Pocock reveals eating disorder

[beige]

Young Wallabies superstar David Pocock has revealed in a new autobiography that he has suffered from an eating disorder for much of the past decade.

Pocock, who was one of the few Wallabies players to enhance his reputation at the recent Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, said he developed the problem when he was a teenager, around the time that his family moved to Australia from Zimbabwe.

The openside flanker is up-front about the extent to which the eating disorder affected him.

"I was irrationally strict about what I ate and had a very skewed idea of my body image and what I looked like," he said.

Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...-1226194286539

[AndyS]

An change from the usual forward's eating disorder - two hands, but only one mouth...

[James]

It doesn't count as eating if most of the food ends up on your shirt.

[Rex Messup]

I think we need to define eating disorder

eating healthy food in the correct portions is quite acceptable for an elite athlete.

eating nothing at all (anorexia nervosa) or eating and puking it in the toilet moments later (bulimia) is an eating disorder Dave

You are a lean, mean rugby machine and dedicated to putting the right fuel in the ferarri

No probs

Dead set

[DinkyDi]

Rex - I have seen this happen with a number of younger lads coming through the system throughout the country. Everything is now driven by testing, skin folds, weight and if the youngsters cant make a target then they have additional training. These kids are chasing a dream and on all too many occasions this dream becomes an obsession and diet and body size is a key factor. When 16 and 17 yr old kids are too scared to eat anything but lean this and uber low fat that it will lead to situations (out at dinner with family) where they refuse to eat as opposed to eat sensibly. That is the nature of the disorder and it is very damaging to a developing body. Pocock is right to raise this and I hope that young lads everywhere realise that you can achieve the goals without becoming obsessive about food and body image.

[normie]

I think we need to define eating disorder

eating healthy food in the correct portions is quite acceptable for an elite athlete.

eating nothing at all (anorexia nervosa) or eating and puking it in the toilet moments later (bulimia) is an eating disorder Dave

You are a lean, mean rugby machine and dedicated to putting the right fuel in the ferarri

No probs

Dead set

I think the issue here Rex, is that the percieved healthy eating became so much of an obsession that it became irrational. It was a traumatised teenager's perception of 'healthy' food, that became the disorder. Not the eating of healthy food in the correct portions, which you quite astutely point out is quite acceptable.

[Cowboy]

The line between dedication and obsession can become a bit of a blurr.

[normie]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if many athletes sway between the two.