Sport and eating disorder: when food becomes a prison!

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Sport and eating disorders like to pair up

Over the past few years, more and more sportswomen have been coming to me about their complex relationship with their weight and diet.

Even if these women’s experiences are far removed from the media stereotypes of anorexia and bulimia, they are nevertheless affected by what are known as eating disorders.

It’s an issue in which sport frequently plays an important role, but that role isn’t always the same. I invite you to discover the world of eating disorders in sport through two stories, those of Manon and Jeanne.

Manon: lose weight to ride faster

Manon is 25 years old. She is a top-level cyclist. Last year, she decided to lose weight to improve her performance.

A favorable environment

She had often heard that the lighter you were on the bike, the better you were, especially uphill. Her coach had repeatedly encouraged her to do so, and during her training sessions she had observed the other girls’ food intake and realized that many of them ate less than she did.

An improvement in performance

She managed to lose 4 kilos and, indeed, her cycling results improved. Of course, she attributed this improvement to the fact that she was lighter, which encouraged her to continue down the path of food control and restriction. Little by little, she began weighing herself every day, forbidding herself certain foods, and counting her calories using an app. As far as she was concerned, everything was going perfectly.

The onset of negative repercussions

After a few months, she began to feel tired on a regular basis, and her relationship with her roommate became difficult due to her irritability. Outings with friends became increasingly rare, because Manon didn’t want to break her dietary rules, according to which it was forbidden to eat “caloric” foods, such as pizza, French fries, or a chocolate or ice cream dessert. The last few times she’d managed to allow herself a “deviation”, she’d felt so guilty that it had gradually dissuaded her from doing it again.

It was the repercussions on her social life and the atmosphere in her roommate that led her to make an appointment with me.

The request for support: “getting out of prison but staying in all the same”.

Theexpression of her request was full of ambivalence, since it could be summarized as follows: ” I realize that some of my eating behaviors are problematic, especially for others, but I can’t give them up because I’m too afraid of regaining the weight I’ve lost and becoming less strong on a bike. ”

Jeanne: swimming to compensate for excess

An injury that greatly affects morale

Jeanne is 45 years old. She has been a competitive open-water swimmer for many years, and has come to me after rupturing her cruciate ligaments on a skiing vacation a few months ago. She has been doing physiotherapy and is impatiently awaiting her appointment with a surgeon. She feels that nothing has gone right since the injury. She feels sad, lacking in desire and energy. The only thing that makes her feel better is singing.

The absence of pleasure in sport

She continues to swim in an adapted way once a week and over much shorter distances than before, but when she talks to me about these sessions, I don’t perceive any pleasure. For example, she tells me: ” I get out of breath very quickly, and I’m frustrated because I can’t do everything I want, but I have to do at least this much. This “I’ve got to” resonates with me, and I keep it in mind over the next few sessions. I think it might also have something to do with the fact that Jeanne’s injury is affecting her morale so much.

Fear of gaining weight

In an exchange a few weeks later, she says: ” It’s true that devoting a lot more time to singing would be really good for me, but I still have to keep swimming, otherwise it’s going to be a disaster. ” I ask her to explain what she means by “catastrophe”, and she replies: ” But I’m going to put on weight. I’m going to put on at least 10 kilos, that’s for sure “.

I could tell she was terrified at the thought, as she burst into tears, and I decided to look into the matter further. I explain to her that, in principle, there’s no reason for her to put on 10 kilos if she stops swimming, since the body regulates itself and if her caloric expenditure decreases, so will her appetite, even if there’s sometimes a slight time lag. I’d like to add that, in view of all this, I don’t understand why she’s so afraid.

A long-standing battle with weight

At last, she has found the courage to speak out and reveal all her difficulties with her weight and diet. She’ s been fighting her body since she was 16, has been on dozens of diets and seen all sorts of dieticians and nutritionists. All this led her to yo-yo non-stop, a discipline she has now mastered to perfection. Each time, she gained back more weight than she had lost. And little by little, she got closer to the 100 kilo mark.

I’d like to understand what’s bothering her. So I ask her to tell me about herself, her relationship with food, the way she eats, what she likes. Little by little, things become clearer. She eats a very balanced diet throughout the week. On the other hand, weekends are synonymous with conviviality, a conviviality she shares around meals. She likes her food to be rich and plentiful, so she doesn’t have to limit herself. A self-confessed gourmand, she tells me that in her family there have always been big, happy gatherings at weekend meals.

A fear of putting on weight that makes sense

Finally, she confided in me: ” This is the first time I’ve talked about it. I’d never been so aware of the role of conviviality in my overeating. No one had ever asked me about the way I ate, or what I liked. “.

Sport as a crutch for weight control

Of course, swimming is Jeanne’s way of keeping her balance and compensating for her weekend excesses. That’s why she says she “has to” swim, even though deep down she feels that what she really wants to do is sing.

Sport and weight loss: a two-way street

These two examples show that the link between sport and eating disorders can be of two types: weight loss for performance, or sport for weight loss.

In both cases, we cut ourselves off in one way or another. We come to deny our physiological needs, and/or our true desires. Sport and diet can both gradually become prisons, gilded cages, in which we feel trapped. We feel guilty and a strong need to control ourselves. But we also feel reassured, and sometimes valued. That’s what makes it so difficult to get out alone, even if the door isn’t locked, and all you have to do is push it, and you’re free again.

If the story of Manon or Jeanne speaks to you, don’t hesitate to have a look 😉