractures in college due to RED-S and achieved much more sucess in as a pro than as a collegic runner. Here's the article which talks about it.

https://runningmagazine.ca/health-nutrition/bowerman-runner-opens-up-about-dealing-with-red-s/

lke_4:25 wrote:

This all is good and makes sense EXCEPT where you are talking about looking at a race and seeing the same frame and then saying that lighter is faster is not good yet Hassan is at a weight many are not willing to drop down to and of course out preforming everyone.

Part of life is accepting you aren't Hassan. She might be able to maintain that level of fat. You probably can't.

And for the other poster, other people don't make you feel heavy. You make yourself feel heavy.

You make solid points.

Losing weight is the first sign of taking in fewer calories than what are being burned. That is something that 75% of Americans should be doing. Once the body achieves a minimal weight, it does other things to compensate. For women, losing ones period is common. This happens in many healthy runners. I estimate that 1/2 of healthy elite distance runners miss their period.