How Eating Disorder Therapy Helps Athletes Heal Their Relationship with Exercise
First things first, I want to address the stigma of eating disorder therapy. If you have read my other blogs, you probably have the understanding that you do not need to have an eating disorder to seek help. You can also struggle with your relationship with exercise and not have an eating disorder, yet still need support. Don’t let the word eating disorder scare you. Eating disorders can feel scary, because well they are! However, when talking about exercise and movement, you do not need to fit into the box of an eating disorder or compulsive exercise to improve your relationship with exercise.
Yes, I am an eating disorder specialist. What that means to me is someone that can help you work towards freedom from food, negative body image, and improve your relationship with movement.
I have had the privilege of working with athletes from all backgrounds—whether they’re in high school or college sports, professionals, or just passionate about fitness. One thing I’ve noticed in common is how often athletes struggle with their relationship to exercise or their sport, whether it is related to an eating disorder or not.
If you’re an athlete who dreads going to practice, I want you to know that you’re not alone. The pressure to perform, look a certain way, or push through physical limits can lead to unhealthy behaviors, both with food and exercise. But here’s the good news: therapy can help you untangle these connections and build a healthier relationship with your body, food, and exercise.
In this blog post, I’m going to break down how eating disorder therapy specifically helps athletes heal their relationship with exercise. By the end of it, I hope you’ll feel more hopeful and empowered to take the next steps in your healing journey.
The Pressure Athletes Face
Before we get into how therapy helps, I want you to understand why athletes are at such high risk for developing disordered eating, eating disorders, and unhealthy relationships with movement in the first place. It’s not just about vanity or personal preference—it’s about the unique pressures athletes face in their sport.
Performance Pressure
Whether it’s training for a competition, trying to improve personal records, or maintaining a certain weight for your sport (think wrestlers), the pressure to perform at the highest level is intense. In many cases, this pressure becomes so overwhelming that athletes begin to see their bodies as tools for performance, rather than something to be nurtured and cared for. There are so many myths around body shape and size in different sports that lead to negative influences on how athletes see their body as a performance tool. For example, in running a myth is “thinner is faster”.
Body Image and Expectations
Many athletes are also faced with societal expectations of what their body should look like in their specific sport and outside of their sport. This can be very confusing. For instance, runners might feel the need to be lean to be "faster," while football players might believe they need to bulk up to be strong. At the same time, a rower may feel the need to be stronger, while society outside their sport tells them being muscular is not “feminine”. These external pressures can lead athletes to adopt extreme dieting habits, excessive training, and unhealthy views about food and exercise, while also leading to conflicting views around their body and the different types of societal pressures.
The "Go-Go-Go" Mentality
Athletes are often trained to push their limits, to "grit their teeth" and power through. This mentality is part of what makes athletes successful. Athletes tend to have a high pain tolerance that helps them push themselves through discomfort. However, if they struggle to find balance and check in with their body, it can morph into an unhealthy relationship. This is where exercise, which is typically meant to be a healthy activity, becomes a dangerous tool.
How Eating Disorder Therapy Helps
Eating disorder therapy for athletes is about so much more than the food or stopping harmful behaviors—it’s about rebuilding trust with your body, rethinking your approach to food and fueling, and changing the way you view exercise. Let’s dive into how therapy helps athletes heal their relationship with exercise, step by step.
1. Identifying Your Why
Progress takes motivation, so I want to help you find your “why” for changing your relationship with exercise. Motivation has a strong misconception that it is about willpower, but it is so much deeper. Motivation goes deep into our own specific thoughts and emotions. It is unique to every individual, which is why we will need to find yours, specifically.
Exercise can be a form of self-care, a way to feel energized, or even a way to connect with others. By shifting your focus from changing your body or meeting unrealistic societal expectations to internal reasons (e.g., feeling stronger or connecting with others), you can develop a healthier, more sustainable relationship with exercise.
In therapy, we work together to explore why exercise feels so tied to your identity. Is it about control? Perfectionism? A desire to be "better" or "faster"? Once you start to understand why exercise became such an important crutch for you, it becomes easier to shift your mindset and create new, healthier habits.
2. Rebuilding Trust with Your Body
This is a big one. If you’ve been using exercise as a form of punishment or as a way to "earn" your food, it’s likely that you’ve lost trust in your body. Maybe you feel disconnected from your body’s true needs, like hunger, exhaustion, or the desire for rest.
Therapy helps you rebuild that trust. One of the first things we do is slow down and get back in tune with your body’s cues. We will work on learning to pay attention to how your body feels before, during, and after exercise. We explore what your body is telling you through sensations, thoughts, and emotions. By tuning into these signals, you start to learn what your body truly needs in terms of rest, nourishment, and movement.
3. Learning to Separate Exercise from Food
A big part of healing is learning to separate exercise from food. Yes, food helps fuel your body. However, in therapy, we work on changing the belief that exercise is something you “must do” to compensate for what you eat. This belief can trap you in a cycle of overexercising, under-eating, or both.
By talking through these beliefs and addressing the underlying fears or anxieties you might have around food and exercise, you can start to build a healthier, more balanced approach. You’ll learn that exercise can be a positive, enjoyable activity that doesn’t have to be tied to food at all. Instead of seeing it as a way to burn calories, you’ll start to view it as a way to strengthen your body, improve your mental health, or simply have fun.
4. Addressing Perfectionism and Fear
Perfectionism is often a huge barrier in an athlete’s recovery from an unhealthy relationship with exercise or an eating disorder. There is often a belief that if you don’t give 100% all the time—whether in exercise or in life—you’re not good enough. This perfectionist mindset can make it hard to listen to your body’s internal cues, such as the need to rest your body or to adjust your exercise routine when things aren’t going perfectly.
Therapy works to address this fear of imperfection. Through evidence based techniques, we can challenge perfectionist thinking and help you develop a healthier, more flexible mindset. You’ll learn that rest is just as important as training, and that it’s okay to miss a workout or take a break without feeling guilty. Matter of fact, rest can actually help your performance and mindset.
5. Gradual Exposure to Movement
When exercise has become a source of stress or anxiety, it can be overwhelming to jump back into it, even in a healthy way. Therapy often involves gradual exposure to exercise—this means taking small, manageable steps to reintroduce movement in a way that feels comfortable, as well as exploring what type of exercise feels fun and enjoyable for you.
We might start with light exercises or activities that you enjoy, like yoga, short walks, or even stretching. The key is to take it slow and create positive associations with movement, rather than focusing on intensity or duration. Over time, as you gain confidence, you can work your way up to more challenging exercises—without the fear or guilt that might have been tied to it in the past.
6. Creating a Balanced Routine
In therapy, we focus on creating a balanced routine that includes both exercise and recovery. It’s important to learn how to balance your physical activity with your body’s need for rest. Over time, we work to shift away from the mindset of “more is better” when it comes to exercise, and instead focus on how to build a routine that is both enjoyable, restorative, and fits your “why”.
This might mean incorporating rest days, focusing on flexibility, or prioritizing activities that promote mental health, like mindfulness or stretching. The goal is to create a routine that is sustainable and supports both your physical and emotional well-being.
Why does therapy work for athletes who are struggling with eating disorders and exercise?
It works because therapy helps athletes regain control over their bodies and minds in a way that is compassionate, balanced, and realistic. It teaches you that you don’t have to push yourself to extremes in order to reach your goals.
In therapy, you’ll work through the deep-rooted beliefs, behaviors, and emotional wounds that have shaped your relationship with exercise. But more importantly, therapy helps you build a healthier relationship with your body, food, and movement, one step at a time. It’s about progress, not perfection. And it’s about finding joy in movement again, without the fear or guilt.
Conclusion
If you’re an athlete struggling with an eating disorder, compulsive exercise, or feeling disconnected from a sport you used to love, it’s important to know that healing is possible. Through eating disorder therapy, you can learn how to create a healthier relationship with exercise—one that focuses on nourishment, recovery, and self-care. By unpacking the pressures, challenges, and fears that have shaped your behaviors, therapy can help you make lasting changes and find a balance that feels good for both your body and mind.
Remember, healing isn’t a straight line—it’s a journey. But with the right support, you can rebuild your relationship with exercise and start moving towards your “why”. You deserve it.
About the Author
Kate Ringwood is a licensed professional counselor and the founder of Serendipity Counseling Services. Combining her expertise in mental health counseling with her personal journey as a recovered athlete, Kate is deeply committed to helping others on their paths to eating disorder recovery. She focuses on assisting athletes in overcoming the unique challenges they face while striving for healing and balance in their lives.
