Expert: Ryan Hale - 5/19/2009

Question
Hello Ryan!

Upon seeing that you have experience with the coaching scene, I have a question for you.
My boyfriend Hosea doesn't eat breakfast, and sometimes skimps out on lunch because he isn't 'hungry,' yet he is plagued with stomach aches. Later in the day I'll hear about it and ask if he had a large dinner to attribute to any caloric advancement and he'll say no, but he was planning on having a taco 'or something...maybe.'

This is frustrating to me, I grew up in a home with a back-water family who gets together for potlucks all the time. It's hard to see someone I care about not eating. I don't quite know what to say to make him change his mind about eating.

But that's not the long and short of it. He joined a tackle football team the other day, and on the first day of practice, his right eye blacked out. He didn't tell anyone and finished out the day just looking out of his left, he says that the problem is all in the alcohol and drugs that he had a past in.
But he's been clean and sober for a year and a half now.

Is there a chance that this black-out could be the fault of just undereating and the body being taxed, or is it the prior drug use that threatens his eye?

Thanks Ryan!
-Kay

Answer
Kay-  It's very common for people with disordered eating patterns to use the excuse that they just "forgot" to eat or that they have a stomach ache and don't feel like eating (you're first instinct is to give them a pass right?  Who expects people to eat if they have a stomach ache).  

I'm not sure of what his past drug use has been, but I do know that #1 people who are at the limit physically can have visual disturbances because there is electrolyte imbalance and a caloric need for fuel for the brain.  It can also be a form of migraine.  If he has no history of migraine then it's most likely the fuel issue.  If he is not eating well that can contribute.  Even well fueled athletes who run low on electrolytes and blood sugar can experience visual disturbance.

If he is playing football, his body needs the necessary fuel to perform.  Sometimes treating athletes for eating disorder is easier because they are more likely to see their body as a machine that needs fuel.  You don't put lighter fluid in a Corvette do you?

Also, mom was right all those years... breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I will admit that some folks don't have much of an appetite in the mornings, especially early, but eating something is important.  Even if you just have a piece of toast, a slimfast shake or some protein powder in some skim milk, it will benefit you.  

I think if he were to look at the eating habits and diets of most high level football players, he would see that they usually eat every few hours and that they include a protein shake in their day at some point.  You might be able to use that to convince him to eat a bit more.

There are many people who can help out with this... talk to a coach, a personal trainer, family physician, school or community counselor, nutritionist (every hospital and nursing home has one), and see if you can get their input.  Hopefully, with everyone telling him the same thing, he'll come around.  The blacking out could very well be the low calorie intake so you are right about that.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do.