Eating Disorder Recovery as An Athlete || My Personal Experience & Tips

In this video I talk about my experience recovering from an eating disorder while also pursuing athletic goals in distance running. It's super difficult to go through the mental, emotional, and physical changes necessary during ed recovery...and going through it as an athlete is maybe even more difficult. I had to distinguish between athletic goals and ed behaviors, a desire for fitness and a desire for thinness, a need for quality fuel and an obsession with healthy eating. It's a difficult process, so I wanted to share my top tips for recovering as an athlete, the mindset shifts that helped me, and the action steps I would recommend taking. I hope that this is helpful, and please let me know any tips that you have as well! #AllieOstrander #EDRecovery #MentalHealth

My instagram:

Knockaround Sunglasses:
Code ALLIE20 for 20% off!

[ingridworth]

Great video! I've found recovery hard at times because it really did affect my performance in my sport. I've had to reconcile that I'll never be as fast as I was with an ED and that's okay; living a whole, healthy life is better than being sick & having no friends but being fast.

[MyFatAdaptedLife]

Living with an eating disorder takes extraordinary fortitude; and when that energy can be circumvented in a different way, incredible things happen. You have a lot of fortitude, Allie. Make incredible things happen.

[noel]

"If the eating disorder hates it, that probably means it's good." Bruh. So. True.

[emilybilbow]

I think a huge part of it is that as athletes we train ourselves to ignore our pain, hunger, tiredness… we put our end goal in front of what we feel in the moment… our teams in front of ourselves… we need to remember ourselves, love ourselves sbd nuture ourselves… we need a shift in the way we think about what makes a athlete successful…

Thank you for your honesty… for admitting you struggle… for truth and rawness… you are incredibly strong, resilient and beautiful…

[KD.]

I cannot tell you how incredibly brave I think you are in opening up about this, and I truly believe it's having an important and positive impact on the sport. Olivia Williams was recently in a video "Running on Empty" where she also shared her journey. ❤️

[spyjo]

Once again, I think the value of these videos for people who haven't had ED is how well you do explaining things. We know it's just one person's experience and not universal, but it really helps others make an effort to empathize rather than just sympathize.

[HStacey]

The first video I saw of yours was when you got help with recovery, your honesty and determination are why I watch you still, also your sense of humor. Your content is great and watching you grow and get so strong has been lots of fun. It's awesome you're so open to share about these kinds of things, it's not easy and takes work and dedication. You should be so proud of how far you've come. I hope you are. Thanks for sharing your story dude. TAKE CARE!

[a_ck]

Allie what you are doing is amazing, raising awareness in such an inspiring way. I think you are truly a whole athlete.

[filotheikokolaki]

I m fighting bulimia episodes for years...I also enjoy the feeling of running and desire getting faster and stronger, but, as you know, ED and exercise can mess with each other badly. Thank you for your advice!

[jessicavihon-pierre]

I would like to add that disordered eating and behaviors can affect all body types, shapes, and sizes. ED hides itself better on some bodies than others. You don’t have to be an athlete or ‘underweight’ to have an issue and for there to be negative consequences. Be kind to yourself and those around you, you only have one amazing body for this journey. Thank you Allie for your perspective!

[tblan]

You know, I've been out of highschool for 14 years now, and I didn't realize, until I started watching your videos on your ED recovery, that I had an eating disorder when I was running back then. I'm 5"5', I weighed about 120 lbs back then, and I seriously asked my mom once if I could go on dieting pills because I thought dropping the "extra" weight would make me faster. I shook that mindset when running became more of a hobby after I left highschool, but I'm now aware of some of those left over tendencies.

Your videos on your ED recovery have been insightful and I appreciate you shedding a light on this topic that is so often avoided. You're helping so many future and present athletes by making them aware of ED. You're my hero, dude.

[abbieamavi]

you are such a light and genuinely incredible person, thank you for these videos! proud of you

[wsoublo]

Oh Allie Ostrider, it’s admirable that you’re sharing your battles with ED in an effort to raise awareness and help others. Truly a selfless warrior.

[bcrruns]

Well said Allie! Important work you are doing here. Many young athletes will see this and avoid eating disorders altogether. Turning one of your greatest challenges in life into a major positive.

[nathan]

Allie thanks for continuing to make running content it's very inspirational. Thanks from Seward!

[triathletebenny]

Love this. That second point on intention setting...so valuable. Combining this with someone who can hold you accountable (coach, friend, signifcant other, etc) has been hugely helpful for me.

[leniolesch]

Allie you are amazing. There’s a lot a talk about ED in endurance sports recently, but you really share and are vulnerable. That’s great.

[debrascott]

Thank you Allie for continuing to share about ED recovery. These tips are so clearly outlined, reality based and helpful.

[Joeysub]

Thank you for sharing your story. It helps to see that we aren't alone in the fight of running and ED at the same time. I struggled with an eating disorder in my first two years of college and i just wanted to say tha it helps a lot to hear this. Thank you Allie.

[hannahstewart]

It's nice to see some advice that doesn't just suggest that you don't have to completely stop ALL training!