Proper nutrition is fundamental in achieving optimal health and top tier athletic performance.
The high incidence of eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, among athletes is not accidental and can have devastating effects on both the health and performance of athletes. The tendency to recognize eating disorders in females more readily than in males makes the detection of an eating disorder in male athletes even more challenging. Athletes will sometimes ignore signs of potential health complications and injuries that they know could be attributed to their eating disorder behaviors, all for the sake of success in their sport. What they fail to realize is that they are in fact hindering their overall success and athletic performance.
When an athlete has an eating disorder they will often struggle with a combination of restrictive dieting, overtraining, and not allowing themselves to rest on recovery days. They will miss out on family events and social activities in order to fit in additional training sessions, often developing an exercise addiction. Coaches, athletic trainers, parents, and others involved in an athlete’s training regimen are instrumental in helping to identify, treat, and prevent compulsive exercise and eating disorders. They must be properly and consistently trained in what to lookout for in their athletes. We understand it can be very difficult to approach a child or adolescent’s parents when there is a concern. We are available to help with this and develop a plan for assessing and communicating what is going on with the athlete to their families, their coaches and trainers, and especially to the athlete.
We work with the suffering athlete to develop an eating plan that properly fits their athletic lifestyle and create goals for recovering from their eating disorder. Educating athletes struggling with an eating disorder on how nutrition impacts sports, exercise, overall health, and athletic performance will be critically important and an ongoing task. Only when you give your body the fuel it needs by drinking enough water and eating a balanced diet, will you be able to maximize your athletic talents and achieve the goals you have in sight. Similarly, we can create a plan for exercise addiction or compulsive exercise behavior.
Whether you live locally in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Cave Creek, Carefree or Fountain Hills or out-of-state, we can help.
