Allie O Admits Eating Disorder and Enters Therapy

TrackCoach wrote:

An eating disorder is just what the names says...you are not eating right Low weight, injuries hormones issues is generally how it manifests itself, but not every thin athlete has an eating disorder. Some athletes are naturally / genetically thin, but when you see a female athlete getting smaller at a time when they should be getting bigger, something is not right. Shame on the coaches with the win at all cost attitude who should be able to clearly see something is not right. If you have been watching an athlete since high school and all through college and the athlete does not appear to have ever went through puberty, it is your job to question that.

Good post. I wonder if a person can physically recover from damage due to calorie restriction and staving off puberty during the important growing years? Is the damage to the bones reversible? Or did she set herself on a path where stress fractures and having the bones of a 70 year old are unavoidable?

This this this. I had an eating disorder that started at age 14. I was on the chubbier side before it, then lost 30 lbs in a short period of time, but it was easy to hide the ED because I never really got underweight and my BMI was normal.

75% of Americans but you claim to have an eating disorder because you have a normal BMI?

Big car daddy wrote:

75% of Americans but you claim to have an eating disorder because you have a normal BMI?

You missed the boat on what she was trying to say. Someone can suffer from an eating disorder and still have a normal BMI.

How so? Please explain.

Big car daddy wrote:

How so? Please explain.

Are you just being intentionally obtuse? Go read the diagnostic criteria for bulimia. What does it say about BMI?

difference is ...it's impacting health too.

No. You seem to think everyone has studied eating disorders. 99% of us go on with our lives without ever giving it a thought. Is that what Allie has? Is that what Mary Cain had? I don't see it as bad as some people I know who overeat and have become obese.

Big car daddy wrote:

No. You seem to think everyone has studied eating disorders. 99% of us go on with our lives without ever giving it a thought. Is that what Allie has? Is that what Mary Cain had? I don't see it as bad as some people I know who overeat and have become obese.

Wrong. At no point did I think you had studied eating disorders. Which makes me wonder why you are arguing with people about what constitutes an eating disorder.

But in the spirit of helping out, I did give you some advice as to how you might educate yourself on the topic a bit and answer the question you asked.

Good post. I wonder if a person can physically recover from damage due to calorie restriction and staving off puberty during the important growing years? Is the damage to the bones reversible? Or did she set herself on a path where stress fractures and having the bones of a 70 year old are unavoidable?

You can, if you are young enough. You can build bone until you are about 30 or so. So she still has plenty of time to reverse it. That's why it's so critical to get help for younger athletes so the bone density isn't irreversible.

Walking Contradiction wrote:

Good post. I wonder if a person can physically recover from damage due to calorie restriction and staving off puberty during the important growing years? Is the damage to the bones reversible? Or did she set herself on a path where stress fractures and having the bones of a 70 year old are unavoidable?

You can, if you are young enough. You can build bone until you are about 30 or so. So she still has plenty of time to reverse it. That's why it's so critical to get help for younger athletes so the bone density isn't irreversible.

Thanks for your response. It might be helpful to people reading this thread.

Walking Contradiction wrote:

Good post. I wonder if a person can physically recover from damage due to calorie restriction and staving off puberty during the important growing years? Is the damage to the bones reversible? Or did she set herself on a path where stress fractures and having the bones of a 70 year old are unavoidable?

You can, if you are young enough. You can build bone until you are about 30 or so. So she still has plenty of time to reverse it. That's why it's so critical to get help for younger athletes so the bone density isn't irreversible.

This is sort of off-topic. But I’ve always wondered if it’s better to run for many years (up until close to 28 or 30 years old or so) at a significantly heavier weight while doing lots of mileage, some pure speed work, and lifting. Then you’d be fully developed and your bone density is as high as possible and you would have developed you musculoskeletal system to suppose let’s say 145-150 pounds ish. Then you lose weight to 130ish or whatever is possible without being too unhelathy and you have a few years in your prime for the marathon. *Im not advocating for an ED to reach that 130; it’s only theoretical if you can do it with a healthy mental state.

jamin wrote:

There's nothing wrong with talking about body weight/composition for a sport where these factors are obviously relevant for performance. Renato Canova has claimed that when Bekele ran his 2:01 marathon, he was in no better shape than usual and that the time savings came from his lower body weight.

It is interesting how many of the great athletes take a break and put on lots of weight. Don't you think.

^best poster on LR

I love what she did, her video is so genuine and its something that needs to be discussed in order to help the future of the sport. Anyone who has ran collegiately knows that this is a HUGE issue that tends to get swept under the rug. Its also a problem in post-collegiate running. I love her saying how she believes there needs to be early screening for it - I couldn’t agree more. I think both athletes and coaches should get screened because a lot of the time coaches can perpetuate the sickness or even encourage it. There needs to be a system in place to vet and weed out the coaches who contribute to it. Real problems happen when you have a sick coach (who isnt recovered themselves and either knowingly or unknowingly contributes) feeds this culture. Love to Allie! Also good on USATF and Brooks for stepping in when needed. She/they are helping to change our sport for the better.

Or why not focus our attention on the 75% of the population who are overeaters and will die of diabetes or heart disease instead of honing in on the .1% of the population?

Big car daddy wrote:

Or why not focus our attention on the 75% of the population who are overeaters and will die of diabetes or heart disease instead of honing in on the .1% of the population?

The actual eating disorder rate resulting in metabolic damage is over 88% including all adult age cohorts. Both over/under eating disorders share a basis in inadequate protein:energy ratio (P:E)

Cyclist Tyler Hamilton says he did not have an eating disorder:

"I took getting to my race weight seriously. It was part of my job."

+1

Unfortunately, I have had a front row seat to the suffering experienced by an elite runner with anorexia. The suffering is immense. Literally, 95% of the person's mental energy was devoted to thinking about and controlling what to eat. The disease is lethal too. Among childhood illnesses, it has a higher mortality than leukemia and it is the most lethal of any psychiatric disorder (not from starvation usually, but suicide). The illness is very very hard to treat with a high recurrence rate and long term success of < 50%. Therapy is intensive and often requires family participation for best results and it is especially hard when diagnosed later in life, like with Allie. There is no cure for most, just remission if lucky. The relationship to exercise/running is complex. For many, running is just another way of managing calories and weight and the activity is a gateway to the disease. It can be impossible to recover and still run, especially at an elite level. This is not universally true, but it is a fraught situation. I am concerned that Allie is under active treatment but still training and racing. By and large, this would not be recommended by most therapists, certainly not until there is recovery, not just of weight, but more importantly eating disorder behaviors.