You never have to preface with "I'm not a crazy feminist." It's not a radical thought to think men & women have been treated differently throughout history and that women deserve equity.
I want equality not equity. You would need to remove every person’s womb in order to do that. And the mutilate people without womb in an equitable way. But I’m biased because, like Olivia Culpo, I have endometriosis.
Such a good video. 45 yr old guy here who runs 100 miles a month. Daughter starting cross country this year as 7th grader. Will be using this video as a part of my teaching her to just enjoy the sport for now and not worry about being the best. That is a decision for her to make as she gets older and has info like this to reference.
Have her learn about Katelyn Tuohy, the most decorated girl runner in U.S. high school history, and now a three time NCAA champion and she’s only a red-shirt sophomore. She has lifted weights since high school to gain muscle/tendon/ligament strength and bone density. More Strength = run faster. More Density = eliminate injuries. Eliminating injuries and never missing workouts are the two most important things for progressing.
Yes, running well when she's actually at her athletic peak (late twenties to early thirties) is the goal!! She needs to be strong to be able to do that :)
The reporter calling a young girl ‘a robust 108 pounds’ 14:35 is despicable. I’ve always wondered, how all of these bystanders and enablers can ignore, what is right in front of them-these poor girls look sick! Thank you for speaking out!
Yeah it’s a shame. I had a boy on my team (healthier weight now) who was 5’6”-7” and was only about 105 pounds, and because everyone told him he was so talented, he kept maintaining that weight.
Allie is only 5'1". 108 pounds is robust, for that height. I'm 5'3" now, but when I was 14, I was 5'1" and 95 pounds, and I was a good, healthy, attractive size. I was a cheerleader, good tennis player, good runner, etc. I had no problems with bone density, normal menstrual cycles, etc.
@@anglophils645that quote isn’t even about Allie so that height is irrelevant & also 14 is still very young, generally most examples in this video focus on girls further along in high school/puberty
@@anglophils645108lbs is not robust for someone who is 5'1 it's in the healthy range. Robust implies someone being on the heavier or thicker side, which isn't necessarily bad, like if you described a wine or a cake that way for example. But in that case it simply wasn't used accurately and didn't need to be said.
@@anglophils645yes but that man should not have been saying that about somebody they don't even know for you, It might be a different story, but agreed. An old man should not be commenting about a 14-year-old girls weight when she is doing her best to run a hard race.
Yes, that’s what feminism is striving to attain a separate but equal status. We have different needs but all of our needs deserve to be met. If you believe feminism is something else it’s probably because right wing propagandists would love to create that divide
@@brittanykopke6133 I didn't realize this was a political channel. Thanks for pointing out the devide. But, you are correct we are different and we all need to have our needs met.
Theres a runner named Konstanze Klosterhalfen from germany, whos literally just skin and bones. Shes injured almost every year, missing half of her races and noone says anything, because she broke several german records. As a german runner myself I always looked up to her, but now after healing from my own eating disorder, I just feel sorry for her.
I have seen people imply or flat-out suggest that she has an ED (I agree with those people) on comments threads before, only for others to protest that she's "small-boned" or simply training hard. I also feel sorry for her as a runner of German ancestry- I remember admiring her skill when she did a bunch of races on US soil, but was concerned by how thin she is. Also, I'm 5'9 and am considered "slender-normal" in the 140s with a medium frame, and started getting negative health effects when I dieted to below 135 (I can't even sustain 135-139 for long). I keep seeing articles saying KoKo is below 110- there is not a chance in hell that is a healthy weight for even someone my height smaller framed than me, and I hope she gets the help she needs sooner rather than later
Extreme sports competition is not about health and never has been. If men get the choice to turn their brains to mush in football, women should be allowed to push themselves to be the best, even if it's unhealthy. Not your job to judge her.
I ran cross country in high school and I distinctly remember feeling markedly tired and slow around my period. It's a real conundrum for ALL female athletes. In order to be healthy we have to menstruate, but in order to be competitive, a period (and the requisite body fat necessary to have one) just gets in the way.
@@allie_ostrander I have no clue.... I remember not eating engough because there never seemed to be enough in the house... I am now resistant to drug addictions because much of running for me was the high. I don't really understand those dynamics either.
@@allie_ostranderthis entirely depends on your body. I have problems even after I was not disorder eating. I get sick on it. I ran varsity and when I did get it and still now I can become dizzy, I still practised but racing and practises I'd trip alot. I love xc but I walked away from running like I did. This year I picked up skatboarding haha I can eat whenever, I still like running but it's very easy to get into this problem I kmow so ,many other I ran with
I can't imagine doing anything competitive while menstruating. All the respect to female athletes, for pushing through that when needed. I even structure my routine exercise program around my cycle.
We don’t often think about how female and male athletes are different, and how they might have training regimes tailored to them differently. I want to say that it was Allyson Felix who stated that she didn’t do any period tracking related to her workouts, or adjust her training routine to accommodate this normal biological process.
Women’s gymnastics has gone through a similar progression. Senior elite teams today are generally older than they were 20 years ago. Back then, if you weren’t a teenager winning the all around it was unusual. Bodies (and particularly female bodies) change in puberty and you have to relearn how to use it - nowhere is that more under the spotlight than in elite sports. I like to think the return of Biles and Lee in elite gymnastics this year could be testament to the fact that people are slowly learning this and supporting the athlete through this transition leads to better and ultimately healthier individuals.
Honestly, it’s largely related to supplementation that’s increasing testosterone & allowing more strength-based athleticism in gymnastics (ie, Biles’ explosive tumbling) that’s getting higher scores now over flexibility- & artistry-focused routines that used to dominate decades ago. Not everyone likes this direction in women’s gymnastics, but certainly 1 good aspect is that it enables women to compete for longer
My sister is a former gymnast and now does pole vault and jumping events. One thing she faced was height discrimination. In gymnastics it’s more ideal to be short and thin but my sister after puberty she grew to be 5’7” and her coaches struggled to adjust her equipment and eventually I think that’s why she got injured and then months later she quit the sport and was told to do pole vaulting. She did try XC but most people in our family are better sprinters so she now just does sprinting, jumping and pole vaulting.
@@happysloth3208You can’t really say it’s height discrimination in gymnastics. It’s just that gymnastics is a sport in which nearly all of the events are easier when you’re shorter. That’s true for men & for women. Gym is great but if you’re a taller athlete it’s usually best to just enjoy it at a lower level or as a red athlete…or do what your sister did & take her talents to pole vaulting. 🙂
I’ve struggled with anorexia several times in my life, especially because I am an athlete, but “don’t look like one.” I was 5’2” and 140 pounds on the tennis team in high school. Although I was heavy, I performed very well. But I simply did not look the part. I eventually dropped down to 115 pounds when I had anorexia. It sounds like a healthy weight for my height, but I was cold and lethargic and miserable. I have begun to accept that I am naturally larger, and more so that my larger frame actually helps my athleticism and tennis play. Thank you for posting this video.
I have sometimes seen in the media Serena referred to as fat or thick. Which is ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. She's very slim by any measure. Why do people expect women athletes to be model thin!? Good for you for taking care of yourself.
@@FutureCommentary1Calling Serena Williams slim is absolutely wild. She’s extremely muscular, athletic, built like a tank for performance. At no point was she ever slim.
Me at 40, sitting here thinking if I can just lose some more weight, I’ll get better/faster. Maybe if I just eat less calories I’ll be X weight by race day. So many of us need to hear this. I really appreciate your honesty and vulnerability.
Meanwhile, me, a 60 year old male: if I focus on working out for muscle strength and flexibility, and make sure I get daily one gram of protein for each kilogram of body weight, I can build my muscle density, and I bet then I can get as fast as I use to be 20 years ago. My male brain way of thinking: If my glutes, thighs, hamstrings, and calves were all just a tiny bit stronger, and more flexible, maybe I could increase my stride length by two inches without any increase in the amount of perceived effort. (One stride = one step of each of your left and right foot.) In other words what if getting stronger and more flexible makes each step just one inch longer without you needing any extra effort or getting any more tired? Just one inch. For the average female runner that would knock off 210 steps in a 5K. How long does it take you to run 210 steps? It would be as if they shortened the race by 165 meters. (I used a step length of 30 inches, then increased to 31 inches)
It is true about being lightweight and cold. Like during the winters I would feel cold. Now years later I have a comfortable amount of insulation and I don’t seem to get as cold anymore🤣🤣
Me at 60. I never had an ED but I used to step on the scales daily to make sure I never put on weight. My scales have been out of batteries for months. I never weigh myself anymore. I just eat well and let my body figure it out. It seems to work out. If I've put on weight I haven't felt it and it's good not stressing over it.
Unless you’re actually overweight (BMI > 25), losing weight will make you slower, not faster. Even if you *are* overweight, losing weight still might slow you down. Energy is everything - energy to train, energy to recover, energy to provide proper hormone levels. Performance drives changes in weight, not the other way around.
As a fellow former athlete (martial arts) and in recovery for an ED, I can honestly state that this video is the FINEST I've ever seen regarding the links between competitive sports and eating disorders in women/girls. The research you've done, the hypothesis you raised and the conclusions you reached were completely spot on! As both a 30 year old scientist and a feminist/humanist, I salute you, Allie 😊
My wife is an exercise scientist who focuses on strength training. Talking with her about this, she thinks young female runners should focus on strength training and nutrition a little bit during their years of puberty to see larger increases post puberty
Tearing up watching this. I have struggled from age 15 with disordered eating due to the stigmas surrounding size in distance running. My junior year of college, my coach equated my thinner frame to my success by commenting on the size of my legs after my best ever 6K. That crushed me and sent me into one of the worst bouts of starving and binging I had ever experienced. What should have been one of my best seasons (due to the training I put in over the summer), ultimately became a mediocre season because I kept getting sick and had zero energy. To make matters worse, I didn’t open up to any one for help so my teammates were frustrated with me because they thought I had just given up. I never felt more isolated or helpless. I was a prisoner to my mind. I still struggle daily with food and body image but it’s much better than ever before since my identity and success are no longer rooted in running… however I’m in law school and the legal profession is riddled with eating disorders and substance abuse. I wish I could say the pressure on women to look a certain way in order to be successful, was limited to running. I remember racing at Nike cross regionals in Boise and you were there racing as well. I never would have imagined you were battling some of the same demons I was. I’m so sorry you had to endure all of this. I hope you are able to stay in a healthier and happier mindset moving forward. Thank you for spreading awareness about this issue.
It's really sad to hear that the legal profession has some of these same issues. I hate how many different body and appearance expectations there are on women. Our appearance is certainly not the most important thing about us, yet we're treated like the way our body looks is all that matters. So sad. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me :)
As a guy who ran cross country in high school about a decade ago, I never would have guessed this was going on. Very enlightening and education. Great analysis.
i was a competitive swimmer for over 12 years and I can tell you a lot of us understand as well. My coach would do the same thing- call me fat, weigh me in front of everyone and have them moo at me- I'm not sure if coaches are still allowed to do this, but it was humiliating and I have a fear of even being weighed at my dr
@@ENGRAINING I don't think this would be tolerated now but I could be wrong. It definitely affected me to this day- I have a hatred of the scale even though I am at a normal weight!
@@minawaaa26 that sounds about right. So terrible. I'm betting you weren't anywhere close to fat. Of course we weighed more than average bc we carried lots of upper body muscle. Sorry you went through that!
Being different than males is not the same as being less capable. That's the narrative of our male centered culture tho. That must be changed, or we women will continue to suffer the consequences of being treated like smaller, weaker, imperfect men. Good job on addressing such sensitive topics, you're so well spoken!
Or else, in light of the current attacks on trans people, women who are not trans but who have slim hips will get falsely accused of being men. Which would be one thing if said women were actually trans men (in which case it's their prerogative if they want to stay where they are or else transition and compete with cis men), but they're cis women whose bodies don't conform to what is expected, either naturally (because these differences are more subtle than many people think) or because of the aforementioned eating disorder, and people still falsely claim that these CIS women are "men", aka trans women identified with the wrong gender label. Never mind there aren't enough trans athletes to form trans leagues (if there ever were, that discussion could be revisited), and giving said trans people puberty blockers when young would remove any unfair advantage that might remain after transitioning - and yet somehow the transphobes claim this is "child abuse" even though it's far less risky than the sorts of meds that large populations of disabled kids get forced on, while other disabled kids may not get on meds but are subjected to glorified dog training, restraints that can sometimes kill, or in some cases electric shocks as punishment for the most minor of things, and the "puberty blockers is child abuse" crowd is curiously silent about all this sanctioned child abuse that disabled kids get subjected to.
Women ARE less capable than men at certain things. No one stairs disputes that, on average, women perceive more color shades than men. Just like how no one disputes that man are simply better at carrying extremely heavy weight without getting the same risk of injury that woman have.
Allie, I am a 74 year old man. You are one of my heroes, and you are an inspiration to me. I frequently watch athletics on you tube, and when it's on t.v. here in England. I must tell you that when I watch runners compete, every single one of them, from first place to last place, is a hero in my book. I admire them so much for taking part and giving of their best, no matter where they finish in the race. Allie, I love your videos, your articulate commentaries, your courage and honesty, your gracious sportsmanship, and most of all your sense of humour and your priceless sweet smile. I wish you well. May the Lord Jesus bless you in every area of your life.
I mean...I would love to give a TED talk! haha when I was testing the sound and orientation of my camera I sat down in front of it and was like "hello welcome to my TED talk"....so I guess in a way I did lol
I looked this up and a number of different web sites say that TED TALKS does not pay speakers but they do pay the speaker's travel costs and they do pay for their housing during the conference. I'm curious as to where you saw that the speaker has to pay TED TALKS.@@birdieroo3115
One of my best friends was a female soccer player in high school. She collapsed on the field, nearly died and had to spend significant time in a rehabilitation facility because of an ED. This stuff is insane, I don't know how anyone thinks an athlete can be successful without proper nutrition. That's number 1, at best you're setting yourself up to fail long term. Thanks for shedding light on this
Someone needs to go after these “coaches” for child abuse. Systematically giving young female athletes eating disorders is not coaching, it’s abuse and neglect.
@@makb5354 The coaches ARE the system. They're the responsible adults in charge, they should act in the athlete's best interest. Instead they act in their own best interest, where a trophy today is worth more than a long career for the athlete.
@@geniej2378No. They are only part of the system. I spent years on a National Team and I had to make some tough choices for my best health because there is more to life than just darn sport competition and gold medals. It's easy to dump all the blame on a coaches but reality is that every aspect in employee's life is controlled by those who employ them. I am not saying there are no bad coaches because bad apples are everywhere, but the pressure to produce top results are not just made by coaches. They also made by parents, by Colleges and by National Federation and sometimes by athletes themselves. As long as sport exists there was pressure of some sort to give the best results. It has been like that for centuries since Gladiators. If you convinced yourself that it's only coaches fault than you either not being honest with yourself or you just like to find the easiest scapegoat. Competition in anything, not just sport, is tough and fortunately not for everyone, hence why so many people have anxiety or are depressed. Competing in sport is not mandatory if things are going bad, parents should also step in. Everyone has to take a responsibility.
As a registered dietitian who ran cross and track in college, I absolutely LOVED your take on this. Changing the narrative around nutrition and health’s impact on running success *especially* for women and girls is exactly what we need. I loved your idea of creating a new narrative embracing nonlinear progression for females during puberty. I’m so glad you’re experiencing physical and emotional healing and spreading this message!
This reminds me of how some coaches in womens gymnastics are rethinking training plans to have girls peak later, like after puberty. If an elite gymnast is mastering really hard skills before puberty is over (or started), she is just going to find them more difficult after puberty and have to relearn, which is going to leave her frustrated and potentially wanting to quit. Better to slow down the progression and make sure all the fundamentals and good form are mastered. Plus, yoynger girls see the older girls struggle and probably think "puberty is bad, I need to eat less food"
I think research into the female body is finally starting to translate into female training. I listened to a guided run on the NRC app that specifically addressed the menstrual cycle and how if affects training. You might be interested in listening to it and looking into what’s discussed. I think a different approach to training women is needed… yesterday. Thank you for your bravery in sharing your story. ❤
The number of times I've been told I 'look like a runner' because I'm thin is crazy. And one of the most irritating things someone said to me once was 'I'd be as fast as you if I was your size' as if i just turned up to races without doing any work. So frustrating!
I'm a sixteen year old boy who has suffered from an eating disorder for about a year now and I am trying to recover from it. My weight was so low that I was at 84 pounds and still tried to lose more weight. At that point I had completely lost control over myself and was nearly put in the hospital. I love to run so much! However when I had an eating disorder I wanted to run to lose weight, now that I am back to a healthier weight of about 100 pounds I run for fun and to build strength. I love that you are speaking out about the horror of this disease, thank you.
Oh my, hope you're feeling a bit better now! Sports can be so so challenging because it is so easy to slip into the wrong mindset thinking that's the only reason why you're improving. But aside from the fact that those assumptions are usually wrong, fun, especially for kids, should always come first! Best wishes, you've got this!
When I was in high school, there were three girls that I can think of who were absolutely incredible long distance athletes. I heard relatively regularly that once they get older/ hit puberty, they will no longer be at the top of the field. One of these girls was in my class and she did slow down after a stress fracture during her freshman year. She would say she ran too many miles that year and it wasn't healthy. I wasn't even a serious runner and I was aware of this expectation. Smaller meant faster. Looking back I really regret entertaining those ideas.
I play high level soccer and I'm 15. I know so many players who have EDs that have started with them trying to fuel their body better by tracking what they eat to see what helps them perform the best. One of the best goalkeepers in my country went through an ED and it completely destroyed her to the point where she couldn't dive because of her bruises and lack of natural padding. She was truly an amazing goalkeeper and far better than anyone else I've seen but her ED destroyed her.
Allie, This has to be the best video about women's running I've ever seen. I wish every high school running program would watch this. The funny thing is there are coaches out there that wouldn't want to show it because it might make their girls team slower if they listened to you. This is pervasive throughout women's running world wide. Keep it up Allie!!!
Right, so many coaches are focused on the here and now, and don't care enough about the future of their athletes. Long term development should be the focus, especially in high school!
Young women hear me clearly, it is OK to be a woman, and have a womanly body. I’ve been a size 12/most of my life, and I may not have men chasing at me every day, or comparative and competitive women, complementing me on how thin I am, but what I do have is the confidence in my womanhood, and in my personhood, to be the most feminine, caring, beautiful, and loving woman I can be. And you don’t have to lose 1 ounce to be that way.🙏🏾
Thank you for sharing this. I hope alot of young women especially but all women relieze it’s not only ok to look womanly but desirable to look womanly. I never embraced that til I recovered from my severe anorexia and bullimia
I wish someone had told me this when I was younger. I developed early (I was 5'5 and and a curvy 120 pounds in 5th grade) and I felt like a huge monster next to all the other girls. I looked grown, and everyone shamed me for it or called me "fat". I hope more young girls embrace their feminine bodies, no matter when it develops
This happened to me! I had an eating disorder all throughout high school (no period, REDS) and went on to run D1. I only raced a few times and ended up medically retiring my junior year. I started recovering towards the end of high school but the impacts of my behavior followed me for years. I'm 26 now and back to running (40-60 miles a week depending if I'm marathon training) and I've been injury free for years but I had to take a few years off, learn how to eat intuitively, sleep more. But I truly believe collegiate running would have been a completely different experience had I treated my body right in high school
Iam 5’7 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds at the start of my eating disorder but ended up 75 pounds and inpatient and force fed. Alot needs to change in society and these sports cause it’s causing gravely bad consequences in so many young womens and even older womens life. I want to thank you again for bringing attention to this very serious problem
What? It simply is true, that being lighter is better in long distance running. That will never not be the case. Should we abolish diving, because some people drown?
@@MrCmon113 it isn't, though. it may be for a couple of years, but then the body is broken. you can see the difference in women's gymnastics. for decades, gymnasts were teenage and skinny then retired quickly. now we see gymnasts well into their twenties and even thirties being competitive and strong athletes, because they're paced better and fuel their bodies adequately. the same can happen in running.
It’s interesting to know if running attracts individuals prone to ED or the other way around. Probably some of both. It’s certainly a sport that attracts perfectionist hard working kids.
definitely. I think that the qualities required to be a successful runner have overlap with traits that make people susceptible to EDs. Combine that with emphasis on leanness, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Bit of a chicken or the egg thing, innit? In general I think people tend to gravitate towards sports that suit their body types. Puberty can change that up in a hurry, though. Youth sports in America are pretty effed up all-around these days, unfortunately.
Hello, I’m a current marathon runner. 25 years old, and Male. And I also had a struggle with an eating disorder that nearly took my life. This video was amazing, and I really admire your courage for speaking up on your experiences with ED. It is never easy to open up and be vulnerable in front of so many people you don’t even know. It shows your personal strength and resolve. For me, The struggle of placing all of my worth on my performance and playing around with my nutrition to feel a sense of control and like I was “accomplishing something”, it sucked the joy out of the sport I was engaging in and I was feeling myself becoming weaker and weaker. It was only until I was hospitalized due to severe malnourishment that I realized I needed help, and the stigmatization of being a male with an eating disorder played a role in continuing to push my body past its limits while depriving it of basic nutritional needs. Now, I’m doing much better and am back in marathon training. Recently did Boston and am running cross country in college too. But what is better is that I have found enjoyment in the sport again. Something which I have not felt in a long time. Whenever I see a teammate beating themselves up over their performance, or trying to have a “perfect run”, I try to ask them, “Remember when you started running and it was fun?”. We place so much emphasis on performance and times that we forget to enjoy ourselves along the way. In any case, thank you once again for speaking out on your experiences. Your never alone! ❤️
When I was in high school 20 years ago, there was a girl who broke both legs when she was running a race. She was praised as persistent and disciplined...even back then I thought that it was pretty crazy to let that happen to yourself..she was 1st or second in the graduating class, and I'm pretty sure that she gave her speech from a wheelchair.
I was a fat teen that developed an ED and got a lot of "congratulations" and positive responses when I went from 190lb to 125lb within 4 months. Everyone saw me exercise and thought "way to go!" they never noticed how unhealthy I was (Anorexia B/P subtype). I definitely get it. People don't always realize they are encouraging disordered eating habits until it becomes visibly obvious or it lands someone in the ER.
Allie, this video made me cry. I'm a girl going into my junior year of high school. I have struggled with body image for a few years now. Sophomore year, I joined the cross country team at my school. My coach was very strict. I started to realize the same thing you did, that most people in this community encourage us girls to eat as little as possible to go fast. For almost a year, I severely starved myself and still believed I was fat and a failure despite having the best time improvement on my team and being very underweight. It was only recently when I saw the light and made the choice to not harm my body anymore. I can't thank you enough for shedding light on something that isn't talked about enough and that for the longest time, I felt alone in. If this video had a love button I would hit that. As for me, I love running as a hobby. But because of my struggles with body image and food restriction, I decided it's best for my mental health to respectfully leave cross country. I will be playing tennis this fall
Thank you for speaking out! I was bulimic for 13 years. Now fully recovered for almost a decade. For anyone still struggling please know that it is so worth it to recover! There is a beautiful life waiting for you!!!
feminism is not a dirty word. ❤❤❤❤ i understand exactly the feeling you have about calling yourself that but so many badass women across the world fought and are still fighting for equality and we owe it to our sisters who are still disenfranchised to use our privilege to spread the message. thank you for sharing your story. i hope you find healing and health today and for many days to come
I am continually impressed by your ability to talk about the "big picture" problems of EDs while struggling with one yourself. I was pretty good at the local level in my teens and 20s (BQ'd multiple times, won age groups, etc), but kept getting sidelined by injuries because of my own anorexia/bulimia. Fast-foward to today, I'm in my mid-40s and running the same times I did in my mid-20s, all while fueling my body and carrying more weight around. I am 10 years fully recovered. In the thick of it, I thought I was destined to a lifetime of internal voices telling me what I should and should not eat. Nowadays the voices are occasionally still there, but I can barely hear their whispers. I wish you strength in your recovery. Thank you SO MUCH for speaking out on this, Allie!
I was a cross country runner in high school. I had my faster times during my freshman and sophomore years. During my Junior year, I hit a slump in my times likely due to my hips widening from puberty. Luckily, I had a very supportive coach, and I pushed through, changed up some of my training, and by my senior year I was running 24s and 25s like normal. It's never as scary as it seems, you just have to adapt to the natural changes your body needs to go through
Too late for me, but my sister is still in high school cross country. Sending this to her, and hopefully you can help a high school athlete be aware about this!! Appreciate what you're doing, Allie
I needed to hear this. Now that I’m a little older (I’m still in my late 20s) I’ve been feeling slower lately in everything I do physically. You explaining that all these women still do great things years later, despite all the changes we go through, is so reassuring to hear.
Thank you so much for bringing light to this. While I was nowhere near elite level in cross country, I can very much relate. In the depths of my eating disorder I was faster than I had ever been. My recovery coincided with "second" puberty (it was stunted prior from my eating disorder) and I got slower. My coach demoted me from varsity, and in a desperate effort to "redeem" myself I overtrained on a still-weak and recovering body and got a stress fracture in my hip, and never fully got even close to my freshman speed for the rest of my high school career. This was kind of traumatic for me -- I cared SO much about the sport. It took me five years to get in a healthy mindset I knew I needed to start running again. But on the bright side -- I am now performing better and have more energy than I ever did after my injury. I literally view my faster, younger self as a different person now and I'm okay with that. One thing that really triggered me was comparing myself to other teammates times and bodies (and how they correlate). It's practically impossible not to in the sport (and the uniforms made for boys don't help). You're absolutely right that the issue needs transformed from the inside out, and it's absolutely necessary for coaches to approach girls differently. As a young girl (we're talking impressionable 13-16 year olds here) a lesson or guidance from my coach explaining that it's normal to plateau -- literally exactly like you just did in your video -- would have completely changed my outlook. This is not just a temporary struggle that teenagers face; I know so many girls (like me) that are still affected by behaviors and disordered eating caused by the sport 10+ years later. TLDR; thank you so much for this because talking about it, and backing it up with facts, is the first step to changing the sport.
That demotion was undeserved and heartbreaking. I wish coaches knew how to guide young women through their body transformation so that being slower is only a temporary phase. I’m so glad you re-found your joy in running.
Thank you for raising awareness about the puberty plateau and ED's. Although, I'm now 48, I was once a pre-pubescent flyer. Once I hit puberty, I couldn't understand why my times were getting slower, despite training harder. This was the start of my 14 year battle with an ED. I ended up with 6 stress fractures (all at the same time) and was diagnosed with osteopenia. No one ever explained to me that it was natural to plateau or regress during puberty (I wish they had). It wasn't until I noticed both my daughter's slowing when they hit puberty that I began to research why this happens. Sadly, a young girl in their training group was clearly battling an ED. I requested to speak with her, as I felt I could relate and potentially give her some advice (like I had my own daughters). I was told "no" that I couldn't. Her parents had given strict instructions that no one is to mention food or ED in front of her. It was only a few weeks later that she collapsed during a training session and suffered a massive heart attack, passing away, aged 14 years.
I ended up quitting running because of my puberty change in high school because I couldnt perform like I used to. I stopped running for years and then picked it back up again running the fastest times of my life well into my late 20s. I truly believe if we had more of this narrative about development we would have more adults competing like I am. I am so thankful I quit because of ED triggers that I avoided so I can continue to run into adulthood.
I'm so happy for you that you've been able to fall back in love with running and set PRs. It's sad that the challenges presented by puberty caused you to quit for a time, but you've certainly succeeded in the end!
So glad someone’s talking about this! In a similar way, my eating disorder ruined my collegiate softball career. I still haven’t come to terms with it almost 10 years later
Current head coach and ex associate coach at Seattle Pacific University contributed to disordered eating behaviors of not just me, but many other athletes. We were DII, not even DI, yet the severity of the psychological effects this time in my life had on me linger with nothing to show for. The long-term physiological effects this had on other athletes have been even more detrimental long-term. Really appreciate you speaking on this.
This is so true. I under fueled in high school. Ran amazing times. Now at 45 injuries have plagued me since leaving high school and I now have to learn to run again slowly while eating and fuelling my body properly to stay injury free. Thankyou for blowing this elephant in the room wide open. ❤
So well said and researched Allie!! I think it would be absolutely iconic for you to give this lesson to different high school cross country teams so that the girls and coaches can actually understand that it is so very important to go through puberty in order to achieve long-term success.
Being afraid of how ones body will change, and trying to control it through extreme means like this- its not that strange. Its very understandable, and Im glad we are discussing it. Its important for many people, especially young women, to hear.
Puberty is such a tricky time for females and their participation in sports - having this sort of information is all to the good thank you for sharing and putting yourself in to the public eye - it really is so helpful 😊
Well done, Allie! It’s wonderful to see top runners and role models like yourself addressing this issue. I really wish female runners and the plateau during puberty was talked about more when I was a high school runner. I think I would have had a lot more confidence and success while respecting my body and the natural HEALTHY changes it was going through.
My 13 year old has the running bug, and is in cross country and track. Sat down with her and my wife (who also runs) and watched this. Thank you so very much for this video! My daughter's not in the dark places you ended up, but she's on the cusp of high school track and cross country and entering some of the more risky periods of coach/peer/adult pressure that can lead to this. Your video is powerful, and I think we're all better prepared for her running journey now because of it. Keep being awesome, and I hope Europe is a great experience!
I was a cross country/long distance runner and suffered from an eating disorder all throughout high school. I eventually lost my love for running when trying to recover from my eating disorder in college and switched to lifting. Now being a year out of college I am training for my first marathon and recovered from my eating disorder. I am enjoying the love of running and food again and running a lot faster than I was in high school! So glad you addressed this topic! ❤ Sending my love as another Boise State grad!
The ability to get information like this out in the public is important. I am sorry for the heartbreak you went through here. You're blazing a trail and I revere your dedication. I remember watching you run when I was in college. You and Mary are heroes for your courage and your dedication.
As always, when you discuss this topic you do a superb job. Over the past 25 years I have seen far too many women suffer from RED and disordered eating. My son, who ran D3 and did well, lived in a house with the woman's D3 national champ in the 1500, who could not even compete in that event a year later. (Also, fun to see Jorge Torres in this video- one of my kids held the soph course record at York HS, until Jorge and Eduardo broke it a year later). It is likely hard for you to share this, but the service you are doing is invaluable. I think of Mary Cain and think of the opportunity lost with her. I hope that this will not affect our current crop of top runners- Katelyn Tuohey, Parker Valby, etc. And I am glad you are still running and able to produce content like this.
I had an ed last summer and during the cross country 2022 season i did worse than i’ve ever done by far. years before i ran 22-25 minute 5k’s but when i was struggling with an ed i ran 27 minute 5k’s - i was trying to go as fast as i could and i just couldn’t no matter how hard i tried and worked out and i even had to be pulled out of a race. not every case of ed makes you faster, and i feel like most times it makes you slower. i’ve recovered now and i ran a 20 minute 5k only 4 months later when i just decided to go all in and fuel my body and not over exercise. i’m so so happy i’ve recovered and i hope if your struggling you find the motivation to recover!
Watching this tells me that running isn’t your greatest talent, your greatest talent is your insight and intelligence, your future is bright with or without running ❤
It's hard to imagine anyone getting THAT much exercise - and yet restricting their eating! I've never been a competitive athlete, but quite active physically. When I get lots of exercise, I eat A LOT. I'm like vacuuming up food. Even a very thin person, who's training as an elite athlete, would have to eat a HUGE amount just to survive.
I'm proud that you share this!! These stories need to be here, since the ED/Disordered eating problems are intense in the (professional) sport world!! And people don't know that, often coaches are reinforcing the sick behaviour. Good job girl ❣❤Again, I'm proud of you💕
Allie the quality of this video is phenomenal! So well written, spoken, paced, researched, and produced. It feels like there's such a focus on being the best as early as possible, when it really makes more sense to encourage kids to have good general strength and all around fitness, and a love for a sport that makes them want to really go all in once they become more physically and mentally mature. It should be a prerequisite for any athlete to have gone through puberty before going to college!
This pressure & resultant eating disorder(s) are also pervasive in figure skating, ballet and gymnastics to name a few. Your video is so well researched and presented. Bravo!
What a thoughtful, eloquent and powerful message. Well done and thank you for being so open about your journey, it will definitely help others. Run well ❤
Great video. Literally had no idea about the female energy triad and the systemic issue y’all face. Wild to hear the ED was so pervasive in the xc community. Walking away learning so much. I struggle with ED myself and it was eye opening hearing about this perspective. Thanks for the honesty 🙏🏻
Thank you for this insightful video, Allie. I teach at a high school in Anchorage and follow girls XC and Track & Field here in Alaska. I will recommend this video to the runners I know. It is interesting that girls are being assessed for college scholarships during a time in their development which is not necessarily the best indicator of how they will do age 20-22 and beyond.
this is so important, thank you! i think i was the same year as you in high school XC, and it's been super heartbreaking all these years later to see the same thing happen to you and all the fastest young women i looked up to. getting slower every year of puberty was disheartening, but hope this video gets watched by lots of girls and coaches** more than anything!
This is easily the most important video on TH-cam. Your courage and honesty when dealing with these truly urgent, sensitive and UNADDRESSED YET PERSISTENT AND PERVASIVE problems are absolutely incredible. Nothing but praise for you and I am sure you will have an extremely positive impact on our young ladies moving forward. This video needs to be seen by PARENTS more than anyone. After Parents it needs to be seen and HEARD by coaches, nutritionist, pediatricians and other medical professionals, and if necessary the NCAA and even Congress. It's sickening that we are sacrificing our daughters' health for a GD track and field race. Utterly UNACCEPTABLE.
I don't know how this ended up in my algorithm, because I'm not big into running or athletics, but wow! I think it's an amazing video, you really broke down the problem so well and your vulnerability really added to it as well. I had no idea about how big this problem is! I hope your video's reaches a very big audience!
This is very surprising to me. I never even considered that it was possible for someone could suffer from an eating disorder yet perform at as a runner at a high level for a significant time. I always just thought eating disorders were something only found with models or in general persons with severe body image issues, but surely not athletes. Very eye opening.
Being a former HS XC and distance runner, I have struggled with disordered eating (that started with wanting to just get fast enough to place... to feel "good enough ") my entire life. I'm now 47, and I'm dealing with a lifetime of nutritional deficiency... It's hard, and something has to change because like you said... everyone wants and expects that linear progression... it's just not what's best for many girls. Thanks for talking about this!❤️
This made me cry. I’ve always looked up to you and listening to you talk so eloquently about the science and statistics of this was so uplifting. Thank you, Allie. This is my story as well and I’m working to be able to overcome it.
Male anorexia survivor & ex-compulsive runner here. It's more than ok to tell your story from your perspective. It's so important for girls/women to hear this message from other women. You've come a long way and gained a lot of wisdom - the hard way. Share it. You don't owe anyone a disclaimer or an apology! I hope more young women find their voices & start pushing back against structures that hurt women. This idea people have that commenting on female athletes bodies is ok especially needs to be destroyed. Unacceptable. As a guy who's been in recovery/recovering for over a decade I get your frustration around the damaging bodies & minds caused by EDs. I have uncorrectable osteopenia, hardly an entire original tooth in my head, damaged organs & ongoing mental health issues. "You can't unbreak a vase" one of my therapists said.. Obviously I don't know you but I'm proud of you. You have a lot of courage. Be a voice for change esp for young female athletes!! Loved your honesty & forthright approach. Be bold & mighty forces will come to your aid.
Thank you for using your voice. I am going to start college this fall and I’m on the xc/track team. I will definitely be paying attention to my body and as a female athlete. I love the messed you are putting out!
thank you so much for sharing your story! I was not extremely athletic or even incredibly skinny as a youngster, but still struggled with a terrible eating disorder. Spreading awareness of the enormous pressure young girls and women are under to be skinny, is so so important.
Like Mary Cain, Old style coaches like Mark Wetmore contributed to my story. Reading running with the buffaloes took my ED from a 4 to an 8. Women for sure have it worse when it comes to pressures in their body weight though. I really appreciate you being a shining voice speaking out
As a father to young girls who love running this video is invaluable - Being someone who is very confident in coaching and someone who thought they knew it all, this video has shown me I actually know nothing about running when it comes to young girls. Your video will help me so much. Thank you for making this video - it is a 'must watch' for all dads (and male coaches) who have little angles who have athletic dreams. I only found your channel a couple of weeks or so ago but have watched many of your video - how lucky I was to find you (via yr bf by the way and Sweat Elite). I am going to get my girls to watch your videos. I wish you good health and success in your US trials. Keep smiling, you are and will be an inspiration to tens of thousands of young athletes current and future. Thank you again.
I developed an ED the summer before my freshman year of high school because I wanted to get faster and finally have some control over my life. I ended up running through my league and district cross country meets with a fractured metatarsal. This injury took so long to heal that I missed out on a lot of my freshman year of track. I would’ve made it to state if I had been properly fueling myself. At my lowest point, I still wouldn’t have met the typical body standard that is forced upon female distance runners. I ran a lot faster after recovering and I didn’t feel super dizzy and weak all the time as well. Thank you so much for talking about this.
This video popped up in my recommended and I was like hey I went to high school with her! I had no idea you were dealing with all this back then but it’s great to see you’re doing better!
It sounds like training for high school and college coaches could be crucial, for high school coaches to support healthy training and body awareness for the long-term future, and for college coaches to consider that seeing a dip pattern is normal when recruiting high schoolers and to think big picture.. Plus hopefully training and screenings for the athletes themselves. Great job addressing a tough topic.
Thank you so much for posting this. Not a distance runner, but I was a d1 platform diver. My coach was absolutely horrible to me about my weight. HORRIBLE. I thought it was a one off case of abuse, until I have heard many other female athletes speak up about this issue.
Allie, thank you so much for sharing your story! It is very important. I had an eating disorder in high school. I thought it would make me faster at running. Like you, I was willing to do whatever it took to advance my athletic career. Fortunately, I had people in my life who recognized what was going on at the time and forced me into treatment in 11th grade. I recovered before my senior year of high school. But I believe my body was already broken down from that experience and even though I had recovered from the ED, I struggled with injuries in college and had to take a couple years off from running.
Yes, it's just so heartbreaking how many women don't have the strength to make it through college! Injuries are hard, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that.
As a parent of a daughter who's struggled with ED, this hits my heart hard. I've learned as society we put way too much emphasis on body image (even with good intentions). I try to give compliments to others that have nothing to do with how they look or how their body happens to be. Don't say you look nice today. but rather - you seem happy today. You hit the same topic - associate success with the million other things that can be controlled such as work ethic, mental toughness, training routine, etc instead of body characteristics. I shared this with my high school son who's a part of the school XC team. I also plan to share this with a friend who has a middle school daughter who runs. In my mind your voice on this topic is so much more important than any races you ever won. Thank you for your strength.
Allie. Your video is stunning. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH. I relate to everything you said, almost on point. I remember being so afraid of puberty, and was so mad when I got my period. Thankfully because of the changing community, it did not take me as long to realize the lie that I was believing; that thinner=faster. However that was not until this belief led me to an ed. So many times I have thought that there could not be a way to have both health and performance, at least not for me. It is still a challenge to fight those thoughts that are so ingrained into our minds, but because of people like you Allie, things are changing. Thank you so incredibly much for this. This is exactly what the running community has needed for so long. Thank you for researching and thank you so so much for your effort. Things like this are changing lives. ❤️
long term performance isn't possible without health. I think so many girls just get ahead of themselves and want the best performance RIGHT NOW, but that ends up stealing years from their career later down the line. It's sad how pervasive EDs are, and I hope that we can spread this new narrative.
This is an incredible video and I‘m glad you spoke up about this. It’s so important to hear the voices of the athletes and it’s time to redefine competition and what we think of as success !
Im 3 minutes in and im aready in awe. So incredibly proud of the work youve clearly done internally. I also LOVE that you held your coaches and adults accountable
This was actually so helpful to hear right now. I’m a swimmer who has been going through a big time plateau throughout puberty, and struggled with disordered eating through most of middle and high school. The trajectory on female progression gives me some reassurance. Thank you so much for making this!!
This is so important. Men and women are totally different biologically. And our hormonal cycles are so different than each other especially as we go through puberty. The immune system drops by about 75% during menstruation and about 50% during ovulation. I was a top high school and collegiate athlete in the sport of tennis. I was the best of the females and the worst when I played with the men. My coach would have me practice with the men and I could never keep up. My body- height, breasts, shoulder width, menstrual cycle, all impacted my performance. It is ridiculous that women are held to men's standards in sports. It is also ridiculous that we are now in an era that people are claiming there is no difference between men and women.
Excellent video! I have an 18 year old college freshman who struggled a lot with the mental side of things as her body went through her natural changes during her junior year. I am so glad to see she follows your Instagram. Your honesty in your experiences is invaluable to young women runners.
This is one of the most important videos of the athletic world. Thank you for sharing your story and making awareness, and I am just so sorry you had to go through this. This video really can save lives though, and I really wish it does
Thanks Allie for sharing your story. This is tremendously helpful for all of us, esp young female runners who’s afraid to gain/maintain their healthy weight. I wish you well and thank you again for sharing your story ❤
I remember going through puberty well before I became a runner & how horrible it felt. A huge hit to my self confidence I felt like I was doing something wrong. Even though my eating was no different I felt like the changes my body was going through were my fault. Especially when people would comment on the weight gain. In reality my skinny little body was just developing curves & it was all totally normal.
Thanks for this, im running in HS and i was going down a bad road of an ED relpase currently and kept thinking skinny=faster. My team is male dominated and this helped me figure it out, thanks for this video❤
Adding a comment for the algorithm in hopes this gets more attention. Personally, if I had a daughter and she didn’t start puberty like others or didn’t have a regular period I’d be concerned & engage with doctors. Puberty isn’t a high school thing. It usually happens way earlier! And sports nutrition is science, too. Best wishes to this young lady & hope that with medical supervision her body can recuperate🤞
this really speaks to me, i was a pretty decent footballer personally (soccer) and i broke my elbow when i was 13 and my coach used to say to me "just make sure you dont gain too much weight while recovering, speed is one of your best qualities as a player". 13 years later and i still cant eat properly it means a lot to hear it talked about as a systemic thing and seeing all the comments below, wishing everyone who struggles with this stuff all the strength in the world
You never have to preface with "I'm not a crazy feminist." It's not a radical thought to think men & women have been treated differently throughout history and that women deserve equity.
I want equality not equity. You would need to remove every person’s womb in order to do that. And the mutilate people without womb in an equitable way. But I’m biased because, like Olivia Culpo, I have endometriosis.
Cope
Nobody deserves equity, it is a totally flawed concept.
Do the coaches know that muscle weighs more than fat which makes the numbers on the scale totally flawed?
Funny since men are the ones who always accuse women of not talking about men
Such a good video. 45 yr old guy here who runs 100 miles a month. Daughter starting cross country this year as 7th grader. Will be using this video as a part of my teaching her to just enjoy the sport for now and not worry about being the best. That is a decision for her to make as she gets older and has info like this to reference.
Distance running is a longevity sport, you can be very competitive into your 30s. Make sure she realizes that she has two decades of potential left.
Have her learn about Katelyn Tuohy, the most decorated girl runner in U.S. high school history, and now a three time NCAA champion and she’s only a red-shirt sophomore.
She has lifted weights since high school to gain muscle/tendon/ligament strength and bone density.
More Strength = run faster.
More Density = eliminate injuries.
Eliminating injuries and never missing workouts are the two most important things for progressing.
Yes, running well when she's actually at her athletic peak (late twenties to early thirties) is the goal!! She needs to be strong to be able to do that :)
@@allie_ostrander You just helped a Dad advise his daughter to prevent what you went through...you are changing lives!
You're doing good, man. Keep up that amazing parenting and she'll thank you for the rest of her life.
The reporter calling a young girl ‘a robust 108 pounds’ 14:35 is despicable.
I’ve always wondered, how all of these bystanders and enablers can ignore, what is right in front of them-these poor girls look sick! Thank you for speaking out!
Yeah it’s a shame. I had a boy on my team (healthier weight now) who was 5’6”-7” and was only about 105 pounds, and because everyone told him he was so talented, he kept maintaining that weight.
Allie is only 5'1". 108 pounds is robust, for that height. I'm 5'3" now, but when I was 14, I was 5'1" and 95 pounds, and I was a good, healthy, attractive size. I was a cheerleader, good tennis player, good runner, etc. I had no problems with bone density, normal menstrual cycles, etc.
@@anglophils645that quote isn’t even about Allie so that height is irrelevant & also 14 is still very young, generally most examples in this video focus on girls further along in high school/puberty
@@anglophils645108lbs is not robust for someone who is 5'1 it's in the healthy range. Robust implies someone being on the heavier or thicker side, which isn't necessarily bad, like if you described a wine or a cake that way for example. But in that case it simply wasn't used accurately and didn't need to be said.
@@anglophils645yes but that man should not have been saying that about somebody they don't even know for you, It might be a different story, but agreed. An old man should not be commenting about a 14-year-old girls weight when she is doing her best to run a hard race.
“I’m not a crazy feminist”” I hate being treated as different or less than males”
That’s feminism and it’s not crazy.
Is it really feminism? I mean we were all created equal just different.
Yes, that’s what feminism is striving to attain a separate but equal status. We have different needs but all of our needs deserve to be met.
If you believe feminism is something else it’s probably because right wing propagandists would love to create that divide
@@brittanykopke6133 I didn't realize this was a political channel. Thanks for pointing out the devide. But, you are correct we are different and we all need to have our needs met.
feminism is narcissism
I am a scientific feminist ;)
Theres a runner named Konstanze Klosterhalfen from germany, whos literally just skin and bones. Shes injured almost every year, missing half of her races and noone says anything, because she broke several german records. As a german runner myself I always looked up to her, but now after healing from my own eating disorder, I just feel sorry for her.
I feel you so much. Sometimes, outgrowing our old idols, is the only healthy way to go..
I have seen people imply or flat-out suggest that she has an ED (I agree with those people) on comments threads before, only for others to protest that she's "small-boned" or simply training hard. I also feel sorry for her as a runner of German ancestry- I remember admiring her skill when she did a bunch of races on US soil, but was concerned by how thin she is. Also, I'm 5'9 and am considered "slender-normal" in the 140s with a medium frame, and started getting negative health effects when I dieted to below 135 (I can't even sustain 135-139 for long). I keep seeing articles saying KoKo is below 110- there is not a chance in hell that is a healthy weight for even someone my height smaller framed than me, and I hope she gets the help she needs sooner rather than later
Why are you assuming she has an eating disorder ?
Extreme sports competition is not about health and never has been. If men get the choice to turn their brains to mush in football, women should be allowed to push themselves to be the best, even if it's unhealthy. Not your job to judge her.
I see this often with my girls in high school distance running. The girls are either winning or healthy. It seems like the girls can’t be both.
I ran cross country in high school and I distinctly remember feeling markedly tired and slow around my period. It's a real conundrum for ALL female athletes. In order to be healthy we have to menstruate, but in order to be competitive, a period (and the requisite body fat necessary to have one) just gets in the way.
I think that it feels like a barrier in the beginning, but once you get used to it and become stronger with age, it becomes a strength.
@@allie_ostrander I have no clue.... I remember not eating engough because there never seemed to be enough in the house...
I am now resistant to drug addictions because much of running for me was the high. I don't really understand those dynamics either.
@@allie_ostranderthis entirely depends on your body. I have problems even after I was not disorder eating. I get sick on it. I ran varsity and when I did get it and still now I can become dizzy, I still practised but racing and practises I'd trip alot. I love xc but I walked away from running like I did. This year I picked up skatboarding haha I can eat whenever, I still like running but it's very easy to get into this problem I kmow so ,many other I ran with
I can't imagine doing anything competitive while menstruating. All the respect to female athletes, for pushing through that when needed. I even structure my routine exercise program around my cycle.
We don’t often think about how female and male athletes are different, and how they might have training regimes tailored to them differently. I want to say that it was Allyson Felix who stated that she didn’t do any period tracking related to her workouts, or adjust her training routine to accommodate this normal biological process.
Women’s gymnastics has gone through a similar progression. Senior elite teams today are generally older than they were 20 years ago. Back then, if you weren’t a teenager winning the all around it was unusual. Bodies (and particularly female bodies) change in puberty and you have to relearn how to use it - nowhere is that more under the spotlight than in elite sports. I like to think the return of Biles and Lee in elite gymnastics this year could be testament to the fact that people are slowly learning this and supporting the athlete through this transition leads to better and ultimately healthier individuals.
Honestly, it’s largely related to supplementation that’s increasing testosterone & allowing more strength-based athleticism in gymnastics (ie, Biles’ explosive tumbling) that’s getting higher scores now over flexibility- & artistry-focused routines that used to dominate decades ago. Not everyone likes this direction in women’s gymnastics, but certainly 1 good aspect is that it enables women to compete for longer
Thanks for talking about this, I’m trying to get into gymnastics
My sister is a former gymnast and now does pole vault and jumping events. One thing she faced was height discrimination. In gymnastics it’s more ideal to be short and thin but my sister after puberty she grew to be 5’7” and her coaches struggled to adjust her equipment and eventually I think that’s why she got injured and then months later she quit the sport and was told to do pole vaulting. She did try XC but most people in our family are better sprinters so she now just does sprinting, jumping and pole vaulting.
Gymnastics has actually gotten a lot better at the collegiate & elite level.
@@happysloth3208You can’t really say it’s height discrimination in gymnastics. It’s just that gymnastics is a sport in which nearly all of the events are easier when you’re shorter. That’s true for men & for women. Gym is great but if you’re a taller athlete it’s usually best to just enjoy it at a lower level or as a red athlete…or do what your sister did & take her talents to pole vaulting. 🙂
I’ve struggled with anorexia several times in my life, especially because I am an athlete, but “don’t look like one.” I was 5’2” and 140 pounds on the tennis team in high school. Although I was heavy, I performed very well. But I simply did not look the part. I eventually dropped down to 115 pounds when I had anorexia. It sounds like a healthy weight for my height, but I was cold and lethargic and miserable. I have begun to accept that I am naturally larger, and more so that my larger frame actually helps my athleticism and tennis play. Thank you for posting this video.
I have sometimes seen in the media Serena referred to as fat or thick. Which is ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. She's very slim by any measure. Why do people expect women athletes to be model thin!?
Good for you for taking care of yourself.
Agreed!! No one should dictate what "healthy" looks like for someone elses body!
@@FutureCommentary1Calling Serena Williams slim is absolutely wild. She’s extremely muscular, athletic, built like a tank for performance. At no point was she ever slim.
@@ruchieruShe was probably slimmer than you think 5’9 70kilo is slim, in real life she would look thinner than on the screen
@@david-pb4bi we certainly have very different, subjective definitions of slim. I stand by that Serena is muscular and athletic, not slim.
Me at 40, sitting here thinking if I can just lose some more weight, I’ll get better/faster. Maybe if I just eat less calories I’ll be X weight by race day. So many of us need to hear this. I really appreciate your honesty and vulnerability.
Meanwhile, me, a 60 year old male: if I focus on working out for muscle strength and flexibility, and make sure I get daily one gram of protein for each kilogram of body weight, I can build my muscle density, and I bet then I can get as fast as I use to be 20 years ago.
My male brain way of thinking:
If my glutes, thighs, hamstrings, and calves were all just a tiny bit stronger, and more flexible, maybe I could increase my stride length by two inches without any increase in the amount of perceived effort.
(One stride = one step of each of your left and right foot.)
In other words what if getting stronger and more flexible makes each step just one inch longer without you needing any extra effort or getting any more tired? Just one inch.
For the average female runner that would knock off 210 steps in a 5K. How long does it take you to run 210 steps? It would be as if they shortened the race by 165 meters.
(I used a step length of 30 inches, then increased to 31 inches)
It is true about being lightweight and cold. Like during the winters I would feel cold. Now years later I have a comfortable amount of insulation and I don’t seem to get as cold anymore🤣🤣
Me at 60. I never had an ED but I used to step on the scales daily to make sure I never put on weight. My scales have been out of batteries for months. I never weigh myself anymore. I just eat well and let my body figure it out. It seems to work out. If I've put on weight I haven't felt it and it's good not stressing over it.
Me at 31, feeling exactly the same, and wondering if losing 5kg will make me faster for my half marathon :(
Unless you’re actually overweight (BMI > 25), losing weight will make you slower, not faster. Even if you *are* overweight, losing weight still might slow you down. Energy is everything - energy to train, energy to recover, energy to provide proper hormone levels. Performance drives changes in weight, not the other way around.
As a fellow former athlete (martial arts) and in recovery for an ED, I can honestly state that this video is the FINEST I've ever seen regarding the links between competitive sports and eating disorders in women/girls. The research you've done, the hypothesis you raised and the conclusions you reached were completely spot on! As both a 30 year old scientist and a feminist/humanist, I salute you, Allie 😊
i would like to upvote this comment more than once
Out of curiosity what martial arts did you do?
@@AnnabethOwl American Kenpo Karate, Kick boxing (American style), Aikido and Muay Thai. Now I practice Kali (or Arnis).
@@AnnabethOwl oh and I forgot that I started out with Olympic level TKD.
@@frankiefavero1666 cool I do jui jitsu😅 but I did mixed martial arts when I was younger but decided I like jui jitsu the best
My wife is an exercise scientist who focuses on strength training. Talking with her about this, she thinks young female runners should focus on strength training and nutrition a little bit during their years of puberty to see larger increases post puberty
Tearing up watching this. I have struggled from age 15 with disordered eating due to the stigmas surrounding size in distance running. My junior year of college, my coach equated my thinner frame to my success by commenting on the size of my legs after my best ever 6K. That crushed me and sent me into one of the worst bouts of starving and binging I had ever experienced. What should have been one of my best seasons (due to the training I put in over the summer), ultimately became a mediocre season because I kept getting sick and had zero energy. To make matters worse, I didn’t open up to any one for help so my teammates were frustrated with me because they thought I had just given up. I never felt more isolated or helpless. I was a prisoner to my mind. I still struggle daily with food and body image but it’s much better than ever before since my identity and success are no longer rooted in running… however I’m in law school and the legal profession is riddled with eating disorders and substance abuse. I wish I could say the pressure on women to look a certain way in order to be successful, was limited to running. I remember racing at Nike cross regionals in Boise and you were there racing as well. I never would have imagined you were battling some of the same demons I was. I’m so sorry you had to endure all of this. I hope you are able to stay in a healthier and happier mindset moving forward. Thank you for spreading awareness about this issue.
It's really sad to hear that the legal profession has some of these same issues. I hate how many different body and appearance expectations there are on women. Our appearance is certainly not the most important thing about us, yet we're treated like the way our body looks is all that matters. So sad. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me :)
Well, being lighter is advantageous over long distances.
As in every sports there's a compromise between bodyweight and other attributes.
As a guy who ran cross country in high school about a decade ago, I never would have guessed this was going on. Very enlightening and education. Great analysis.
i was a competitive swimmer for over 12 years and I can tell you a lot of us understand as well. My coach would do the same thing- call me fat, weigh me in front of everyone and have them moo at me- I'm not sure if coaches are still allowed to do this, but it was humiliating and I have a fear of even being weighed at my dr
that is disgusting, some coaches needed to be nixed before they poisoned athletes and the athletic process
@@ENGRAINING I don't think this would be tolerated now but I could be wrong. It definitely affected me to this day- I have a hatred of the scale even though I am at a normal weight!
@@amysmithssportsandmakeup1397 it's ok to not be defined by how much you weight because it don't take into account a lot of things that matter a lot
i was a swimmer as well! my coach had me track everything i ate which was terrible
@@minawaaa26 that sounds about right. So terrible. I'm betting you weren't anywhere close to fat. Of course we weighed more than average bc we carried lots of upper body muscle. Sorry you went through that!
Being different than males is not the same as being less capable. That's the narrative of our male centered culture tho. That must be changed, or we women will continue to suffer the consequences of being treated like smaller, weaker, imperfect men. Good job on addressing such sensitive topics, you're so well spoken!
For real, men are not the default they are not the blueprint.
Or else, in light of the current attacks on trans people, women who are not trans but who have slim hips will get falsely accused of being men. Which would be one thing if said women were actually trans men (in which case it's their prerogative if they want to stay where they are or else transition and compete with cis men), but they're cis women whose bodies don't conform to what is expected, either naturally (because these differences are more subtle than many people think) or because of the aforementioned eating disorder, and people still falsely claim that these CIS women are "men", aka trans women identified with the wrong gender label.
Never mind there aren't enough trans athletes to form trans leagues (if there ever were, that discussion could be revisited), and giving said trans people puberty blockers when young would remove any unfair advantage that might remain after transitioning - and yet somehow the transphobes claim this is "child abuse" even though it's far less risky than the sorts of meds that large populations of disabled kids get forced on, while other disabled kids may not get on meds but are subjected to glorified dog training, restraints that can sometimes kill, or in some cases electric shocks as punishment for the most minor of things, and the "puberty blockers is child abuse" crowd is curiously silent about all this sanctioned child abuse that disabled kids get subjected to.
How is it possible that women are compared with men?
Women ARE less capable than men at certain things. No one stairs disputes that, on average, women perceive more color shades than men. Just like how no one disputes that man are simply better at carrying extremely heavy weight without getting the same risk of injury that woman have.
@@lsmmoore1 you don't need to be a "transphobe" to not want to give castration medicines to children. Educate yourself.
Allie, I am a 74 year old man. You are one of my heroes, and you are an inspiration to me. I frequently watch athletics on you tube, and when it's on t.v. here in England. I must tell you that when I watch runners compete, every single one of them, from first place to last place, is a hero in my book. I admire them so much for taking part and giving of their best, no matter where they finish in the race. Allie, I love your videos, your articulate commentaries, your courage and honesty, your gracious sportsmanship, and most of all your sense of humour and your priceless sweet smile. I wish you well. May the Lord Jesus bless you in every area of your life.
thank you so much! This is such a kind comment :)
My goodness this comment was so sweet
Goodness that is so sweet, this comment is making me tear up!! 😭😭
Can you do a TED talk on this? I think it’s about getting it out there. You are hella impressive.
I mean...I would love to give a TED talk! haha when I was testing the sound and orientation of my camera I sat down in front of it and was like "hello welcome to my TED talk"....so I guess in a way I did lol
People have to pay to do TED Talks. It's kind of a scam.
@@birdieroo3115What?? I did not know that I thought they got paid to do them. This... changes my opinion a lot
I looked this up and a number of different web sites say that TED TALKS does not pay speakers but they do pay the speaker's travel costs and they do pay for their housing during the conference. I'm curious as to where you saw that the speaker has to pay TED TALKS.@@birdieroo3115
According to what I've seen on different sites, it doesn't seem to be the case that speakers have to pay to get a TED TALK>@@MsKJackson831
One of my best friends was a female soccer player in high school. She collapsed on the field, nearly died and had to spend significant time in a rehabilitation facility because of an ED. This stuff is insane, I don't know how anyone thinks an athlete can be successful without proper nutrition. That's number 1, at best you're setting yourself up to fail long term. Thanks for shedding light on this
Someone needs to go after these “coaches” for child abuse. Systematically giving young female athletes eating disorders is not coaching, it’s abuse and neglect.
Don't blame coaches. It's the system.
...
@@makb5354 The coaches ARE the system. They're the responsible adults in charge, they should act in the athlete's best interest. Instead they act in their own best interest, where a trophy today is worth more than a long career for the athlete.
@@geniej2378No. They are only part of the system. I spent years on a National Team and I had to make some tough choices for my best health because there is more to life than just darn sport competition and gold medals. It's easy to dump all the blame on a coaches but reality is that every aspect in employee's life is controlled by those who employ them. I am not saying there are no bad coaches because bad apples are everywhere, but the pressure to produce top results are not just made by coaches. They also made by parents, by Colleges and by National Federation and sometimes by athletes themselves. As long as sport exists there was pressure of some sort to give the best results. It has been like that for centuries since Gladiators. If you convinced yourself that it's only coaches fault than you either not being honest with yourself or you just like to find the easiest scapegoat. Competition in anything, not just sport, is tough and fortunately not for everyone, hence why so many people have anxiety or are depressed. Competing in sport is not mandatory if things are going bad, parents should also step in. Everyone has to take a responsibility.
As a registered dietitian who ran cross and track in college, I absolutely LOVED your take on this. Changing the narrative around nutrition and health’s impact on running success *especially* for women and girls is exactly what we need.
I loved your idea of creating a new narrative embracing nonlinear progression for females during puberty. I’m so glad you’re experiencing physical and emotional healing and spreading this message!
This reminds me of how some coaches in womens gymnastics are rethinking training plans to have girls peak later, like after puberty. If an elite gymnast is mastering really hard skills before puberty is over (or started), she is just going to find them more difficult after puberty and have to relearn, which is going to leave her frustrated and potentially wanting to quit. Better to slow down the progression and make sure all the fundamentals and good form are mastered. Plus, yoynger girls see the older girls struggle and probably think "puberty is bad, I need to eat less food"
I think research into the female body is finally starting to translate into female training. I listened to a guided run on the NRC app that specifically addressed the menstrual cycle and how if affects training. You might be interested in listening to it and looking into what’s discussed. I think a different approach to training women is needed… yesterday. Thank you for your bravery in sharing your story. ❤
What is the guided run called?
@@makdnalz Menstrual Cycle Part 1 and Menstrual Cycle Part 2. You can also listen to them together in one labeled Part 1 & 2.
The number of times I've been told I 'look like a runner' because I'm thin is crazy. And one of the most irritating things someone said to me once was 'I'd be as fast as you if I was your size' as if i just turned up to races without doing any work. So frustrating!
I have been told this many times during my life . I have been athletic most of my life and fast metabolism and yes ran in high school
I'm a sixteen year old boy who has suffered from an eating disorder for about a year now and I am trying to recover from it. My weight was so low that I was at 84 pounds and still tried to lose more weight. At that point I had completely lost control over myself and was nearly put in the hospital. I love to run so much! However when I had an eating disorder I wanted to run to lose weight, now that I am back to a healthier weight of about 100 pounds I run for fun and to build strength. I love that you are speaking out about the horror of this disease, thank you.
Oh my, hope you're feeling a bit better now! Sports can be so so challenging because it is so easy to slip into the wrong mindset thinking that's the only reason why you're improving. But aside from the fact that those assumptions are usually wrong, fun, especially for kids, should always come first! Best wishes, you've got this!
When I was in high school, there were three girls that I can think of who were absolutely incredible long distance athletes. I heard relatively regularly that once they get older/ hit puberty, they will no longer be at the top of the field. One of these girls was in my class and she did slow down after a stress fracture during her freshman year. She would say she ran too many miles that year and it wasn't healthy. I wasn't even a serious runner and I was aware of this expectation. Smaller meant faster. Looking back I really regret entertaining those ideas.
I play high level soccer and I'm 15. I know so many players who have EDs that have started with them trying to fuel their body better by tracking what they eat to see what helps them perform the best. One of the best goalkeepers in my country went through an ED and it completely destroyed her to the point where she couldn't dive because of her bruises and lack of natural padding. She was truly an amazing goalkeeper and far better than anyone else I've seen but her ED destroyed her.
Allie, This has to be the best video about women's running I've ever seen. I wish every high school running program would watch this. The funny thing is there are coaches out there that wouldn't want to show it because it might make their girls team slower if they listened to you. This is pervasive throughout women's running world wide. Keep it up Allie!!!
Right, so many coaches are focused on the here and now, and don't care enough about the future of their athletes. Long term development should be the focus, especially in high school!
Young women hear me clearly, it is OK to be a woman, and have a womanly body. I’ve been a size 12/most of my life, and I may not have men chasing at me every day, or comparative and competitive women, complementing me on how thin I am, but what I do have is the confidence in my womanhood, and in my personhood, to be the most feminine, caring, beautiful, and loving woman I can be. And you don’t have to lose 1 ounce to be that way.🙏🏾
Thank you for sharing this. I hope alot of young women especially but all women relieze it’s not only ok to look womanly but desirable to look womanly. I never embraced that til I recovered from my severe anorexia and bullimia
I wish someone had told me this when I was younger. I developed early (I was 5'5 and and a curvy 120 pounds in 5th grade) and I felt like a huge monster next to all the other girls. I looked grown, and everyone shamed me for it or called me "fat". I hope more young girls embrace their feminine bodies, no matter when it develops
love this message ..
This happened to me! I had an eating disorder all throughout high school (no period, REDS) and went on to run D1. I only raced a few times and ended up medically retiring my junior year. I started recovering towards the end of high school but the impacts of my behavior followed me for years. I'm 26 now and back to running (40-60 miles a week depending if I'm marathon training) and I've been injury free for years but I had to take a few years off, learn how to eat intuitively, sleep more. But I truly believe collegiate running would have been a completely different experience had I treated my body right in high school
yes! People don't realize how long the damage takes to repair. I'm glad that you're able to run without injuries again!
Iam 5’7 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds at the start of my eating disorder but ended up 75 pounds and inpatient and force fed. Alot needs to change in society and these sports cause it’s causing gravely bad consequences in so many young womens and even older womens life. I want to thank you again for bringing attention to this very serious problem
What? It simply is true, that being lighter is better in long distance running. That will never not be the case. Should we abolish diving, because some people drown?
@@MrCmon113 it isn't, though. it may be for a couple of years, but then the body is broken. you can see the difference in women's gymnastics. for decades, gymnasts were teenage and skinny then retired quickly. now we see gymnasts well into their twenties and even thirties being competitive and strong athletes, because they're paced better and fuel their bodies adequately.
the same can happen in running.
As a father of 4 daughters, and 2 that are already runners, this is so incredibly important and well thought out.
It’s interesting to know if running attracts individuals prone to ED or the other way around. Probably some of both. It’s certainly a sport that attracts perfectionist hard working kids.
definitely. I think that the qualities required to be a successful runner have overlap with traits that make people susceptible to EDs. Combine that with emphasis on leanness, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Personally I think that every non-team based (individual) competitive sport can be triggering for many individuals, in terms of EDs.
I was anorexic being lean enables me to be more comfortable with a higher bmi.
Bit of a chicken or the egg thing, innit? In general I think people tend to gravitate towards sports that suit their body types. Puberty can change that up in a hurry, though. Youth sports in America are pretty effed up all-around these days, unfortunately.
Hello, I’m a current marathon runner. 25 years old, and Male. And I also had a struggle with an eating disorder that nearly took my life.
This video was amazing, and I really admire your courage for speaking up on your experiences with ED. It is never easy to open up and be vulnerable in front of so many people you don’t even know. It shows your personal strength and resolve.
For me, The struggle of placing all of my worth on my performance and playing around with my nutrition to feel a sense of control and like I was “accomplishing something”, it sucked the joy out of the sport I was engaging in and I was feeling myself becoming weaker and weaker. It was only until I was hospitalized due to severe malnourishment that I realized I needed help, and the stigmatization of being a male with an eating disorder played a role in continuing to push my body past its limits while depriving it of basic nutritional needs. Now, I’m doing much better and am back in marathon training. Recently did Boston and am running cross country in college too. But what is better is that I have found enjoyment in the sport again. Something which I have not felt in a long time.
Whenever I see a teammate beating themselves up over their performance, or trying to have a “perfect run”, I try to ask them, “Remember when you started running and it was fun?”. We place so much emphasis on performance and times that we forget to enjoy ourselves along the way.
In any case, thank you once again for speaking out on your experiences. Your never alone! ❤️
When I was in high school 20 years ago, there was a girl who broke both legs when she was running a race. She was praised as persistent and disciplined...even back then I thought that it was pretty crazy to let that happen to yourself..she was 1st or second in the graduating class, and I'm pretty sure that she gave her speech from a wheelchair.
I was a fat teen that developed an ED and got a lot of "congratulations" and positive responses when I went from 190lb to 125lb within 4 months. Everyone saw me exercise and thought "way to go!" they never noticed how unhealthy I was (Anorexia B/P subtype). I definitely get it. People don't always realize they are encouraging disordered eating habits until it becomes visibly obvious or it lands someone in the ER.
Allie, this video made me cry. I'm a girl going into my junior year of high school. I have struggled with body image for a few years now. Sophomore year, I joined the cross country team at my school. My coach was very strict. I started to realize the same thing you did, that most people in this community encourage us girls to eat as little as possible to go fast. For almost a year, I severely starved myself and still believed I was fat and a failure despite having the best time improvement on my team and being very underweight. It was only recently when I saw the light and made the choice to not harm my body anymore. I can't thank you enough for shedding light on something that isn't talked about enough and that for the longest time, I felt alone in. If this video had a love button I would hit that.
As for me, I love running as a hobby. But because of my struggles with body image and food restriction, I decided it's best for my mental health to respectfully leave cross country. I will be playing tennis this fall
Thank you for speaking out! I was bulimic for 13 years. Now fully recovered for almost a decade. For anyone still struggling please know that it is so worth it to recover! There is a beautiful life waiting for you!!!
Congrats on recovering!!!
Well said
Congrats on recovery from fellow x eating disorder suffer .
Couldn’t agree more. Iam recovered anorexic and bullimic myself
feminism is not a dirty word. ❤❤❤❤ i understand exactly the feeling you have about calling yourself that but so many badass women across the world fought and are still fighting for equality and we owe it to our sisters who are still disenfranchised to use our privilege to spread the message. thank you for sharing your story. i hope you find healing and health today and for many days to come
I agree, not dirty at all! I consider myself a feminist, and those feminist ideas are always based in science and reason :)
Feminism is a hate ideology.
I am continually impressed by your ability to talk about the "big picture" problems of EDs while struggling with one yourself. I was pretty good at the local level in my teens and 20s (BQ'd multiple times, won age groups, etc), but kept getting sidelined by injuries because of my own anorexia/bulimia. Fast-foward to today, I'm in my mid-40s and running the same times I did in my mid-20s, all while fueling my body and carrying more weight around. I am 10 years fully recovered. In the thick of it, I thought I was destined to a lifetime of internal voices telling me what I should and should not eat. Nowadays the voices are occasionally still there, but I can barely hear their whispers. I wish you strength in your recovery. Thank you SO MUCH for speaking out on this, Allie!
I was a cross country runner in high school. I had my faster times during my freshman and sophomore years. During my Junior year, I hit a slump in my times likely due to my hips widening from puberty. Luckily, I had a very supportive coach, and I pushed through, changed up some of my training, and by my senior year I was running 24s and 25s like normal. It's never as scary as it seems, you just have to adapt to the natural changes your body needs to go through
Excellent talk. My daughter is a young gymnast and I want to be aware of this subject to best support her. ❤
No cycle is crazy. Your body was screaming to stop. Thank you for making this video and showing the dangers that kids can fall into.
Too late for me, but my sister is still in high school cross country. Sending this to her, and hopefully you can help a high school athlete be aware about this!! Appreciate what you're doing, Allie
I needed to hear this. Now that I’m a little older (I’m still in my late 20s) I’ve been feeling slower lately in everything I do physically. You explaining that all these women still do great things years later, despite all the changes we go through, is so reassuring to hear.
Thank you so much for bringing light to this. While I was nowhere near elite level in cross country, I can very much relate. In the depths of my eating disorder I was faster than I had ever been. My recovery coincided with "second" puberty (it was stunted prior from my eating disorder) and I got slower. My coach demoted me from varsity, and in a desperate effort to "redeem" myself I overtrained on a still-weak and recovering body and got a stress fracture in my hip, and never fully got even close to my freshman speed for the rest of my high school career.
This was kind of traumatic for me -- I cared SO much about the sport. It took me five years to get in a healthy mindset I knew I needed to start running again. But on the bright side -- I am now performing better and have more energy than I ever did after my injury. I literally view my faster, younger self as a different person now and I'm okay with that.
One thing that really triggered me was comparing myself to other teammates times and bodies (and how they correlate). It's practically impossible not to in the sport (and the uniforms made for boys don't help). You're absolutely right that the issue needs transformed from the inside out, and it's absolutely necessary for coaches to approach girls differently. As a young girl (we're talking impressionable 13-16 year olds here) a lesson or guidance from my coach explaining that it's normal to plateau -- literally exactly like you just did in your video -- would have completely changed my outlook. This is not just a temporary struggle that teenagers face; I know so many girls (like me) that are still affected by behaviors and disordered eating caused by the sport 10+ years later. TLDR; thank you so much for this because talking about it, and backing it up with facts, is the first step to changing the sport.
That demotion was undeserved and heartbreaking. I wish coaches knew how to guide young women through their body transformation so that being slower is only a temporary phase. I’m so glad you re-found your joy in running.
Thank you for raising awareness about the puberty plateau and ED's. Although, I'm now 48, I was once a pre-pubescent flyer. Once I hit puberty, I couldn't understand why my times were getting slower, despite training harder. This was the start of my 14 year battle with an ED. I ended up with 6 stress fractures (all at the same time) and was diagnosed with osteopenia. No one ever explained to me that it was natural to plateau or regress during puberty (I wish they had).
It wasn't until I noticed both my daughter's slowing when they hit puberty that I began to research why this happens. Sadly, a young girl in their training group was clearly battling an ED. I requested to speak with her, as I felt I could relate and potentially give her some advice (like I had my own daughters). I was told "no" that I couldn't. Her parents had given strict instructions that no one is to mention food or ED in front of her. It was only a few weeks later that she collapsed during a training session and suffered a massive heart attack, passing away, aged 14 years.
I ended up quitting running because of my puberty change in high school because I couldnt perform like I used to. I stopped running for years and then picked it back up again running the fastest times of my life well into my late 20s. I truly believe if we had more of this narrative about development we would have more adults competing like I am. I am so thankful I quit because of ED triggers that I avoided so I can continue to run into adulthood.
I'm so happy for you that you've been able to fall back in love with running and set PRs. It's sad that the challenges presented by puberty caused you to quit for a time, but you've certainly succeeded in the end!
So glad someone’s talking about this! In a similar way, my eating disorder ruined my collegiate softball career. I still haven’t come to terms with it almost 10 years later
Current head coach and ex associate coach at Seattle Pacific University contributed to disordered eating behaviors of not just me, but many other athletes. We were DII, not even DI, yet the severity of the psychological effects this time in my life had on me linger with nothing to show for. The long-term physiological effects this had on other athletes have been even more detrimental long-term. Really appreciate you speaking on this.
This is so true. I under fueled in high school. Ran amazing times. Now at 45 injuries have plagued me since leaving high school and I now have to learn to run again slowly while eating and fuelling my body properly to stay injury free. Thankyou for blowing this elephant in the room wide open. ❤
So well said and researched Allie!! I think it would be absolutely iconic for you to give this lesson to different high school cross country teams so that the girls and coaches can actually understand that it is so very important to go through puberty in order to achieve long-term success.
that would be great!
Being afraid of how ones body will change, and trying to control it through extreme means like this- its not that strange. Its very understandable, and Im glad we are discussing it. Its important for many people, especially young women, to hear.
Puberty is such a tricky time for females and their participation in sports - having this sort of information is all to the good thank you for sharing and putting yourself in to the public eye - it really is so helpful 😊
Well done, Allie! It’s wonderful to see top runners and role models like yourself addressing this issue. I really wish female runners and the plateau during puberty was talked about more when I was a high school runner. I think I would have had a lot more confidence and success while respecting my body and the natural HEALTHY changes it was going through.
My 13 year old has the running bug, and is in cross country and track. Sat down with her and my wife (who also runs) and watched this. Thank you so very much for this video! My daughter's not in the dark places you ended up, but she's on the cusp of high school track and cross country and entering some of the more risky periods of coach/peer/adult pressure that can lead to this. Your video is powerful, and I think we're all better prepared for her running journey now because of it.
Keep being awesome, and I hope Europe is a great experience!
That is exactly the impact I wanted this video to have. Thank you so much for sharing :)
I was a cross country/long distance runner and suffered from an eating disorder all throughout high school. I eventually lost my love for running when trying to recover from my eating disorder in college and switched to lifting. Now being a year out of college I am training for my first marathon and recovered from my eating disorder. I am enjoying the love of running and food again and running a lot faster than I was in high school! So glad you addressed this topic! ❤ Sending my love as another Boise State grad!
The ability to get information like this out in the public is important. I am sorry for the heartbreak you went through here. You're blazing a trail and I revere your dedication. I remember watching you run when I was in college. You and Mary are heroes for your courage and your dedication.
As always, when you discuss this topic you do a superb job. Over the past 25 years I have seen far too many women suffer from RED and disordered eating. My son, who ran D3 and did well, lived in a house with the woman's D3 national champ in the 1500, who could not even compete in that event a year later. (Also, fun to see Jorge Torres in this video- one of my kids held the soph course record at York HS, until Jorge and Eduardo broke it a year later). It is likely hard for you to share this, but the service you are doing is invaluable. I think of Mary Cain and think of the opportunity lost with her. I hope that this will not affect our current crop of top runners- Katelyn Tuohey, Parker Valby, etc. And I am glad you are still running and able to produce content like this.
I had an ed last summer and during the cross country 2022 season i did worse than i’ve ever done by far. years before i ran 22-25 minute 5k’s but when i was struggling with an ed i ran 27 minute 5k’s - i was trying to go as fast as i could and i just couldn’t no matter how hard i tried and worked out and i even had to be pulled out of a race. not every case of ed makes you faster, and i feel like most times it makes you slower. i’ve recovered now and i ran a 20 minute 5k only 4 months later when i just decided to go all in and fuel my body and not over exercise. i’m so so happy i’ve recovered and i hope if your struggling you find the motivation to recover!
Watching this tells me that running isn’t your greatest talent, your greatest talent is your insight and intelligence, your future is bright with or without running ❤
It's hard to imagine anyone getting THAT much exercise - and yet restricting their eating!
I've never been a competitive athlete, but quite active physically. When I get lots of exercise, I eat A LOT. I'm like vacuuming up food.
Even a very thin person, who's training as an elite athlete, would have to eat a HUGE amount just to survive.
I'm proud that you share this!! These stories need to be here, since the ED/Disordered eating problems are intense in the (professional) sport world!! And people don't know that, often coaches are reinforcing the sick behaviour. Good job girl ❣❤Again, I'm proud of you💕
Allie the quality of this video is phenomenal! So well written, spoken, paced, researched, and produced. It feels like there's such a focus on being the best as early as possible, when it really makes more sense to encourage kids to have good general strength and all around fitness, and a love for a sport that makes them want to really go all in once they become more physically and mentally mature. It should be a prerequisite for any athlete to have gone through puberty before going to college!
This pressure & resultant eating disorder(s) are also pervasive in figure skating, ballet and gymnastics to name a few. Your video is so well researched and presented. Bravo!
yes, this is definitely not just a distance running problem, unfortunately.
What a thoughtful, eloquent and powerful message. Well done and thank you for being so open about your journey, it will definitely help others. Run well ❤
Great video. Literally had no idea about the female energy triad and the systemic issue y’all face. Wild to hear the ED was so pervasive in the xc community. Walking away learning so much. I struggle with ED myself and it was eye opening hearing about this perspective.
Thanks for the honesty 🙏🏻
Thank you for this insightful video, Allie. I teach at a high school in Anchorage and follow girls XC and Track & Field here in Alaska. I will recommend this video to the runners I know. It is interesting that girls are being assessed for college scholarships during a time in their development which is not necessarily the best indicator of how they will do age 20-22 and beyond.
this is so important, thank you! i think i was the same year as you in high school XC, and it's been super heartbreaking all these years later to see the same thing happen to you and all the fastest young women i looked up to. getting slower every year of puberty was disheartening, but hope this video gets watched by lots of girls and coaches** more than anything!
This is easily the most important video on TH-cam. Your courage and honesty when dealing with these truly urgent, sensitive and UNADDRESSED YET PERSISTENT AND PERVASIVE problems are absolutely incredible. Nothing but praise for you and I am sure you will have an extremely positive impact on our young ladies moving forward. This video needs to be seen by PARENTS more than anyone. After Parents it needs to be seen and HEARD by coaches, nutritionist, pediatricians and other medical professionals, and if necessary the NCAA and even Congress. It's sickening that we are sacrificing our daughters' health for a GD track and field race. Utterly UNACCEPTABLE.
I don't know how this ended up in my algorithm, because I'm not big into running or athletics, but wow! I think it's an amazing video, you really broke down the problem so well and your vulnerability really added to it as well. I had no idea about how big this problem is! I hope your video's reaches a very big audience!
This is very surprising to me. I never even considered that it was possible for someone could suffer from an eating disorder yet perform at as a runner at a high level for a significant time. I always just thought eating disorders were something only found with models or in general persons with severe body image issues, but surely not athletes. Very eye opening.
I think I saw the stats on eating disorders on female athletes in the US was as much as 70% , this included bulimia.
Being a former HS XC and distance runner, I have struggled with disordered eating (that started with wanting to just get fast enough to place... to feel "good enough ") my entire life. I'm now 47, and I'm dealing with a lifetime of nutritional deficiency... It's hard, and something has to change because like you said... everyone wants and expects that linear progression... it's just not what's best for many girls. Thanks for talking about this!❤️
This made me cry. I’ve always looked up to you and listening to you talk so eloquently about the science and statistics of this was so uplifting.
Thank you, Allie. This is my story as well and I’m working to be able to overcome it.
Male anorexia survivor & ex-compulsive runner here. It's more than ok to tell your story from your perspective. It's so important for girls/women to hear this message from other women. You've come a long way and gained a lot of wisdom - the hard way. Share it. You don't owe anyone a disclaimer or an apology! I hope more young women find their voices & start pushing back against structures that hurt women. This idea people have that commenting on female athletes bodies is ok especially needs to be destroyed. Unacceptable.
As a guy who's been in recovery/recovering for over a decade I get your frustration around the damaging bodies & minds caused by EDs. I have uncorrectable osteopenia, hardly an entire original tooth in my head, damaged organs & ongoing mental health issues. "You can't unbreak a vase" one of my therapists said..
Obviously I don't know you but I'm proud of you. You have a lot of courage. Be a voice for change esp for young female athletes!! Loved your honesty & forthright approach. Be bold & mighty forces will come to your aid.
Thank you for using your voice. I am going to start college this fall and I’m on the xc/track team. I will definitely be paying attention to my body and as a female athlete. I love the messed you are putting out!
thank you so much for sharing your story! I was not extremely athletic or even incredibly skinny as a youngster, but still struggled with a terrible eating disorder. Spreading awareness of the enormous pressure young girls and women are under to be skinny, is so so important.
Like Mary Cain, Old style coaches like Mark Wetmore contributed to my story. Reading running with the buffaloes took my ED from a 4 to an 8. Women for sure have it worse when it comes to pressures in their body weight though. I really appreciate you being a shining voice speaking out
As a father to young girls who love running this video is invaluable - Being someone who is very confident in coaching and someone who thought they knew it all, this video has shown me I actually know nothing about running when it comes to young girls. Your video will help me so much. Thank you for making this video - it is a 'must watch' for all dads (and male coaches) who have little angles who have athletic dreams. I only found your channel a couple of weeks or so ago but have watched many of your video - how lucky I was to find you (via yr bf by the way and Sweat Elite). I am going to get my girls to watch your videos. I wish you good health and success in your US trials. Keep smiling, you are and will be an inspiration to tens of thousands of young athletes current and future. Thank you again.
I developed an ED the summer before my freshman year of high school because I wanted to get faster and finally have some control over my life. I ended up running through my league and district cross country meets with a fractured metatarsal. This injury took so long to heal that I missed out on a lot of my freshman year of track. I would’ve made it to state if I had been properly fueling myself. At my lowest point, I still wouldn’t have met the typical body standard that is forced upon female distance runners. I ran a lot faster after recovering and I didn’t feel super dizzy and weak all the time as well. Thank you so much for talking about this.
This video popped up in my recommended and I was like hey I went to high school with her! I had no idea you were dealing with all this back then but it’s great to see you’re doing better!
It sounds like training for high school and college coaches could be crucial, for high school coaches to support healthy training and body awareness for the long-term future, and for college coaches to consider that seeing a dip pattern is normal when recruiting high schoolers and to think big picture.. Plus hopefully training and screenings for the athletes themselves. Great job addressing a tough topic.
just thank you. ❤ talking about these things out loud helps us all heal ❤
Thank you so much for posting this. Not a distance runner, but I was a d1 platform diver. My coach was absolutely horrible to me about my weight. HORRIBLE. I thought it was a one off case of abuse, until I have heard many other female athletes speak up about this issue.
Definitely not a one off. I’m so sorry that you had that experience though 😕
Every running coach needs to see and understand this information. Great video. Well done.
Allie, thank you so much for sharing your story! It is very important. I had an eating disorder in high school. I thought it would make me faster at running. Like you, I was willing to do whatever it took to advance my athletic career.
Fortunately, I had people in my life who recognized what was going on at the time and forced me into treatment in 11th grade. I recovered before my senior year of high school. But I believe my body was already broken down from that experience and even though I had recovered from the ED, I struggled with injuries in college and had to take a couple years off from running.
Yes, it's just so heartbreaking how many women don't have the strength to make it through college! Injuries are hard, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that.
Allie, thank you so much for sharing and taking a stand. From a former cross country runner [in AK class of '14], I am so proud of you.
As a parent of a daughter who's struggled with ED, this hits my heart hard. I've learned as society we put way too much emphasis on body image (even with good intentions). I try to give compliments to others that have nothing to do with how they look or how their body happens to be. Don't say you look nice today. but rather - you seem happy today. You hit the same topic - associate success with the million other things that can be controlled such as work ethic, mental toughness, training routine, etc instead of body characteristics. I shared this with my high school son who's a part of the school XC team. I also plan to share this with a friend who has a middle school daughter who runs. In my mind your voice on this topic is so much more important than any races you ever won. Thank you for your strength.
Give compliments that have nothing to do with physical appearance. Society puts way to much importance on weight and appearance
we need more athletes to raise their voice and of course a lot more coaches, parents and officials to listen to this !🤔 Thanks for speaking up🥰😘
Allie. Your video is stunning. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH. I relate to everything you said, almost on point. I remember being so afraid of puberty, and was so mad when I got my period. Thankfully because of the changing community, it did not take me as long to realize the lie that I was believing; that thinner=faster. However that was not until this belief led me to an ed. So many times I have thought that there could not be a way to have both health and performance, at least not for me. It is still a challenge to fight those thoughts that are so ingrained into our minds, but because of people like you Allie, things are changing. Thank you so incredibly much for this. This is exactly what the running community has needed for so long. Thank you for researching and thank you so so much for your effort. Things like this are changing lives. ❤️
long term performance isn't possible without health. I think so many girls just get ahead of themselves and want the best performance RIGHT NOW, but that ends up stealing years from their career later down the line. It's sad how pervasive EDs are, and I hope that we can spread this new narrative.
This is an incredible video and I‘m glad you spoke up about this. It’s so important to hear the voices of the athletes and it’s time to redefine competition and what we think of as success !
Im 3 minutes in and im aready in awe. So incredibly proud of the work youve clearly done internally. I also LOVE that you held your coaches and adults accountable
This was actually so helpful to hear right now. I’m a swimmer who has been going through a big time plateau throughout puberty, and struggled with disordered eating through most of middle and high school. The trajectory on female progression gives me some reassurance. Thank you so much for making this!!
This is so important. Men and women are totally different biologically. And our hormonal cycles are so different than each other especially as we go through puberty. The immune system drops by about 75% during menstruation and about 50% during ovulation. I was a top high school and collegiate athlete in the sport of tennis. I was the best of the females and the worst when I played with the men. My coach would have me practice with the men and I could never keep up. My body- height, breasts, shoulder width, menstrual cycle, all impacted my performance. It is ridiculous that women are held to men's standards in sports. It is also ridiculous that we are now in an era that people are claiming there is no difference between men and women.
Excellent video! I have an 18 year old college freshman who struggled a lot with the mental side of things as her body went through her natural changes during her junior year. I am so glad to see she follows your Instagram. Your honesty in your experiences is invaluable to young women runners.
This is one of the most important videos of the athletic world. Thank you for sharing your story and making awareness, and I am just so sorry you had to go through this. This video really can save lives though, and I really wish it does
Thanks Allie for sharing your story. This is tremendously helpful for all of us, esp young female runners who’s afraid to gain/maintain their healthy weight.
I wish you well and thank you again for sharing your story ❤
I remember going through puberty well before I became a runner & how horrible it felt. A huge hit to my self confidence I felt like I was doing something wrong. Even though my eating was no different I felt like the changes my body was going through were my fault. Especially when people would comment on the weight gain. In reality my skinny little body was just developing curves & it was all totally normal.
Totally normal yet somehow these topics are taboo. Talking about them and having and understanding needs to be normalized!
Thanks for this, im running in HS and i was going down a bad road of an ED relpase currently and kept thinking skinny=faster. My team is male dominated and this helped me figure it out, thanks for this video❤
Adding a comment for the algorithm in hopes this gets more attention.
Personally, if I had a daughter and she didn’t start puberty like others or didn’t have a regular period I’d be concerned & engage with doctors. Puberty isn’t a high school thing. It usually happens way earlier!
And sports nutrition is science, too.
Best wishes to this young lady & hope that with medical supervision her body can recuperate🤞
thank you for the support!
@@allie_ostrander ❤️😢
this really speaks to me, i was a pretty decent footballer personally (soccer) and i broke my elbow when i was 13 and my coach used to say to me "just make sure you dont gain too much weight while recovering, speed is one of your best qualities as a player". 13 years later and i still cant eat properly
it means a lot to hear it talked about as a systemic thing and seeing all the comments below, wishing everyone who struggles with this stuff all the strength in the world