Allie O says she's not okay, going through immense stress but can't tell us why yet

If that is "hard", she should consider herself fortunate. Doing a 1-2 hour bike or elliptical workout isn't that mentally challenging. Can is be physically challenging? Of course, that is the point. Hell, triathletes stare at a bottom of a pool for hours on end. Stare at a wall for hours while biking indoors and usually do the same on a treadmill... I wish her the best and hope she finds what she needs to get help.

This seems to be a consistent theme in this thread. But I think it's worth recalling the wise words of Jakob Ingebrigtsen: "You can't be disappointed in people for not being better."

Different people find different things hard. I remember in college, half the dorm flipping their lids about calculus exams. To me, it was as easy as basic addiction and subtraction. But the fact that I found it easy didn't make it any easier for those who struggled with it.

I'll never understand the rage people feel when others are unhappy in circumstances where they "should" be happy. Maybe you'd live a life full of bliss if you had Allie O's "advantages." But you're not her, and she's not you. Like all of us, she's doing the best she can.

You should have your own YouTube channel.

I have no doubt she is doing our best. It just seems a theme in society to let all the "hard" things destroy us. I just think a little perspective is important.

If she was even a little bit serious about ENDING her eating disorder, she would get off IG and stop making youtube videos, but she won't.

She is not even the only person who does this. She is consistently making posts that "Center" and emphasize her body (full-body camera shots from all angles, pictures in workout gear and swimsuits, showering topless with 1inch of clearance. ZERO shots of her mountainous environment or any scenery) because there is positive attention with this.

Then when the orthorexia comes back to bite (stress fracture, running like crap, getting dropped) she suddenly remembers how to point a camera at just her face and talk into it, seeking pity and a high view count with a clickbait title.

Just an incredible amount of selfies and documentation of what she looks like every single day. It is a practice of arrogance and narcissism. Doesn't matter that she cries about it every couple months. She is proud of her body and is happy to show it off until her leg breaks from running for the 10th time.

I'm just expendable working class crud. Every few weeks someone steps in front of a train around here. It's all pointless and coming online makes me feel even more alienated (need to stop coming here too).

It's called sad-fishing. For clicks and attention. Likely OP is someone in her crew.

So I took the bait of this thread and fast forwarded through the video to get the gist…the baby voice is too much to watch for more than 10-15 seconds at a clip

She’s having a “moment” up in the mountains but instead of just having the “moment”…she whips out the phone, hits record and we get a reminder that social media isn’t real and that beneath the surface people could be “struggling”…lol gee thanks

For the billionth time someone on social media warns us all of the trappings of social media and how important mental health is…

This thread caused me to watch the video. I would say her intention was to point out ‘hey I know my life looks really cool right now bc I’m in Europe but it’s actually not and this is why social media can be a bad thing…”

My takeaways-her video kind of misses the mark. I’m assuming her sponsor paid for her euro trip and her bf got to go with her probably under the guise of being her social media team. A sponsored trip to Europe is a unique opportunity that would bring most people joy. it’s weird to post a video about your struggles while on a more or less free vacation with beautiful landscape and your bf in tow.
The good thing is that her Ed seems to be under enough control that she is comfortable indulging in pizza and pasta and croissants. The old Allie probably wouldn’t have been able to experience that.
Still, she seems obsessed with exercising even if it’s not running. It wouldn’t surprise me if she tracks her steps/calorie burn to make sure she’s burning as many calories she’s eating.
perhaps she’s coming to terms with pro running no longer being a career option for her and now she’s faced with the stress of figuring out a career which is understandably stressful.

I really like Allie, but her videos over the last couple of months have really concerned me. She posted one titled "5000 calorie challenge" and another one called "I ate like [someone who I didn't recognize] for a day"... No one with an eating disorder (and maybe no one period) should be eating anything other than what a normal person should be eating.

The videos over the past few months have made it pretty clear that she is in a very serious, current battle with ED, and I wish her well. But I don't think these videos, or social media more generally, are helping.

I like her too and agree that her recent videos have been weird and have messed up my YouTube algorithm so now I get recommended videos of female YouTubers who are all recovering from Ed and exercise a ton. Not exactly the YouTube journey I want to watch unfold in my spare time

Should have known then why Ari called himself "the Devil of Boulder" a few years ago. He is an awful coach and is ruining two runners that had a lot of potential.

I think this is also right. If I recall, she had Nnormal in her Instagram bio up until recently

Friend, this thread is about Allie O, not your misguided attempts to slander my LRC reputation of which you have little knowledge of. This is another example of how social media can go wrong when strangers misjudge others with their lack of specific knowledge and complete lack of humor. Don't get angry, cranky and woke, get off the interweb and cut the intake of High Fructose Corn Syrup, it's likely causing your ill temper and bad manners.

But this thread IS about you. It's ALWAYS about you.

Anytime someone whips out a phone and says they are having a "moment" to me that tells me it's not a real moment but a moment for social media. But people go along with it so it does it's job.

Agreed. Though it's probably different for cyclists and triathletes for whom spin sessions correspond to the activity they in fact train for. Whereas for a runner, cross training is a constant reminder that what you're doing is second best or worse (you're cross training because injury keeps you from running)

It's not in my nature to agree with letsrun people, but yeah. The constant need to cross-train instead of healing injuries...the food challenges...Who would prescribe 2-3 hour bike doubles while doing treadmill or serious hikes? what is going on here? and all of the body shots, etc. It does not seem like recovery is going well. can she sit with her body in a rested state?

100% agree on this!