Most coaches - including myself - don't have the tools to discuss this serious issue. I have no personal experience or training with eating disorders in runners (though I have friends with disordered eating).

So I brought on someone who does: Annyck Besso.

The goals of this conversation are threefold:

Give coaches better tools to educate, help, and guide their runners with eating disorders
Open a dialogue among all runners and foster a healthy, productive conversation
Provide resources to those who might be suffering from any type of disordered eating

Annyck is a Registered Dietitian with expertise in the treatment of eating disorders in private and academic medical center environments. She has a Bachelors degree in nutrition and dietetics, a Master's degree in dietetics, and specialty training in approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Family Based Treatment (FBT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

She's also quite the speedy runner, recently running 3:07 at the hot and humid Wisconsin Marathon.

Resources & Links from the show:

The Recovery Record app
Mind Body Health (Annyck's practice)
Division of Responsibility Feeding
National Eating Disorders Association Helpline
FBT approach for treating eating disorders
Recommended book: Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David
Recommended book: Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
Recommended book (for parents): Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders by Eva Musby
Strength Running's free nutrition series

Thank you Annyck for coming on the podcast to share your expertise about the topic of eating disorders in runners. There are a lot of resources included that I hope all of our listeners will find helpful!

Episode 70: Eating Disorders in Runners: An Honest Conversation with Annyck Besso, RD