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Shawn Johnson the Olympic gold
medalist and Dancing with the Stars champion faced more taxing practices
and ferocious competitions growing up as an elite gymnast – she felt such pressure
to adhere to the 'look' of a graceful gymnast that she sometimes limited her
diet to 700 calories a day.
"I was always the very strong, dominant, solid, hulking gymnast and I felt like people always wanted me to be thinner and lighter and leaner and as a 12-year-old, the only way I really understood how to achieve that was to eat less and contain myself. I remember kind of obsessing Although she was never formally diagnosed with an eating disorder.
"I was always the very strong, dominant, solid, hulking gymnast and I felt like people always wanted me to be thinner and lighter and leaner and as a 12-year-old, the only way I really understood how to achieve that was to eat less and contain myself. I remember kind of obsessing Although she was never formally diagnosed with an eating disorder.
"I never went to a doctor, talked to a psychologist or was diagnosed as anorexic, but I was definitely obsessive and had very unhealthy habits," she explains. "I'm sure I would have been diagnosed with something but I just never got to that point."
Looking back, she says her limited calories likely affected her performance.
"I feel like my body had gotten so used to performing and practicing under those conditions that that's all I knew," she says. "I probably could've performed better and had a little more energy if I was feeding myself better."
Shawn admits that it she made it hard for her parents, who struggled with trying to feed her balanced meals while also supporting her intense desire to excel in the sport.
"It was hard on my parents to see their 12-year-old daughter going through this," she says. "It definitely was a concern of theirs. I would come home after a practice and my dad would make me French toast or pancakes – anything he knew I couldn't resist – to get calories into me."
"I
went as far as literally not eating any carbohydrates. I wouldn't allow myself
to eat a single noodle of soup," she says. "It got to point where my
body was like, shutting down. I was on a diet where I would eat like 700
calories a day – all the way through the 2008 Olympics."
Shawn's desire to be thinner came from what she thought judges expected from a gymnast. "Back then, the judges liked the look of a very lean and skinny gymnast that was artistic and graceful, rather than powerful like myself," she says, adding that she felt immense pressure to transform her body into what it was not.
That's why it was such a sweet victory when she nabbed the gold medal in 2008 for the balance beam event.
"There was definitely a huge sense of pride that came with it," she says.
Once the Olympics were over, Johnson stopped her obsessive eating habits and gained 20 lbs. But in March 2009, she was again thrust into the spotlight as a competitor on DWTS, when she came under scrutiny from viewers
Shawn's desire to be thinner came from what she thought judges expected from a gymnast. "Back then, the judges liked the look of a very lean and skinny gymnast that was artistic and graceful, rather than powerful like myself," she says, adding that she felt immense pressure to transform her body into what it was not.
That's why it was such a sweet victory when she nabbed the gold medal in 2008 for the balance beam event.
"There was definitely a huge sense of pride that came with it," she says.
Once the Olympics were over, Johnson stopped her obsessive eating habits and gained 20 lbs. But in March 2009, she was again thrust into the spotlight as a competitor on DWTS, when she came under scrutiny from viewers
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