Eating Disorders - Positive Steps
Could you be suffering from an eating disorder - or do you know someone who might be? These pages might help
Food and diet are an essential part of a runner’s training programme. It’s perfectly normal to try out different foods and eating patterns – do you eat an hour before you run, or two hours? Do you switch from cow’s to soya milk, or increase your carbohydrate intake? – to find out what works best for you.
Many people start running to help control their weight, and soon find that as they get lighter, they are able to run faster or further. The trouble with keeping on trying to lose weight is that the returns – the increase in speed – diminish as your weight falls. Excessively restricting your dietary intake will leave you under-nourished and under-fuelled for your training. Extreme eating patterns – whether it is cutting down on how much you eat to as little as possible, or binge-eating and purging or excessive exercising – will impair your performance, and can damage your health permanently.
Eating disorders are more common among male and female runners than among the average population. Sometimes it affects existing runners; sometimes people with eating disorders take up running specifically to lose more weight.
The long-term effect of under-eating can be devastating – in women it can cause menstrual and fertility problems, and osteoporosis is much more likely in both men and women with eating disorders. It can cause problems with your digestive system, your kidneys and your bowels, and can even be fatal.
If you think that you, or someone you know has an eating disorder, don’t try to cope alone. There are plenty of places to get help, especially through the Eating Disorders Association (EDA). If you want to know more about eating disorders and running, you can download one of our information leaflets – there are a series of three:
If you think you have an eating disorder that is tied up with your running, but don’t feel ready to tell your family or your doctor, you might want to make use of the EDA’s self-help network. The network puts people with eating disorders in touch with former sufferers and carers who can offer support and information. You can ask for email, postal or telephone support; it is all totally confidential. Contact details are below.
The EDA also welcomes volunteers. If you have previously suffered from an eating disorder, or cared for a sufferer, and think that you are now in a position to offer support to someone who is currently going through what you did, you can find out what volunteers do here.
Contacting the EDA
Website: www.edauk.com
Email: helpmail@edauk.com
Telephone helpline: 0845 634 1414
Postal address: Eating Disorders Association, 103 Prince of Wales Road, Norwich NR1 1DW
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Do you recognise any of these signs? |
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ANOREXIA NERVOSA
Psychological signs:
- You feel fat even when you are thinner than other athletes
- You set high standards and want to win every time
- You are only interested in running, weight loss and food
- You want to train on your own, and lose touch with friends
- You can't concentrate
Physical signs
- You have lost a lot of weight
- Your periods have stopped - or never started
- You have difficulty sleeping
- You suffer from stomach pains, a bloated feeling and constipation
- You notice a layer of soft hair appearing all over your body
- You feel cold all the time and get chilblains
Behavioural signs:
- You are pushing yourself harder than ever in training
- You lie about what you have eaten to your coach, parents, family and friends
- You weigh yourself a lot and think that an extra pound will affect your running
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BULIMIA NERVOSA
Psychological signs:
- You feel emotional and depressed and suffer from mood swings
- You feel out of control of your life
- You are scared that people will discover your behaviour
Physical signs:
- You suffer from sore throats and infections regularly
- Your periods are irregular
- Your skin is dry or in a poor condition
- You feel tired all the time
- Your salivary glands – at the side of your face – are swollen
- You have trouble sleeping
Behavioural signs:
- You eat large amounts of food periodically
- You make yourself sick after eating
- You take laxatives to try to lose weight
- You are secretive about your eating habits
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Becoming an EDA Volunteer |
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If you have personal experience of an eating disorder, either as a sufferer or a carer, you will know how vital it can be to have someone to talk to. Volunteers don’t offer counselling or professional advice to sufferers, but provide a contact for runners with eating disorders to talk to about their feelings. If you think that you have the time and commitment to become a volunteer, please read the introductory guidelines, below, and then get in touch with the EDA.
Volunteers should have, or be willing to develop, the following skills:
- Knowledge and understanding of eating disorders and running, either on a personal or professional level
- Ability to offer support in a non-judgemental and impartial manner
- An understanding of boundaries and confidentiality
The EDA asks that:
- If you have a personal experience of eating disorders, you will need to have been in recovery and out of treatment for at least two years
- You can commit to a minimum of one year
- You complete an induction training programme
- You are over 18.
Ways of Being a Volunteer
Telephone volunteers take telephone calls for a set period each week. They are trained to listen to and support callers and to offer information about other types of help available in their local area. Telephone volunteers cannot counsel or advise callers but can offer a sympathetic ear to callers in distress.
Postal and Email Volunteers
Many people find it helpful to write to someone about their problem. Although e-mail is almost ubiquitous, some people may prefer to write with pen and paper. You should reply to the person you are supporting in the same way that they contact you. Like telephone volunteers, postal and email volunteers cannot counsel or advise callers but can offer a sympathetic ear to sufferers.
Training
The Eating Disorders Association runs training programmes for all its volunteers. The mainstay of induction training is role-play: members of the EDA’s self-help network team will take the role of a runner with an eating disorder, and will send you letters, call you or email you, and give you detailed feedback on the way you respond.
To find out more about how to become a volunteer, contact the EDA on 01603 75 33 10 or send an email
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Discuss this article
I, too, had an eating disorder, about 15 years ago. I wasn't a runner at the time. In fact, you wouldn't have got me anywhere near any form of exercise - so low was my self esteem and so great was my hatred of my body at the time.
I can, however, absolutely see how some runners could be affected by an eating disorder. I can quite easily imagine how a young, high-achieving athlete could get sucked into the whole control thing (which HG rightly says is at the nub of an ED) and end up abusing food.
The right nutrition is key to performance at a high level. Focussing on 'good' vs. 'bad' foods is likely to make these young people more aware of foods than perhaps your average young person. I became very aware/obsessed with food because I had a period of extreme food intolerance between the ages of 9 and 15, which was controlled by an exclusion diet. That focussed my mind on food - the things I *was* and *wasn't* allowed. I can see how the same process could take place for an athlete. Restricting diet, excluding certain foods, denying oneself what one wants to eat - then becoming obsessed with it, and either bingeing or starving. Yes - I can see it happening easily.
Often, youngsters with EDs will be high achievers - academically or otherwise. They want to be the best, and this can easily translate, I would imagine, into being the thinnest, if that is perceived, as it sometimes is in sport, as being 'better' than being bigger.
That feeling of desperation - of feeling so unsure of yourself and your abilities. Of feeling the pressure of competition - academically or physically. Of needing SOMETHING you can be in control of, when everything else is down to many sets of variables. Those are all things that I felt when I was suffering, which I should imagine could affect a young athlete, desperate to be successful.
I've said 'young athlete' throughout - mainly because most people with EDs do tend to be younger. But there's no reason why it *shouldn't* also affect the more mature athlete...
I only started running about 6 years ago -long after my ED was sorted out. And for me, running *is* about control - but not in an unhealthy way. It helps me to control my weight, certainly. But it also helps me to feel 'in tune' with my body, which I find enormously helpful. For the first time ever, I think I now accept the lumps and bumps and saggy bits (of which there are plenty), because - in spite of them - I know I'm fitter, healthier and in better shape than the majority of the population. And that'll do for me!
Posted: 08/02/2006 at 10:41
Although I can see how running could have helped in the first few posts, my experience is rather different.
First of all, I was an anorexic for about 3 years between the ages of 15 and 18. I was not a runner back then. Between the ages of 18 and 23 I still suffered with an “obsession” over food, and although I was not starving myself, I still had abnormal attitudes towards food and eating. At 24 I started running, in the hope that I would be able to become fitter and healthier, and in the hope that it would help me with my eating. However, 3 years on, I am still running, but I am still suffering with abnormal eating.
Running has made me focus on food as fuel, i.e. the physical responses of the body to certain foods, the benefits that some foods provide and the foods that are best avoided for physical exercise. However this has just furthered my obsession over food. This distinction between “good” and “bad” could be an unhealthy one. Without going into details about my eating habits, I can say that I try so hard to consume the “good” foods in order to improve my running (and loose weight), but inevitably binge on the “bad” foods because I feel I deprive myself of some of the pleasures (this is describing it VERY simplistically).
Also, running has furthered my negative self image. I have always felt rather big (even though I have a BMI of just under 21, which is bang in the middle of the “normal” range for women), and self critical about my body. But since joining a club and participating in more serious races, I have found myself comparing my body to other runners’, and feeling even worse. I feel that the “better/faster/more serious” runners look down on me, because carrying a few extra pounds makes me a less fast, less serious runner. Again, this reinforcement of a negative self image is a major contributor to the development (or exacerbation) of an eating disorder.
So, as it has been in my case, I think an eating disorder can push one to running (i.e. running is used as an aid to boost the poor self image, or further weight loss), but, vice versa, running can promote eating disorders, as preoccupation over food and body and striving for perfection and control may induce disordered eating.
The feeling of “control” is a major issue in both eating disorders and running. Similarly, the want to push yourself further and further. Of course, the relationship between eating disorders and running can be a complicated one (which is why it has helped some but made others worse), perhaps governed by external factors, which could also explain the fact that the link between EDs and running is present for some and not for others.
This is my experience of the association between the two, EDs and running – a vicious cycle, which I am so desperately trying to escape. One would think that running, such a natural, endorphin-inducing healthy pastime would be beneficial, but for me it has and is only making things worse.
Posted: 09/02/2006 at 10:39
I am also managing an eating disorder at the moment. it has been an ongoing problem since my early teens. I have only admitted to it in the last year.
i was never sporty at school, but secretly I used to run up and down stairs/sneak out to run when my parents were out. That was when i was still at school. Then, all exercise was geared towards my eating disorder.
i started running in May last year with the aim of one day completing a marathon. At the time I was really struggling, and deep down my main reason to run was to fuel the eating disorder.
Now, a few months later i am doing much better. As my running improved i joined a club and have entered races. That has boosted my confidence. My body has changed - which is hard to cope with. I am hungrier more often which is an ongoing battle.
Ultimately, I now have a reason to eat. If i don't eat I can't run. If I can't run I'm grumpy!!
Now, still struggling, but I'm eating much better. And I'll be doing the london marathon. It won't be easy. But I do have the support of my family and friends.
I am at the start of a long road to recovery - I'm waiting for counselling. But one thing is for sure, running has fuelled my eating disorder in the past. Maybe it will do so again. In the back of my mind it is always there when I run. But now, at least, the running is helping. I feel proud that I am able to run now without the fear that I might pass out.
Posted: 09/02/2006 at 19:19
(((JoG, tortuga)))
I had anorexia between 13 & 17, & spent most of my GCSE yr in hospital.
Ath the time I abused running in the same way i did everything else - it was just another form of self-harm, and i'd run with no intention of paying any attention to what my body was telling me.
I only stopped running when i was in hospital - and even then i'd climb out of the laundry window so i could run to burn calories, or excercise in secret where i wasn't physically prevented. running (burning calories) & controlling food were the only things i could think about.
When i got out of hospital & started getting better, i realised that i had to give up running for a while becuase it was just another means to self-destruction.
while i was at sixth form i didn't run much at all, though i did cycle to get round & living in the country kept me quite fit.
After i left sixth form then i started running again as my parents had moved house & i no longer needed to bike everywhere, and i was living near the sea in an amazing place for running. i think that by then after nearly 2 years, the compulsive aspect of excercise wasn't such a problem any more.
About a year later i did my first marathon more-or-less by accident, and since then i've done 7 maras (i'm now 22).
running in a positive way taught me that my body could do interesting & useful things, & that i didn't actually want to detach myself for it. it gave me a lot more confidence in myself (because i am dyspraxic, i was always last at games in school). and on bad days it gives me a reason to eat sensibly, because i know i need to eat to run. it makes the relationship between what i put in and what i get out of my body a lot clearer than if i was just sitting at a desk all day. i don't worry about the odd bit of junk food, 'cos i know i need to eat lots. it gives me another framework to see myself in than academic or social success - even if i don't get straight A's all the time, even if i'm not perfect, i'm still a marathon runner :) i've also made some good friends through it. & the endorphin buzz means it's good for my mental health to be out in the fresh air and sunshine, it helps with my depression.
i think maybe to some extent the sort of people who are likely to be successful at running (highly motivated, self-disciplined, prefer doing things alone, tendency to be perfectionist, etc etc) are also likely to be drawn to running. running's also a good match for self-harm in other ways - lots of the chemicals released in the brain are similar, which i think both contributed to my abusing running, and helped me switch from self-harm to more healthy running.
Posted: 09/02/2006 at 20:18
Therese, during my teens, I suffered with an eating disorder. My self-esteem was very low and I became completely focused on what I was eating at the expense of everything else. Thankfully I was lucky enough to have a supportive family that recognised what was going on and helped me to drag myself out of it before it got too serious. Key to sorting myself out was starting an exercise regime. I managed to persaude myself that doing exercise justified eating more than I'd trained myself to. If I exercised I was allowed to eat proper meals, if I didn't I wasn't. I got back to a sensible weight and maintained it, albeit with slightly strange eating habits resulting from still keeping an eye on the calories- I'd have a chocolate bar but then eat meals of pure fruit or veg to compensate for it. I'm now 26 and I can finally say that I've sorted myself out properly. Last year I started going out with a guy that made me realise that I'm worth a lot more than I gave myself credit for. As my self-confidence has grown, my issues with food and weight have fallen by the wayside. I'll always keep an eye on what I eat but it's no longer the demon that it used to be. I never ever thought, back when I was 17 and weighed 6 stone, that I would be where I am now. So I guess what I want to say, and I think everyone else that has contributed to this discussion has said, is that you can overcome this. It's not easy and it will take time and determination but you can beat this. Talk to someone, anyone, because sharing your problem will make it so much easier to tackle, believe me.
Posted: 13/02/2006 at 14:56
therese,
First of all, I'd just like to say that, as an anorexic sufferer myself (ex-sufferer now, but still choked by the noose of an ED), I can totally sympathise with the self-repulsion, the worthlessness and self-deprecation, the guilt of eating, the knowledge that it is all abnormal behaviour and the cry for help, for saviour from this vicious cycle that has full control over every aspect of life.
Surely this, and the fact that millions of people are also sufferers is an indication that you are not alone? And surely the positive expressions of many recovered anorexics (and many of those on this forum even!) are testament to the possibility of it happening to you (and me!) and the opportunity to live life as "normal" people?
What I am trying to say is DON'T GIVE UP.
I know that in the midst of depression it all seems doom and gloom, everything seems impossible, everything seems to be against you. But that's the thing - the key word is SEEMS. The doom and gloom is not real, the darkness and the impossibility are products of your brain, not actual reality.
I used to get depressed too - but I know it's my mind playing games on me, partly because of the chemical imbalances from the bad nutrition, but also you deprive yourself of any positive influences, as if you're not worth them. I suppose I'm handling it better now because I KNOW that it ISN'T all bad, I just THINK it's all bad. When you know it's all self-inflicted, you can train yourself to make the choice not to.
There's so much pleasure to be had in life, and it can be as simple as standing on the top of a hill and taking in a deep breath of air, or floating on water under warm sun, or even a gentle breeze of air on your face. And you, just like everyone, deserves to be happy. And no-matter how much help you have at hand, YOU need to make that choice for yourself, and ALLOW yourself to be happy.
I know, like you, that our behaviour is not normal. But I also know that I want to MAKE it normal. So, tomorrow I'm going to give the GP and EDA a call.
Come on, therese, lets join the "other" side, the "bright" side!
Posted: 14/02/2006 at 18:30
therese - i think you should go in. when i was in hospital then i couldn't stop exercising as a way to self-destruct. after i was admitted i used to climb out of the laundry window so i could go running, and then when they found out about that i would still take every chance i could to exercise & burn calories. it wasn't making me a better runner - actually i did long-term damage to joints & organs which still means i can't run so well now. on an inadequate calorie intake then exercise actually causes you to loose muscle as your body 'eats' your muscles for fuel. the heart's a muscle - you are risking serious permanent damage to that too, as well as osteoporosis (brittle bones, leading to repeated fractures). none of these things will help your running. please go in to hospital. the longer you leave it, the worse the damage gets - both physically, and it makes your thinking patterns harder to change. when you get out of hospital and get well, then you can start running again, and your fitness will come back up. i did my first marathon three years after leaving hospital, but to be able to do that and enjoy it then i had to be able to take care of myself properly again. Charlotte Dale, who i knew when i was in hospital, has recovered & is now at the World Class Potential programme in Twickenham. But to run you do need to be fuelling yourself properly, otherwise you are just destroying your body, not building fitness.
Posted: 15/02/2006 at 18:46
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