Sad Article about Zagitova's Eating Habits

[tars]

There's something quite offensive about the idea of selecting young athletes based on how a coach or whoever thinks they will grow.

Welcome to the professional sport and last 70 years I guess...

 

[Barb]

I can´t believe some people really think that Alina is eating only 800kcal/day and at the same time maintaining that body and competing at elite level plus winning gold medals . I mean, come on!!, Maths!!

 

[Ares]

I can´t believe some people really think that Alina is eating only 800kcal/day and at the same time maintaining that body and competing at elite level plus winning gold medals . I mean, come on!!, Maths!!

I don't believe either in 800kcal/day diet unless someone is inspired by anorexia. I mean with such low calory intake you just don't have energy to perform that strenuous training properly I believe. But on the other hand Lipnitskaya was on her powder diet and still capable of full training before Sochi. Unless they start burning their body fat + actual muscles to produce energy. Maybe it's their sheer will power + external pressure that push them through?

 

[oatmella]

There's no way you can select children and predict how they will change after puberty. For example, the Vaganova Academy tries to do this as best they can - to select those with the ballet body - but even they admit that it is unpredictable and some girls end up developing a physique no longer ideal for ballet.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Calories are calories. You can't die from eating cake because it's high calorie (though the fat content may cause other health problems). If a young girl is eating only 800 calories a day and doing strenuous exercise like training for high-level competitive skating, she is starving. A diet like that is for someone who is overweight and wants to take off weight fast (not recommended).

Where in the world did this assumption of 800 calories a day come from?

 

[Barb]

I don't believe either in 800kcal/day diet unless someone is inspired by anorexia. I mean with such low calory intake you just don't have energy to perform that strenuous training properly I believe. But on the other hand Lipnitskaya was on her powder diet and still capable of full training before Sochi. Unless they start burning their body fat + actual muscles to produce energy. Maybe it's their sheer will power + external pressure that push them through?

But to difference of Alina, Yulia really looked underweight and with no muscle, no boobs. Alina has muscular legs, not exageratted but more than Yulia, Alina has boobs. And we are not really sure how many calories Yulia was eating. And I think the main probem with Yulia was after Sochi when she was fighting really hard against physical changes. And we saw it her problems, she could not finish her program and right after that she got help because she hit botton.

I mean, it is impossible maintain with that calories at day, what kind of person who height is more than 1.47m only needs 800kcal/day to survive?, maybe an really old person who is all day on a wheelchair or a bed, and probably not even them.

 

[brightphoton]

Where in the world did this assumption of 800 calories a day come from?

There's a poster in this thread who is saying something like, you don't need the standard, doctor-recommended number of calories. You can eat 800 calories with """"good"""" food and that's okay too. Quality over quantity.


When I read those posts, it reminds me of Jenny Kirk saying that 80% of the people in this sport have some sort of disordered eating habits. I'd extend that to not only the athletes, but the fans too.

No wonder anorexia is so prevalent in figure skating, when we have posts like:

• Photo of Yuna Kim: does her body look the same at age 12 and 22?
• Photo of Elena Radionova: did she gain weight post-puberty?
• Photo of random Russian skaters in street clothes: do they look normal or skinny?

It is too simplistic to reduce the complex relationship between food, eating habits, health to lower calories = lower nutrition.

There're a lot of scientific studies out there about caloric restriction and aging.

You can eat a 2000 calories cake and your body's needs for nutrition are not met, and it is starving. You can die from this diet.

Whereas eating a 800 calorie diet with lots of colorful fresh organic vegetables, healthy fats and lean protein of various kinds is vastly superior to a conventional high calorie (1600+) diet of meat, dairy and potatoes.

The key isn't number of calories but quality of food nutrients.

Definitely I'm not following the "standard" recommendations because they don't suit my needs. Some people may be horrified at my eating habits, thinking it's deprivation not to eat any sugary food at all, but I am just as horrified by theirs.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

There's a poster in this thread who is saying something like, you don't need the standard, doctor-recommended number of calories. You can eat 800 calories with """"good"""" food and that's okay too. Quality over quantity.

Where? Which post? :scratch:

 

[lappo]

I don't believe either in 800kcal/day diet unless someone is inspired by anorexia. I mean with such low calory intake you just don't have energy to perform that strenuous training properly I believe. But on the other hand Lipnitskaya was on her powder diet and still capable of full training before Sochi. Unless they start burning their body fat + actual muscles to produce energy. Maybe it's their sheer will power + external pressure that push them through?

I don't know what Alina or other are eating so I won't dwell in that but I think that many people don't know much about the mental aspect of EDs (which I experienced first hand). Basically, when you start controlling your food intake you feel like super empowered, as weird as it might sounds, and you truly are able to survive on the smallest amount of food (or even drinks) and still be super energetic just because the whole sensation of being able to control something is so rewarding to you. This of course last the amount of time that your body employ to finish its reserves and start sending help signals; they can come after a shorter period for athletes who exercise at such incredible pace but for a normal person they can come also after years of really living with tiny portions of food. People who can exercise that kind of control over their body are definitely people with incredible will power, even though they make the mistake to channel it in such a dangerous direction.

 

[brightphoton]

Where? Which post? :scratch:

errr ... the one that I quoted in my post .....

 

[Seruleane]

You guys. The problem with speculating about who has eating disorders is it doesn't end up helping the person(s) in question. It usually ends up with that person being more secretive/obsessive/depressed and likely becoming more controlled about their diet. I am sure there is plenty of disordered eating in figure skating, among other sports. Speculating about who might have one in a public forum isn't the way to help those people out, so I can only suppose that the people doing so are wanting to gossip or spread malicious rumors. I wish there was a way we could guarantee that all athletes have proper health and nutrition, and avoid disordered eating, but I don't know that there is any way I as a regular lay person can do that. Having said that, I am so happy that athletes such as Yulia, Gracie, and Akiko have spoken out about their struggles with eating disorders, and I hope they are raising awareness among their fellow athletes.

 

[tars]

No wonder anorexia is so prevalent in figure skating, when we have posts like:

• Photo of Yuna Kim: does her body look the same at age 12 and 22?
• Photo of Elena Radionova: did she gain weight post-puberty?
• Photo of random Russian skaters in street clothes: do they look normal or skinny?

Could you please elaborate on your conclusion stigmatizing interlocutors as anorexia supporters?

I assume, there must be some deep, hidden logic behind it. :sarcasm:

 

[sross43]

My concern with skaters, especially skaters in Russia where the competition is so stiff, is that there's more incentive to make risky health decisions since it often works out for them in the short-term. Do we really believe Evgenia wasn't skating on a broken foot at the Olympics or Europeans? Or if you're in the rink watching Trusova bang out 4L after 4L, it must be hard not to consider, "If I were that small, I could do that." After all, it's just physics. You spin faster if there is less mass, and if that mass is concentrated closer to your axis of rotation. I think at some point, this sport will have to consider banning jumps not because the jumps themselves are dangerous, but because of what skaters are willing to do to their bodies to achieve those jumps. If we continue down this path, figure skating is going to consist of adults watching 11 year-olds in tiny dresses doing programs full of quads. It's not healthy for skaters and their coaches to view puberty as an enemy to fight and not a natural and healthy process. Athletics should not only focus on what can humans do, but should emphasize what can humans do safely.

 

[brightphoton]

Could you please elaborate on your conclusion stigmatizing interlocutors as anorexia supporters?

I assume, there must be some deep, hidden logic behind it. :sarcasm:

If you were a skater and were worried about your weight, body shape, puberty and body changes, then *maybe* you wouldn't appreciate it very much if a bunch of people took pictures of you and compared your body and discussed publicly if you were skinny or fat or not.

 

[tars]

If you were a skater and were worried about your weight, body shape, puberty and body changes, then *maybe* you wouldn't appreciate it very much if a bunch of people took pictures of you and compared your body and discussed publicly if you were skinny or fat or not.

Except Yuna Kim is inactive for like 4 years...

 

[brightphoton]

Ohhhh I see. If someone is retired, then it's okay to make body comparison posts about them and discuss if they're skinny or fat, and speculate on how much and what they eat.

Skating culture, sheesh.

 

[acapenci]

Except Yuna Kim is inactive for like 4 years...

She still can read and comprehend language

 

[Miss Ice]

Except Yuna Kim is inactive for like 4 years...

I know, and Yuna wouldn't be reading GS to see what random ppl thought of her weight. In fact, I think Yuna had a pretty healthy food-life balance. She did mention that she had to watch what she eats (e.g. she couldn't just pig out and had specific nutritious ingredients) but she was still eating a sufficient amount of food (with the most protein/nutrient rich components includign fish and vegetables) that she could train well. More here . Those actually seem like pretty standard "healthy" ingredients for lunch and dinner, and resemble a normal diet of many athletes -- minus extra snacks and carbs maybe.

And more here about how Yuna is actually secretly a big foodie. (also, she might genetically have good metabolism so she can eat so much without gaining wait - might not be the case for everyone, especially people from eastern euro countries!)

@brightphoton, if anything, it is good to discuss her diet in paticular because it is a perfect example of how a healthy athlete's diet should look like.

 

[qwertyskates]

I find the accusatory tone in many of the posts here offensive.

First, we are all of different sizes and metabolism. What works for Alina or me will not work for EVERYONE. I am not recommending my own diet to you.

I don't even count calories - I just know for a fact that the food I eat, peppers, carrots, cabbages, greens, melons, nuts, eggs, fish, beef, soups, are all low in calories.

I don't remember the last time I drank a soda, ate a muffin, gummy bears, chips, sausages or an ice-cream and that's OKAY. I don't want to eat them. I find them disgusting - the smell of artificial aromas and the look of artificial coloring put me off right away.

However, i'm not going to shame someone who likes those food, to each his/her own, unlike being shamed here for liking natural food which are naturally low in calories.

I prefer the scent of natural food, nut oils, olive oil, coconut, sesame, tea, fish, etc...

Please do not put down or insult my eating habits just because it differs from yours.

Secondly, it is a FACT that there have been many studies out there about caloric restriction prolonging life. I'm not looking to prolong my life, I'm just eating what I feel comfortable eating, the type of food and the amount. I am happy to find out that it prolongs my life, great side effect!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...ld-revealed-surprise-U-S-tops-list-3-770.html

Unfortunately, if you are from a society that tops the world in caloric intake, it feels unnatural to consume half or fewer of what is considered normal for YOUR society, but there are many societies in the world that thrive on that amount of calories.

There are many vegan and vegetarians in the world that consume the amount of calories I do. It is because you can eat a crazy amount of vegetables and their calories simply don't add up to much. There are also people who eat a mostly raw diet with little cooking, pro-biotic food, for the natural enzymes, which also drastically reduces calories.

Look at the food charts on that same website and do the math on how many calories vs quantity of food, both from nature and processed in factories.

My diet looks very much like the column on the left.

That is A LOT OF FOOD, a lot of nutrients.

On average, a whopping FIVE pounds of the food (assuming 1 pound = 500g) you see on the Left (or the food I normally eat) = 800 calories.

5 Pounds of food is very filling! And I can't eat 5 pounds of food a day, but I figure with 3 pounds of vegetables and 200g of protein I'm eating close to about 800 calories and feeling quite full.

On the Right column, excluding the soda, less than 200g of such food already adds up to 800 calories!

Of course if my diet resembles the one on the Right column, I'll be starving, not due to calories, but due to both quantity and quality of food. That's literally a handful of food for 800 calories!

On that "typical" supermarket diet, for 800 calories, I will be eating very very little a day, not even half a pound, and missing all the essential nutrients I need to live well. So I need 1000g of burgers, M&Ms, soda, chips, bacon, muffins, steaks, pasta, which means I eat probably more than 4000 calories, and maybe still feel hungry.

2500g vs 200g


So I eat A LOT of food, but they are low in calories and high in nutrients and I'm happy, healthy and lean.

 

[brightphoton]

I don't even count calories

I'm eating close to about 800 calories

Hmmmmm



Ok ok that's not fair, you're estimating. But look at what you're saying here.

I figure with 3 pounds of vegetables and 200g of protein I'm eating close to about 800 calories and feeling quite full.

At least do some back of the napkin calculations. 1200 grams of vegetables and 200 grams of protein per day .... that's around 1200 calories worth of food.