Eating disorders and cycling
Pro riders, nutritionists and psychologists caution against letting the quest to shed kilos turn into a dangerous obsession
Hands up if, since you’ve been cycling, you have received an uninvited comment about your weight. If your hand is up, you’re not alone. I vividly remember the first time it happened to me: I was racing as a youth and had recently hit puberty when, one day, as I pulled on the winner’s jersey, a rival’s parent pointed out that it was tighter on me than it was on the boys. I can remember that excruciating moment as if it were yesterday — and it wasn’t the last time I had my physique publicly scrutinised. These comments undoubtedly affected the way I thought about my riding and eating.
For many cyclists, visibly prominent veins, elbows and a protruding collarbone are the hallmarks of a successful season — characteristics that would be regarded in other walks of life as unhealthy, if not worrying. Why are we so focused on staying lean at all costs, and what are the risks we face from taking it too far?
As cyclists we’re always striving to get up that hill a little bit quicker, and so power-to-weight inevitably obsesses us. Add in the pressures of social media, club-mates warning you to stay off the cake and secretly aspiring to emulate the body fat of a GC contender, and there’s a danger of losing perspective.
Dietitian Dr Shaun Riebl studied the prevalence of subclinical eating disorders among male cyclists. Having battled anorexia as a teen, he failed to realise his dream of progressing to the pro ranks of cycling, too weak to compete by the time he received treatment. Now in recovery, he explains: “Our world is shape- and weightobsessed. Cycling is a wonderful activity, but in competition there is an inherent focus on weight. I got caught up in it and saw other cyclists struggle with it.
“We know that the risk factors for eating disorders are biological, psychological, and social. With cyclists, there may be a tendency towards perfectionism, high internal and external pressure to succeed, and competitiveness.”
This only scratches the surface, as Riebl acknowledges: “There may be deeper things going on, such as having a history of anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, and many other factors that can predispose someone to developing an eating disorder. With such a weight-focus in cycling, this may be the catalyst for a full reaction to take place.”
Disorder epidemic
Last month the NHS reported a surge in hospital admissions relating to eating disorders, with figures from NHS Digital revealing cases of bulimia and anorexia have almost doubled in six years, reaching 13,885 last year. It is estimated by the Department of Health that the true figure for those affected by eating disorders may be close to four million, since many people do not seek help. Quite simply, it’s an epidemic — and sportspeople are more susceptible than most.
Research shows that eating disorders are much more prevalent in athletes than the general population. According to Riebl, studies with female athletes found up to 20 per cent had eating disorders, with aesthetic and weight-related sports having the highest rates. In male athletes, studies have indicated that disordered eating behaviours — for example, skipping meals, fasting, dieting, and using exercise to manipulate weight — is higher in sports such as cycling where weight is an important performance factor.
Sports psychologist Tom Cross is a UK Sport-endorsed mentor for Olympic and Paralympic coaches and director of awaremind.co.uk. He explains why athletes are
“Eating disorders are an epidemic and sportspeople are more susceptible than most”
“I wish I could go back and convince myself that the damage I was doing wasn’t worth it”
at this heightened risk: “It can be about trying to control everything and doing things to excess. In sport, particularly Olympic sport, you get the message that you have to be the best. People are so driven that they take it to the nth degree and then it can become unhealthy. It’s pressured, it’s hard, it’s unrelenting, and there’s identity and self-esteem wrapped up in how well you perform.”
Was it worth it?
These problems are all too familiar to ex-pro Loren Rowney. The Trek-drops DS and former Orica-ais rider wrote a blog post (lorenrowney. com/blog) on December 11, 2017 entitled, ‘Was it worth it?’ in which she described honestly her long struggle with bulimia. “The obsession continued on through the years,” she wrote, “and I fed off the endorphins that came with looking lean and fit — not healthy.”
Rowney, 29, explained how she disliked being told she looked ‘well’ or ‘healthy’: “If someone told me I was looking healthy, it meant that I had most likely put on weight. The leaner I got, the more in control and good I felt; it became an addiction that was fed by the likes and comments.”
By the time she recognised the problem, it was too late: “I wish I could go back and somehow convince myself that the damage I was doing just wasn’t worth the gain I saw at the time… I’ve been getting terrible reflux, so bad that one day I just started throwing up on the sidewalk.”
Sitting down with Rowney, I ask why she feels it is important now to speak openly about her eating disorder. “In 2015 I almost quit racing due to depression. It was destroying me,” she says, “but I got the help I needed and started working through the issues I had, which are by no means over now. I’m better than I was, but there are some lingering issues that will probably be there for life.”
What prompted her to start writing the blog? “One day I was scrolling Twitter and I saw the sad news that BMX legend Dave Mirra had taken his life [not related to an eating disorder] — it made me think, and I just started writing. It went viral… I was getting so many messages from professional athletes I knew and who’d always seemed so strong on the outside. The response was amazing.”
Back in 2013, Rowney had entered her second year as a professional, on the face of it doing well, but behind the smiles she had started to struggle. After a highly successful season in America the year before, she moved to Europe and began slipping into a dark place: “I was missing home, I was lonely, even though I was living with my best friend. I wasn’t dealing with all these things and I developed an eating disorder, bingeing and purging. It became a coping mechanism that spiralled out of control.”
Cross explains why, in a highpressure environment, having a strong support network is crucial.
“So many things are tied into food: the way people feel, think, act, use it in guilt, use it in depression, in anxiety, it’s a coping mechanism for a lot of people, in a dysfunctional way. Things will
come up, like injury, and I think it’s really important that you have that support.”
For Rowney, injury reared its head in 2015. While in the form of her life, in the closing metres of the Ronde van Drenthe, a spectator caused her to crash and she sustained injuries including a broken collarbone.
“I would have won,” she says. “It was a massive blow because I’d worked so hard to finally get to that point, competing toe-to-toe with the best, and I was literally knocked down again.”
Looking back, she regards this time as a missed opportunity: “I should have said to [my team], ‘I have an eating disorder. You need to find me a nutritionist and a psychologist so that I can work through this.’ But I never did.”
Support networks
For Tom Cross, who has worked with the GB Olympic hockey and England rugby teams, athletes rely on teamwork among their support network.
“In sport it’s all about a multidisciplinary approach,” Cross says. “As a sports psychologist, I’m talking to nutritionists, physiotherapists, and we have case conferences where we speak about athletes, and if two or three of us notice different things, we start working towards an overall picture.”
The signs of a problem may be subtle, admits Cross: “It can be a general demeanour around everything they do, attitude around control and doing extra, more fitness, away from what they should be doing. You’re looking
for behaviour that is different or obsessive, extra stress, short tempers. It’s not just one thing, it’s not a silver bullet.”
Currently in a healthy and happy place, Rowney is excited to be taking on the role of DS: “I don’t want my athletes to have the same problems I did. I wish I’d had a better understanding of nutrition and what the things I was eating were actually doing to my body.”
What may be regarded as banter on social media can have serious unintended consequences, believes Rowney: “I remember before the Qatar Worlds, because [the course] was flat, we started using the hashtag #worldsisflat, and every time we ate a piece of cake, we’d say, ‘Worlds is flat, doesn’t matter if you’re fat’ — we’d say it as a joke, but at the same time I was still stressing.”
Extreme methods
Professional rider Tom Moler (not his real name) agreed to speak to
CW on condition we would not reveal his real identity. He told us that he has been so focused on “making race weight” throughout his career that he’s adopted extreme methods.
“You only have to look on any cycling training manual to see that watts per kilo matter,” he says. “You think: ‘Well, if I lost 1kg, that’s extra speed, instant gain.’”
His fixation on weight has led Moler to taking extreme measures: “I have gone zerocarbs, zero-sugar; I have purged then made myself sick; I have starved myself, made excuses to miss meals, taken sleeping pills to sleep instead of eating. I have eaten whole watermelons to fill up. I have drunk litres of fizzy water, and refused recovery drinks.”
Moler describes the barbed remarks common in the pro peloton: “People think it’s a joke being called names, but it’s still bullying. People think it’s a laugh, but it’s not when it’s destroying you. From a young age, I’ve been surrounded by people saying I’m too fat.”
Having fluctuated between 68 and 78kg, Moler is now managing to keep at a consistent, and healthier 71kg by carefully managing his nutrition. What is his advice to younger riders embarking on life in the peloton?
“Keep a eye what you eat or drink, but don’t obsess. We are burning mega amounts of calories in races and training, so ask yourself, am I really going to lose the race at the weekend just
because I had an extra chocolate digestive biscuit on Tuesday? Absolutely not.”
Language matters
Cross believes it is important to choose your language carefully and not make flippant comments, nor any assumptions about a rider’s state of mind. How to cope when you’re on the receiving end of negative comments?
“You need to be able to get out of your emotional head and back into your logical head,” says Cross. “Look at the evidence and the facts.”
Losing weight, if truly necessary, should be carried out sensibly, scientifically and with the help of a trusted adviser.
“It’s a co-collaboration,” says Cross. “Speak to friends and family, and get some perspective on what your internal voice is saying. How can you be kinder to yourself? Set manageable goals, and don’t be disheartened if you don’t lose weight at a consistent rate.”
Food first
Kath Brown and Lauren Delany are performance nutritionists who work for the Great Britain cycling team on behalf of the English Institute of Sport.
“Nutrition support for our academy riders is based around a food-first approach,” says Brown. “Our academy riders are centralised in Manchester and for many this is their first time living away from home. Our nutrition focus is very much based around developing their practical nutrition skills.”
Delany emphasises that it’s power-to-weight ratio, not simply weight loss, that matters: “If power decreases alongside the weight loss, then the strategy is counterproductive. The support for riders needing to lose weight is multidisciplinary, involving coach, nutritionist and physiologist to minimise muscle mass loss and reduce any negative impact on training.”
Picking up on this theme, Katusha-alpecin’s Nathan Haas, 28, explains why it’s a case of power-to-weight not weight-overpower: “Weight management is a really fine line. The most important thing is to nourish the body and the mind. If the focus is always on being as light as possible, the form can go as a result of stress.” Lightest is not always best. “Over the years, I’ve worked out that I race best at 70.5kg, not 68,” says Haas. “I was [68kg] when I started the 2015 Tour de France. Unsurprisingly, my body was so far on the rivet that I got sick, really sick; there was nothing left in the tank.”
Be kind
I’ll probably never forget the comment I received as a teenager — something no rider should have to experience. I was lucky, in that I had supportive people around me and was able to brush it off. Pressures surrounding eating, weight and physical appearance are a serious problem at all levels of cycling, causing real harm to countless riders. The best precaution, as stressed by Cross, is to have in place a trusted network, a select few people on whom you can rely for support. Above all, be kind to yourself, and others.
“People think it’s a joke, calling you fat, just a laugh. But it’s not when it’s destroying you”