WTA Finals winner and Tennis star Caroline Garcia said she struggled with bulimia – an eating disorder – as she looked to fill a sense of “emptiness, sadness” when things were not going her way on the court and how “defeat became an excuse”. She stated that she found it difficult to control herself when she was alone.
“Everyone is different. Some don’t eat anymore, I was the opposite: I took refuge in food. These were times of crisis. You feel so empty, so sad, that you need to fill yourself up. It was the distress of not being able to do what I wanted on the court, no longer winning and suffering physically. Eating calmed me down for a few minutes. We all know it doesn’t last, but… It was an escape. It’s uncontrollable,” she told the French sports newspaper L’Equipe.
“When you’re alone, it’s harder to control. And in tennis, you spend a lot of time alone in your room. That’s often how it happened. Afterwards, I started talking about it, to my relatives, to friends, to my parents. You begin to understand. You realize that if this happens to you, it’s not the end of the world. Sometimes it’s just fatigue that makes your body crave sugar. It’s not going to change your life either. Sometimes it was inexplicable. I needed to fill myself up to make up for the defeat and the pain,” she added.
I take more time for myself: Caroline Garcia
Although Caroline Garcia claims that it has decreased recently, she still feels “less guilty” when the bouts resume. “Since I take advantage a little more of everything there is around tennis and that I take more time for myself, it happens to me less. And when it happens to me, I accept it more and feel a lot less guilty. Allowing myself more regular little pleasures avoids having too often this craving (irresistible desire) for something. At one point, I didn’t allow myself much. It was getting too much”.
