This episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast is with licensed professional counselor and lifelong athlete Hannah de Groot. She is the founder of Stride Counseling, a private practice dedicated to helping athletes struggling with eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Hannah shares how she combines her personal experiences as an athlete struggling with an eating disorder with her education in nutrition and counseling to help other athletes overcome eating disorders, OCD and anxiety. We discuss reasons why disordered eating is common in athletes and some of the misinformation spread through diet culture. We give listeners advice for overcoming “good food, bad food” thinking and “fear” foods, as well as highlighting how sport can give you the strength to recover. Hannah and I provide tips for preventing disordered eating and anxiety in athletes, alongside ways to support those struggling.

Hannah talks about what OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) is and is not, sharing key signs and symptoms. This includes compulsive exercise which often co-exists with disordered eating and eating disorders. We discuss how anxiety underlies both OCD and eating disorders, as well as what recovery looks like. Hannah shares more about her work and services, before answering the usual end of the podcast questions.

TOPIC TIMESTAMPS:

4:00 Hannah's background studying and struggling with nutrition and counseling psychology 

8:10 Working with a professional who understands; connecting through shared challenges

11:15 The dangers of diet and health misinformation; Tips for rejecting black-and-white nutrition thinking and diet culture messaging

15:30 Advice for overcoming "bad" and fear foods

21:00 Overlapping eating disorders, anxiety and OCD in athletes; student-athlete pressures

27:30 Tips for preventing disordered eating and anxiety in athletes; treat the human being over the athlete

33:10 The power of athletics for recovery; Evaluating your relationship with sport

35:40 Being "sick enough" for help and the health complications of eating disorders

40:40 OCD: signs, symptoms, recovery; compulsive exercise

47:00 Hannah's services with Stride Counseling and contact details

48:50 End of the podcast questions

Things we mentioned:

"Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders" by Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani and she has a great website worth checking out here.

Female Athlete Nutrition podcast episode 184. How Improving Athletes’ Mental Health + Team Culture Benefits Performance with Lindsey LeMay Majkrzak

Reach Hannah on Instagram @stride_counseling and at hannah@stridecounseling.co and follow me, your host Lindsey Cortes, @female.athlete.nutrition 

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