#163: Josie Askin on Stress Fractures, Perfectionism & Wellbeing

Josie Askin is a New Zealand based runner and Holistic Wellness Coach who grew up watching her Dad compete in running events.

As she tells the story in this conversation, she was a chubby kid who was teased about her weight so she started running during her teenage years to lose weight.

Unfortunately, she soon found herself in a cycle of overtraining, under-recovery & under-eating for about 9 years which culminated in her experiencing the female athlete triad (as it was referred to then, which is a combination of disordered eating, amenorrhea and osteoporosis or low bone density) and ultimately a stress fracture in her hip.

These days, the concept of the female athlete triad has been replaced by RED-S (relative deficiency in sport) - Josie will explain the difference in this conversation.

In this conversation, she shares: 

* how she approached her running and recovery (and how the goal of wanting to lose weight influenced that)

* the symptoms and red flags of RED-S and the surprising statistics about how common RED-S is,

* the confronting reality of recovering from RED-S (especially when you’ve associated food with gaining weight)

* how she felt shame and regret about her story and what’s prompted her to speak openly about it now

* how she’s come to see her experience as a strength, not a weakness

* the similarities between RED-S and burnout, and

* her awareness of her tendency towards perfectionism and how it has impacted her life (including RED-S and burnout).