Sarah works as a mental performance consultant with athletes at all levels. The majority of her practice is on body image and disordered eating. Athletes can face quite a lot of barriers to seeking help for their mental health. .
HOW DISORDERED EATING MANIFESTS IN SPORT
We talk about the normalization of disordered eating in athletes. With many athletes it can look like a preoccupation with food that causes stress and impacts social relationships. It is not just a question of body size.
STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE DISORDERED
It is mostly an individual approach. One of the first things that Sarah does is have the individual connect to their body as there is often a disconnection between the body’s cues and how the athlete responds to them. This can happen because of the ‘push harder’ culture in the world of sport.
HOW RESTRICTED EATING IS LINKED TO PSYCHOLOGY & HORMONES
Restricted eating can lead to overcompensation (bingeing and overeating), it can be physiologically and emotionally difficult. Hormones will signal to the body that it wants food. For example, you might have a piece of cake and eat way more than you need to because your body is so dissociated from what it really needs. If we were in tune with our bodies and what it needs, we would eat far less.
TRAUMA, RELATIONSHIPS AND FOOD
In terms of trauma, people who have had experience with difficult situations can often feel out of control and food and exercise can be the place where they can control. When it comes to the intimate relationships between the athlete and coach, it can get quite complicated when it comes to body image and food recommendations. Considerations need to be taken with family, coach, friendships.
TRANSITIONING OUT OF SPORT
Developing a wide variety of interests outside of sport can help prevent a narrowed sense of self when and can also translate into a smoother transition outside of sport. Sarah enlightens us to the difficulty athletes have with that transition and how they can get into trouble if it isn’t done well.
EMBODIMENT OF MOVEMENT AND EATING
The sensation of feeling your body in movement and before, during and after eating are crucial to being able to self-monitor and be able to listen to the cues in their bodies. Athletes can often become disembodied due to the nature of sports training and during disordered eating causes a similar.
REACH OUT TO SARAH
Twitter @saragairdner
IG @sarahgairdner
www.sarahgairdner.com
REACH OUT TO CHRISTINA
www.instagram.com/mattersofmovement
www.facebook.com/mattersofmovement
christina@mattersofmovement.com
www.mattersofmovement.com
ONLINE STUDIO
www.mattersofmovement.com/membership
