Nora McUmber (@therecoveryrunner), reached out to me a couple years back to start a discussion about disordered eating in college runners for a podcast she was starting. I was excited to see a college athlete contributing to this discussion, and ever since then I’ve been curious to read about her experience and share it on […]
“Hey Smiley!” “So many pictures of you smiling on Facebook!” “You seem so happy.” I remember hearing these comments in the spring of 2015. They were different from the comments I heard in the spring of 2012 about my physical weight gain (comments made with the right intentions, but not helpful in eating disorder recovery). […]
If a school or organization is afraid to include the topic of eating disorders on its agenda because they believe it will cause eating disorders, or because they do not have in-house expertise to know how to approach this topic, they would be well-served to connect with an eating disorder professional to better understand how to move forward. By choosing not to address it, they are choosing to perpetuate the silence, keep the topic taboo, and keep the students uninformed. However, students will never be unexposed to eating disorder triggers. And some students are vulnerable and predisposed. A choice not to educate only heightens the risk for eating disorders in an already high-risk population without raising conscious awareness of the risk factors, identifying any solutions, or connecting students to helpers in their community.
Anyone who has read Running in Silence knows that I was convinced to take on “macronutrient” or “lifestyle” diets. I wasn’t sure how to decipher correct nutrition information when there were published books about the wonders of these diets, and when the leaders of such diets were boasting about the benefits. And if a certain […]
Having had an eating disorder as an athlete, I’ve been hyper-aware of the signs to look for in the athletes I coach. I knew, from my eating disorder experience, that if I suspected an athlete was struggling, it was my responsibility to refer them to a mental health professional and/or a dietitian for a proper […]
This is part of a Q&A series with leading expert in eating disorders and sports, Paula Quatromoni. For more Q&As click here. Q: My daughter started running and quickly developed a highly restrictive diet. She tries to eat no carbs. She has lost so much weight, but it’s never enough for her. She enjoys running, […]
As I attempted various “lifestyle” diets throughout my eating disorder, I often read that eating sugary food or carbs would make me crave more carbs. I was quick to agree with this because any time I did eat carbs, my body screamed for more. What I failed to realize was that my body was not […]
It was fall 2012, and I had bonked at one of the most important races of the cross country season. Days later, Coach Woj asked me to meet him in his office. “It tore my heart to read your running log,” Woj said. “You’re a smart girl. How can Rachael, who does everything right, not […]
This September I spoke at an event called Failure Lab. Seven speakers talked about a time they’ve failed to “pave the way for change by crushing the isolation and stigma around failure.” We had to share our stories of failure, and leave it at that—no lesson learned, and we could not talk about how we […]
Nearly six years ago I shared my journey as I began eating disorder recovery. And if you read back through the blog posts, you’ll find that there was no distinct day or time that I felt fully recovered. The process was gradual. Over time I was able to look back and see that all the […]