The gymnast who hated getting on the podium

Olatz Rodríguez, 19, is such a nice person that he can’t watch movies. Her romantics make her cry and her dramas cause her such suffering that she has to look away from the screen. She first studied Medicine at the Complutense University (Madrid) after a bitter experience in rhythmic gymnastics, which she abandoned when she realized that she lacked the slightest competitive desire. And that she was called to treasure many medals. What started out as a game ended in hell. Her perfectionist spirit and the pressure she put on herself, together with some trainers who were not very knowledgeable in the management of Eating Disorders (ED), led her to anorexia. She was admitted to the hospital weighing 37 kilos. She never suffered distortions of her image, such as looking fat, nor did she throw up food, but she wanted to emulate the winners who stood out because of her thinness. Not yet fully recovered, she has written a book, ‘Vivir del aire’ (Planeta), in which she describes her problem.

Monday

7:30 a.m. I have breakfast and I go to the university on foot, the subway makes me very dizzy. As I walk, I listen to the radio. At the university, three hours of study and three hours of internship await me. I am loving the degree, I don’t know which one I would choose among the subjects that I like the most. It is difficult to opt for Biology or Medical Physics. I really like Immunology and Anatomy. Cytogenetics is also interesting.

2:30 p.m. When it comes to eating, I prefer vegetables. I prefer first courses, so sometimes I go without protein. It should not do it, for something the human being has evolved and has become omnivorous. If I haven’t eaten meat for three days, I force myself and say, “Olatz, you have to eat meat.” I have had the idea of ​​becoming a vegetarian once but I have never done it.

6:30 p.m. I have finally gotten rid of the habit of looking at the calories in each product, although sometimes, when buying nuts, I let myself be influenced. But it’s not like before, like when at Christmas I calculated the calories in a shrimp and thought: I can eat one and a half. That was when I was totally controlled by the disease.

Tuesday

7:00 p.m. I keep watching rhythmic gymnastics on TV. I have had a lot of good times being a gymnast. What happens is that the competition is a rather unfair method of evaluation, it is not taken into account in the qualification of many circumstances that influence the execution of an exercise. When I saw myself on the podium, I thought: why me and not her, if we both deserve it? It was something I didn’t understand and it made me feel very bad. As a child I cried when I went up to the podium, my coaches did not understand it.

8:00 p.m. I love classical music, but I also really like techno, so I alternate. On the other hand, I don’t watch much television, I prefer to listen to the news on the radio, although lately what is happening in Ukraine generates many emotions that are difficult to manage. I even try not to be very up to date, I know I shouldn’t, but I feel really bad for not being able to do anything.

Wednesday

6:00 p.m. Right now I lead a fairly sedentary life, except for the walks I take in the morning. However, sometimes my body asks me to move and I have to go for a walk. In Madrid it is difficult to do it; The ideal is to take long walks through my town, Villasabariego (León), where I am very much in contact with nature. We will be twenty neighbors and hundreds of sheep. I go with my family as much as we can, because we are many and with our purchasing power it is difficult for us to go every weekend.

10:00 p.m. I leave the series unfinished because I get bored quickly. In addition, it is very difficult for me to understand the double meaning of words, sarcasm and irony, which makes me quite unable to watch movies.

Thursday

11:30 a.m. Medicine is not absorbing for me. The teachers are very close and transmit their knowledge very well. A few months ago I was diagnosed with depression and being able to study helped me a lot. The treatment has gone great. Eating disorders and mental health problems are associated, although sometimes the diagnosis is still a label for professionals.

6:30 p.m. I go up to my room and start organizing the day of study. When I get overwhelmed, I go out with the book to a park that is around here, next to the residence. At the end of the day I talk to my parents on the phone and go to bed.

11:55 p.m. I am not able to steal hours from sleep to study. I always sleep my eight hours a day, well, seven hours and twenty minutes to be exact.

Friday

3:00 p.m. I have experienced a lot of improvement in my relationship with my illness, so much so that I can now eat practically without fear. I can eat bread, pasta and foods that I used to feel very guilty about. That makes me quite happy, not so much for me as for my family. The poor are the ones who have suffered the most, they looked totally helpless.

5:45 p.m. I have come to feel very guilty. There were times when, even though I wanted to eat or was hungry, I convinced myself otherwise. My parents, my brothers, my grandmother suffered and… I continued. It was quite selfish behavior, but I couldn’t control it because if I tasted the food I knew I would feel even more guilty, and at the same time I ate less and less.

10:00 p.m. I love listening to podcasts. The other day I finished a really good one, ‘I’m a woman… I’m autistic’, from RNE. I also really like history and science. Maybe when I finish my degree I’ll study History or Philosophy.

Saturday

11:00 a.m. We usually make quite a few plans as a family. A few weeks ago my parents and brothers came to Madrid and we visited the Thyssen Museum. We also do cultural trips, routes through the mountains and nature. It is what we have done since we were little with our parents, they love that environment.

4:00 p.m. I am fascinated by animals, especially giraffes. At home we have a tortoise, although I am not very much in favor of taking the species out of their habitats, I like to see them in nature.