In 2013, shortly after his victory at Wimbledon, Marion Bartolithen ranked in the Top 10 in the world, ended her career, to everyone's surprise. THE injuries and attacks from all sides (the press has not always been kind to the one who has been attending classes since the age of 17) may have hastened its release.
Marion needs to find herself, to recharge her batteries, but everything is not going to go as planned.
“After my career, I unfortunately met a narcissistic pervert and this relationship plunged me into anorexia, I wanted to lose weight at all costs.”
In a biographical book* published in 2019, Marion will recount her ordeal and the incessant hurtful remarks about her physique as “You’re fat, you have fat on your stomach.”
The former player who nevertheless led her career far from the dictates of the image while always assuming her weight, is gripped by illness : she will only weigh 41 kilos, have to be hospitalizedno longer able to get up.
A basic metabolism disrupted by calorie restriction
Marion owes her rebirth to a marathon which put her back into the race when she was just emerging from anorexia. At the dawn of her thirties, the young woman draws her strength, like many athletes, from her mind.
A rebirth, however, which retains the stigma of the disease: “Anorexia completely changed my metabolism, I gained 40 kilos in 9 months, by paying attention to my diet”.
Incomprehensible. “Like all athletes, I have some knowledge of diet and I have always been used to paying attention to what I eat. I never would have imagined gaining weight like this with a seemingly healthy diet..”
Fresh fruit, muesli, pressed juices, sushi…. no fast food, no ultra-processed foods, no excess, no fats…. On paper, Marion's menus look like everything you need to do when you want to lose weight, or at least keep it off. And yet.
Weight gain and fatigue: Marion's daily life
It's this new fight with his weighther body and her health which she recounts today in her new book “Keto Queen” with the evocative subtitle “Regained health, my greatest victory outside of class” published last month by Thierry Souccar.
Because weight gain is compounded by enormous fatigue and low morale: “Being constantly flat was a major handicap in my activities as a sports commentator and I had to struggle to try to get on air. And then, I had a lot of trouble accepting myself and I couldn't find any solution. All the dietitians I saw talked to me about calorie restriction… even though I was constantly hungry, and all I could think about was eating. As for the fatigue, it was so intense that I went to bed as soon as I had eaten my meal. !”
Two years of wandering before flushing out the culprit: sugar
It was in 2019, after years without a solution, that Marion discovered the ketogenic diet (or keto, which we mentioned here), which is still little talked about in France. This is the revelation, she understands that her diet contains too much sugar – many of which are hidden – sugars that it neither digests nor metabolizes well.
“All people like me who are gaining weight while paying attention to what they eat should explore this avenue! After a month, I felt a huge difference: I found – finally – energy, I was no longer bloated after each meal, I felt efficient again, in full possession of my physical and intellectual capacity… and obviously, I started to lose weight.”
Today, Marion has regained a healthy weight and above all a better shape and a better health.
The keto diet adopted by Marion Bartoli
The principle of the ketogenic diet is to drastically reduce sugars (and starches), in other words sweet products of course but also starchy foods, legumes, ultra-processed products using good fats (avocado, nuts, seeds, fatty fish, etc.). ).
“My meals revolve around a source of protein, green vegetables and healthy fats. I no longer eat fast sugar, and the only fruits I eat are berries and lemon. This diet has changed my daily life, and frankly it's so easy to adopt, you can eat whatever you want, it's not monotonous, there are lots of recipes, including in my book!”
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