At Trimarni, we believe in setting a good example for our athletes by encouraging a healthy relationship with food and the body. Karel and I do not follow any extreme styles of eating and we don't strategically change the way we eat or train in order to change the way that we look. We don't weigh ourselves and we don't measure our food (or count calories). We see food as our fuel and as our nourishment and we firmly believe that when the body is well fueled and well nourished, it's healthy. And when the body is healthy, it can function well in sport.
Sadly, we live in a society that focuses on competitive leanness. Many athletes are under the mindset that the leaner or more defined you are, the better you will perform in sport. Some athletes even care less about performance and more about achieving the "look" of an athlete. Rather than seeing the body as the vehicle that allows you to do the incredible in sport, many attempt to achieve a "race weight" through strict eating, fueling and dieting only to become injured, burnout or sick.
When you have an "I feel fat" moment or feel the need to change the way that you look, first get to the root of this misinterpreted feeling. Who or what is making you feel unhappy about your body? Where did you learn that you need to lose weight in order to be successful as an athlete?
As an athlete, you have a very close relationship with your body. If you have a disordered relationship with food or unhappy thoughts/feelings about your body, you may not be aware of (or care about) the long-term damage that can occur by manipulating your eating and training in order to weigh less or change the way that you look. You may also be unaware of how the comments by a coach or advice from a forum/podcast/training partner may affect your mental health.
To think that you (or your coach) can equate leanness with speed and thus an increase in performance will occur when you are lighter is rather foolish if you ask me. So you are telling me that if you go to the doctor and he/she sucks 10 lbs of fat from your body, you'll suddenly become a more mentally tough, resilient, strong, nutritionally prepared and physically fit athlete?
Successful athletes come in all shapes and sizes. To be successful, you need to be healthy and strong. You need to be consistent with training and you need to take care of your mental health, just as much as your physical health. Restricting food, eliminating food groups or overexercising does not make you a better athlete. It makes you weaker and more fragile.
Food is one of the easiest and most common ways for people to gain a feeling of control. Using food for a sense of control is a common strategy to deal with stress, anxiety, low self-esteem or poor self-confidence. As an example, if you feel stressed because you can't stay consistent with your training or you feel upset that you had a bad workout or race, you may turn to your diet to make you feel better. Turning to food (ex. restriction) to gain control over your body may seem like the only logical solution to remove these uncomfortable emotions but it doesn't have to be this way.
Your body is amazing. Health (mental and physical) should always be a priority when it comes to eating, fueling and training. For many athletes, this idea of "race weight" is not actually about a weight but why you feel the way that you do about your body.
As an athlete, it's important to direct your energy to more productive things in life besides the way that you look and the way you think you should look. Who or what is making you feel unhappy about your body image?
Recognizing that there is no perfect body image (or level of body fatness) that is required for athletic success or optimal health, the way your body looks to perform or function at its best may not match up to the way you think you are supposed to look and this is ok.
As a human being, your closest and longest relationship in life will be to your body. Take care of your body and your body will take care of you.