Body image at the elite level - Live Chat with Olympian Katie Zaferes

Mark your calendars for a live broadcast discussion with 2019 ITU series overall champion, Olympian triathlete Katie Zaferes. 

It's no secrete that many athletes struggle with body image. But what about elite and professional athletes....do they deal with the same issues? Are Olympians afraid of becoming too muscular? Do they feel pressure from coaches (and the media) to be lean on race day? Do they worry about weight?

Every athlete wants to perform at his/her best when it matters the most...on event day. But in certain sports, there is a lot of pressure to look a certain way - to reach a body type that's "ideal." Many athletes struggle with eating enough to support the energy demands of training and wanting to look a certain way. Alongside a misbelief that lower body weight (or body fat) improves performance, many athletes desire a change in body composition due to the display of their bodies in a tight or revealing uniform. When the pressure is so great to achieve a specific body composition, it's not uncommon for restrictive or extreme eating strategies to compromise health and fitness. 

Body image issues are nothing new in the world of aesthetic sports like running, triathlon, cycling and swimming. Often times, the look of the body that is healthy and well-fueled does not match the image of the body that you think you need for sport. 

The topics of body image, weight and body composition can be triggering for many athletes. Inundated with wrong messages from coaches and nutrition experts, along with high expectations and feeling a lot of pressure to perform, it's not uncommon for athletes to slip into disordered eating patterns. 

But this doesn't mean that every athlete feels dissatisfied with his/her body image. Body confidence is part of what helps athletes achieve athletic dreams. Therefore, I find it extremely important to educate athletes on fostering a better sense of self worth. 

With so much pressure to "lose" weight, we need to shift the conversation from loss to gain. 
Gaining power, endurance, resilience, strength....and most importantly, 

GAINING BODY CONFIDENCE.

An athlete is more than a body. 
The strengths gained from sport are more than just physical. 

I hope you can join me on Thursday evening at 6:30pm EST at Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition for an enlightening discussion on body image at the elite level with Olympian Katie Zaferes. 

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