How to Tackle Food and Body Issues

Runners face undue, and unhelpful, expectations around weight and eating. Here are tips to combat dangerous disorders and behaviors.

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I first experienced food and body issues in middle school. My home life was stressful—my mom had cancer and my dad had lost his job—and I felt an urge to control something, anything. I experimented with self-denial. I ate less and less. And then I bonked, hard, at my favorite race, the Bolder Boulder 10k.

I’m lucky that race was my disordered eating rock bottom. After that disappointment, I started eating to win. As with many female athletes, I faced additional food and body pressures throughout my running journey. But I was armed with willingness and desire to nourish my body, because I knew that it was necessary to be an enduring athlete and champion.

Read the full article in PodiumRunner.com, Feburary 6, 2020, by Melody Fairchild with Elizabeth Carey