Eating to Fuel Your Body

“The best thing I’ve ever done was to ditch the scale.”

As many of you know and read about in some previous posts, I’ve had an eating disorder since I was a teen, either restricting calories or purging them. The pressure to be an ideal size to “fit in” growing up and as an adult to be a “better” and “faster” athlete has contributed to my ED.

Through the years, I’ve seeked help for this (from therapists, nutritionist, & my coach) and while I am light years better than I used to be, I still have some struggles. I can go several months without having an “episode” (as I’ll call it) but I work very hard daily to show my body the love and respect it deserves.

My last “episode” was after surgery in May of 2021. After the surgery, I became super sick. I developed a hematoma and had major GI distress. I felt out of control. My hormones were out of wack and I was gaining weight. In an effort to regain some sort of control and lose weight, I went down the path of bulimia, throwing up after most meals and back to weighing myself constantly. I became obsessive about the number on the scale and starting calorie counting like crazy too. On top of that, I was training for hours a day. And do you want to know what happened? You guessed it… I kept bombing workouts, gaining weight, and watched the number on the scale continue to go up. Once I was able to pull myself together- ditching the scale, eating more, & seeking help to balance my hormones and figure out what was happening in my gut, I started to feel so much better. I also discovered the less I stressed about my weight, the more I lost too. Cortisol levels in the brain can reek havoc on our bodies. Start to better control the mind & the better off you’ll be and feel. I haven’t weighted myself in close to a year and nor do I have any desire to. I released the control the number had over me and I feel much better. I work really hard to show my body lots of love and gratitude… after all it does a lot for me. Doesn’t it deserve that?

So why am I talking about this now? Well being a coach myself and someone with an ED, I can understand & appreciate some of the struggles my athletes face. Far too often both men and women get into fitness and endurance events as a way to lose weight. While fitness is a great way to improve your health and wellness along with weight loss; restricting or cutting calories during vigorous training can have the opposite effect and lead to weight gain, injuries, and failed workouts/races. I see this happen far too often. People skip meals, won’t fuel during workouts or count there fueling towards their overall calorie count for the day and it’s honestly a recipe for disaster. Take it from me, I learned this the hard way. So it’s important to think about your goals because cutting calories isn’t an effective way to lose weight or perform well as an endurance athlete. On top of the that, stop comparing yourself to others. There is no perfect body you need to achieve. Love and work with the one you were blessed with.

Remember, food is fuel and our bodies need it to perform. Rather than hyper focus on a number on the scale or how many calories there are in something, take the stress away… try eating more mindfully and have whole foods at every meal- think about your plate and fill it with 25% protein, 25% veggies, and 50% carbs for your harder training days, then adjust the carb to veggie ratio as necessary based on easier efforts. In addition, be sure to eat a few hours before your workouts (tops off glycogen stores) and immediately after (promotes recovery) in addition to your normal meal times and snacks. I bet you’ll start to notice a difference in your physique as well as your workouts.

So if you’ve noticed that you’re gaining weight and you don’t know why… first ask yourself and be honest, are you eating enough? Chances are if you’re training more than two hours, several times a week, you’re probably not. Remember what we eat today not only fuels today’s workout, but the rest of the week as well. So eat well and set yourself up for success. If things still don’t seem right, consult your doctor to get your hormones checked and/or visit your GI.

For anyone struggling with an ED and would like to talk, please feel free to reach out!!

And if you’re looking to get into triathlons or running but don’t know where to start, I’d be happy to help with that too.

Let’s work together to meet your goals so you can be the best and strongest version of yourself.