61: REDS and Disordered Eating During Covid 19

Female Athlete Nutrition

In this episode, I talk with a client of mine, Lindsay, who was enrolled in the Rise Up Nutrition FAST Track program. Lindsay shares the impact of the pandemic on her relationship with food and exercise as a high school athlete. Feeling isolated and out of control, Lindsay found purpose and comfort in controlling her nutrition and training. Despite initial satisfaction, Lindsay explains how this obsession led her down a path of disordered eating and over-exercising, something that a friend of hers picked up on. Lindsay and I highlight the importance of expressing concern to people we may see struggling in our own lives, even if the message doesn’t appear well received at the time.

Lindsay explains how she reached a place where winning races and running wasn’t even fun anymore, and outside of that, life was miserable and family life was disrupted. This led Lindsay to seeking help, however, denial and misunderstanding meant her path to correct treatment was difficult: a very common story among our clients.

Lindsay enrolled in our Female Athlete System of Transformation (FAST track) program after her mental and physical health continued to decline. Lindsay explains how she worked with her own psychologist alongside Jenna and I, as registered dietitians, to get at the root cause of her mental health and nutrition struggles and ultimately overcome them.

The nutrition knowledge we teach our clients suited Lindsay’s personality type, allowing her to understand the importance of fueling appropriately and then implement changes. She shares the highs and lows of recovery: breaking her routines and food rules ultimately led to Lindsay seeing positive changes in her mental and physical health: feeling more energized and happier, able to perform better, socialize and laugh more are just some.

Healing her relationship with food has allowed Lindsay to get more out of life and fully embrace her collegiate experience. In spite of now fueling appropriately, Lindsay shares the long-lasting consequences of underfueling, including a recent stress fracture diagnosis, how she has accepted her changing body, and ultimately finding the “real Lindsay” again.

Refer back to Episode 21: Hydro Interval Training, Endurance Coaching & Nutrition with Melis Edwards for more information on aqua jogging and cross training.

Lindsay’s Official Bio:

Lindsay is a recent client of mine who began working with us at Rise Up Nutrition at the beginning of her freshman year of college, Fall 2021, having struggled with food for close to two years. Lindsay is a NCAA D3 collegiate track and field and cross country athlete for Colby College.

Learn more about Lindsey's Services and the Team at Rise Up Nutrition:

www.RiseUpNutritionRUN.com

Worried that you have RED-S? Curious to know how we could help or how you can recover fast?! Download the RED-S Recovery Race & see how you place for more support: www.RiseUpNutritionRUN.com/REDS