Eating Disorders and Fitness

Eating disorders have, in the past, been reported to effect 30 million people in the United States alone. In my opinion, this number is low-balled to say the least. As a former sufferer from almost every eating disorder category now recognized, and as a fitness/health professional, I detect that number should easily be doubled.

Though eating disorders are typically described as being an illness commonly found in women, men seem to be suffering just as much, if not more. Men typically will not view their dietary or fitness habits as an issue, therefore will go unreported, but when issues of hormone imbalance come about, that is exactly when we need to address that malnutrition, no matter what the calorie count consumed, can be a factor.

What are eating disorders? I would love to get in depth about every facet of what having this illness entails, but I will leave that deep dive to my book. The quick answer is: An eating disorder is disordered eating.....of every kind! Too much food? Eating disorder. Too little food? Eating disorder. Limiting food to only certain types? Eating disorder. Quality of food consumed? Eating disorder.

No, not everything is defined as an ED (eating disorder), but when eating too much, too little, only one or two types of foods, or all junk all the time, and this is consistent, well, we have a problem.

The world is finally catching up with the importance of fitness. Heck, look at all the on-line programs and apps that are available to us today! But the appearance of fitness is vastly different than actual health. We have the HAES movement that boasts of "health at every size", (which is ridiculous), all the way to professional sport athletes "cutting weight" and doing diet restrictions all in the name of athleticism. We need to understand that just because someone looks healthy or can perform in a certain way does not mean that they are healthy.

HAES has so many holes in its philosophy that I shouldn't even need to talk about it, but I will. When was the last time you saw a person 200 pounds overweight that didn't have some type of health issue? Knee problems, back strain, diabetes, depression? When was the last time you saw an anorexic with a full head of hair, and regular menstruation cycles? No, there is no such thing as health at every size...there are limits.

Athletes, I have found, are the ones with the most severe eating disorders. Since athletes are used to pushing past pain and making sacrifices to excel in their chosen sport, they know what it takes, whatever the cost, in achieving a goal. It's easy for them. Worse, we have weekend warriors in the gym, who glob onto every diet they can get their hands on! Keto, intermittent fasting, carb loading, and fasted cardio all serve a purpose BUT it is not meant for a way of life forever. "Counting Your Macros" may seem harmless, but if not careful, it can turn into an obsession! Plus, counting your macros still doesn't teach you the times of day to eat, nor the nutritional density of what one is putting in their mouth. The stress of compulsively monitoring every carb, fat, and protein-based calorie can also lead to increased cortisol levels, further making a weight loss goal even more challenging.

Overcoming any eating disorder starts with taking a simple look at what we are consuming (or not consuming) and take steps to feed our body the fuel it needs to function optimally. You should never compromise true health for the appearance of fitness. Shows like "The Biggest Loser" were fun to watch for a while, until the leaks of what was happening behind the scenes came to light. These obese people lost a bunch of weight all right, but it was not done in a healthy manner. The motivation to lose the poundage was for a monetary reward. Once the show was completed and you got to catch up with former contestants, you found one of two things: they either gained the weight back, or they became very active in the fitness community. Both outcomes don't show a balanced life. I see it almost as an "all or nothing" attitude.

A very big aspect that isn't spoken about in EDs is the fact that many sufferers have a bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) as a component. Whether over or under weight, there are mind games that are being played in our heads that push us to an urge to complete a puzzle; our body. Fitness can help harness the OCD tenancies by tracking rep range, weight lifted, and calories burned; it can also go rogue if we start playing games like "how much can I burn while in a calorie deficit?"

Eating disorders are very serious. It is scary how fast a serious illness can manifest if we do not have the motivation of health. Though I love my fitness industry, it is spiraling out of control by normalizing disordered eating with the promise of health. Those two things cannot co-exist.