MY SITE
BACKGROUND
The Culture
It is often thought in the sport of distance running that one needs to be skinnier to be fast. That if you really want success, you will do whatever it takes. This toxic mindset can have a long term impact, such as one developing a body image distortion or an ED.
I began having difficulties when I started going through puberty. In the midst the one of my most competitive stages of running, I found it hard to adjust to the gained weight, for I have always been a very petite, slim child. None of my teammates were having this issue either, or at least we didn't talk about things like this. To show my commitment to my goals and team, I thought I tried in every way possible to shed that weight. I ate healthier, slept less, and ran more. I desperately wanted to have my younger body back...
Because of my disordered eating and vegetarian diet (something that I have been since before my running career), I developed low-ferritin, which took a greater tole on my mental health. Everything was difficult and, though I was more disciplined than ever before, I was finding less success in the sport. I turned to school instead, trying to find something to make me happy. I think I was so caught up in having an identity as a hardworking person that I ignored the signs that it might be killing me. It wasn't until my freshman year of high school that my coach recognized something wasn't right and recommended I get my iron tested.
Recovery is hard. I still have bad days where I am tempted to skip meals and push the distance and the pace of my runs. There are still days where I get on the starting line and focus on how much bigger I am than my other competitors, instead of my goal of winning.
Through this process, I have been reminded of what really matters to me, of who I am. This is what now fuels me on the starting line. When I start to notice my negative tendencies resurface, I think about how far I have come. I survived the lowest periods of my life; I think I can run a three mile race.
I began having difficulties when I started going through puberty. In the midst the one of my most competitive stages of running, I found it hard to adjust to the gained weight, for I have always been a very petite, slim child. None of my teammates were having this issue either, or at least we didn't talk about things like this. To show my commitment to my goals and team, I thought I tried in every way possible to shed that weight. I ate healthier, slept less, and ran more. I desperately wanted to have my younger body back...
Because of my disordered eating and vegetarian diet (something that I have been since before my running career), I developed low-ferritin, which took a greater tole on my mental health. Everything was difficult and, though I was more disciplined than ever before, I was finding less success in the sport. I turned to school instead, trying to find something to make me happy. I think I was so caught up in having an identity as a hardworking person that I ignored the signs that it might be killing me. It wasn't until my freshman year of high school that my coach recognized something wasn't right and recommended I get my iron tested.
Recovery is hard. I still have bad days where I am tempted to skip meals and push the distance and the pace of my runs. There are still days where I get on the starting line and focus on how much bigger I am than my other competitors, instead of my goal of winning.
Through this process, I have been reminded of what really matters to me, of who I am. This is what now fuels me on the starting line. When I start to notice my negative tendencies resurface, I think about how far I have come. I survived the lowest periods of my life; I think I can run a three mile race.
"Anorexia Athletica"
Eating disorders (ED) are defined as a wide range of disturbances in eating patterns (Bernstein 2008). "These disorders are characterized by major concerns with food, body weight, and shape that lead to disturbed eating behaviors, such as starvation, fasting, frequently skipping meals, overeating, and binge-eating followed by purging, as well as the use of diet pills, laxatives, diuretics, and even excessive exercise" (Coelho 2014). The major types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, and Eating Disorder (Non-specified).
Disordered eating is often how an eating disorder first manifests. It "..starts with healthy dieting, then goes on to the use of more extreme weight loss methods, then moves to passive or active dehydration, and ends at the onset of an eating disorder at a clinical level". 95% of cases occur amongst women and 90% of those occur in people under the age of 25 (Coelho 2014). |
Female athletes, especially those partaking in endurance and aesthetic sports, have an even higher likelihood of being diagnosed with an eating disorder (Bernstein 2008)(Coelho 2014) (Busanich 2013)(Kroshus 2015). Some risk factors that heightened the occurrence of ED in female athletes are thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, and perfectionism (Kroshus 2015). When combined with outside encouragement from coaches and teammates to follow these traits, developing an ED is inevitably bound to happen.
From "The Female Athlete Triad" by Taraneh Gharib Nazem, BA, and Kathryn E. Ackerman, MD, MPH
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Risk Factors
The disposition that a runner's success in the sport is tied to their attainment of a low body weight or fat content is often the core of why runners try to lose weight in the first place. Although the likelihood of one developing an ED is strongly due to genetic and biological components, psychosocial factors contribute greatly as well (Bernstein 2008).
InternalIn running, one's performance is dictate by the amount of physical training they put in combined with their mindset when the time comes. Though everyone is different and unique in their own way, those in distance running tend to be 'Type A", perfectionists, willing to do whatever it takes. "I guess what precipitated me to do the things I did...eat healthier and stuff - eat super, super healthy - and work out twice as hard, and almost restrict my(self)...was I thought that's what elite level runners did. I thought that's why people are running better than me - because they are more disciplined than me, they eat healthier than me" says a collegiate runner in the study "Comparing elite male and female distance runner's experiences of disordered eating through narrative analysis" (Busanich 2013). These personality characteristics combined with an environment encouraging a lean body and rigid discipline create the perfect breading ground for an ED.
From "Binge Eating and Binge Eating Disorder in Athletes: A Review of Theory and Evidence" by Gemma Williams
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ExternalThe people and the environment we surround ourselves with greatly change our thinking and how we interact with the world around us. In the context of distance running and ED development, teammates, coaches, and the resources provided can shape how one thinks about their body and the fuel that goes into it. According to a study conducted by four ivy league students, "Teammates can play an important role in risk and prevention. Thompson and Sherman (1999) suggest subcultures commonly develop on athletic teams and can influence team member eating behaviors. This is not surprising as teammates are a highly salient peer group, practicing, competing, traveling, eating and, in many cases, living together" (2014). From this level of bonding, the mindset of "do it for the team" often emerges. This bigger-than-yourself mentality allows some teams to win national championships, but, as hinted earlier, can turn toxic very quickly. In order to achieve the goals of the group, an individual might sacrifice their own health, resulting in the development of an ED. "This 'Do it for the team' mentality may cause athletes to feel responsible for not only their own place on the team, but for the competitive status of the team as a whole. Accordingly, many successful athletes view successful, slim athletes as role models for body-related attitudes and behaviors (Burckes-Miller & Black, 1991). Further since many [teams] traditionally have team dinners before competitive events, athletes may adapt their eating styles to resemble those of their caloric-restricting teammates" (Berstein 2008). Based on "Prevention of eating disorders in female athletes", studies have shone a "performance-related and body weight preoccupied coaching style increases dieting, body image anxiety, and fear of fatness" (Coelho 2014).
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The Female Athlete Triad
From NEDA
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Having permanent and fatal consequences, eating disorders disrupt not only one's hunger cues and eating patterns, but also one's organ systems and other parts of the body.
The Female Athlete Triad consists of three dimensions: disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. "Amenorrhea is classified as either the absence of menstruation by age sixteen (primary amenorrhea), or the absence of three or more consecutive menstrual cycles after menarche (secondary amenorrhea). Amenorrhea linked to eating disorders or exercise is hypothalamic in origin, and results in decreased ovarian hormone production and hypoestrogenemia." (Berstein 2008). While osteoporosis is when the quality and density of bone is reduced, resulting in a high risk of stress factors and broken bones in athletes (Nazem 2012). All of this adds to decreased energy availability, often manifesting itself in the form of low ferritin or vitamin D. |