Olympians are super fit. That doesn’t mean we’re healthy
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I thought I knew what was good for me, but as I transitioned to real life, I had to strive for balance rather than excellence.
By Laura Zeng
I competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as an elite rhythmic gymnast, and after training from the age of six until I was 22, I thought I had developed all the necessary habits for a healthy life: how to eat right, exercise, handle my emotions and take care of my body.
But upon retiring, I struggled to run for more than a minute on the treadmill, and I couldn’t tell when I was full or hungry. After having access to the best mental health resources and physical therapists the world could offer, why was I suddenly having trouble with the basics? Hadn’t I been trained to know my own body, mind and the connection between the two – better than most?
I’d been skinny, all muscle and capable of managing pain for so long. But that didn’t mean I knew what being healthy meant.
Though an overall bill of health might look different for an ath...
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