Expert: Ryan Hale - 9/16/2010

Question
Dear Ryan,

I am recovering from a mixture of anorexia/ exercise bulimia, all founded on my intent to be the top performing athlete I can be. I love all athletics: biking, running, yoga, aerobics classes, lifting weights. I am now on a nutritionists' diet and am largely able to eat as much as she wants, but not gaining weight. This is because my workouts are more intense: I work out 2-3 hours a day and run as much as 12 miles, followed by core work, etc. I love working out but know I'm doing it more since I'm eating more. Is this counterproductive? I also would like to look like a woman again, versus a muscly, skinny machine, but am so afraid of gaining weight.  

Answer
Your fear of gaining weight and your insistence on exercising in an effort to not gain weight is certainly cause for concern and are both aspects that are included in an official diagnosis of an eating disorder.  

It's one thing to train to the extreme at different points in a competitive season.  A competitive athlete usually understands the need for an off-season, the pre-season building phase, the competition phase, and the rest and recovery time of the year.  By using periodization in their training, they allow the body to rest and recover, build up a strong muscular or endurance base of fitness, and then use that fitness for competition.  I often see athletes who never want to change their diet or training and want to be at peak fitness all year long.  It ends up working against them and often in very serious ways in both health and performance.

I'm not concerned about a strenuous training load or a super active lifestyle.  The concern is in your intention (not wanting to gain weight or refusal to maintain a healthy weight), and the reasons for your issue.  Often there are aspects to one's life that underlay their disorder.  Often, they are generally trying to change how they feel through their eating behavior... change how they feel about themselves, change painful memories about something in their lives, change how they feel about relationships in their lives, etc.  You will have the best results with treatment if it includes your feelings.   If you only look at your training or only look at your eating behavior, you're missing 1/3 of the problem.