Avid cyclist (daily commuter, tourist, sometimes-racer); college student; writer. Intersexed, queer, married to the sweetest man on earth. I've wrestled with anorexia since I was thirteen; right now, after an uptick in my weight, I'm trying to learn to balance reaching and maintaining an effective racing weight of around 145 pounds without resorting to starvation or constantly wanting to bargain my end-point lower.

I've found that racing bikes is more protective against a return to full-fledged anorexic behavior than I would've thought by a long shot. Simply put, you can't ride perform on the bike when you're starving, especially not in the long-distance races I like. Instead, you have to learn to balance the need to be fairly light with the need to be strong and healthy.