For Anyone Who's Been Told They Need to Lose Weight for Performance - Read This

I spent seven of my eight years as a professional runner preoccupied with my weight. The only exception was my first year, at 17, when I signed with Nike and began my career. That season, I was completely focused on training, free from overthinking and overanalyzing every aspect of my routine. Ironically, it was also the year I ran my personal best in the 1500m.

This wasn’t a coincidence.

Athletes often face intense pressure—not just to perform in their sport but also to meet certain physical expectations. Whether it’s maintaining a specific weight, adhering to strict nutrition plans, or chasing perfection, these pressures can disrupt the essential connection between the body, mind, and food (also known as our relationship with food). Many athletes’ relationship with food becomes transactional, driven by numbers, rather than nourishing and empowering. For me, my relationship with food was often a battle, and I believed my body was working against me rather than working with me (not a great spot to be in as a professional athlete). The pressure to lose weight can be multifold – from coaches, support staff, and teammates, or internal, such as comparison, sports culture, or personal expectations to look a certain way.

I longed for the mindset and joy that came from listening to my body's hunger and fullness cues, as I did at 17, instead of being overly focused on my appearance, which led me into a cycle of losing weight and inevitably bingeing—whether at the end of the week or the end of the season. Even when I managed to lose the weight I gained during the off-season, I constantly worried about it, fearing any weight gain that could disrupt my focus, self-confidence, self-trust, and belief (once again, not an ideal place to be as a professional athlete preparing for competition!). Sure, you could argue that my struggles with weight arose from my body maturing as a woman or that my battles were entirely internal, stemming from a psychological issue I should have discussed with my sports psychologist. Maybe my challenges came from being ‘soft’ and that I simply needed to toughen up, be more disciplined, and eat less (it’s that simple, right?).  The truth is, many factors are often overlooked when we try to lose weight - from inflammation, hydration levels, body composition, and sodium levels.

I’d agree that there is a psychological component to one’s relationship with food because how we think about food has a rippling effect on how we carry ourselves, our daily choices, and our body image. It can be to the detriment of your self-confidence, letting your weight determine how confident, courageous, or brave you can be and how much of a risk you can take in practice or a race. It can be to the detriment of your focus and being present, with your mind consumed on what should or shouldn’t be eaten or taking a mental inventory of the foods eaten over the day. It can be to the detriment of your mood, feeling light and joyful on days the scale is down, but self-deprecating and hypercritical on the days the scale goes up, which carries over into training and recovery.

However, beyond psychology, there is also a physiological component to trying to lose weight in pursuit of performance:

• Restricting calories by 20% decreases lean muscle mass and reduces VO2 Max (an important metric of cardiorespiratory fitness for endurance athletes): in research published by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

• A study from Frontiers in Physiology discovered that short-term calorie restriction impairs muscle protein synthesis. This prevents the body from repairing and rebuilding muscle fibers after exercise stress, aka not optimizing fitness gains.

• Being stressed about losing weight will hinder any weight loss efforts: cortisol, our stress hormone, can significantly inhibit weight loss by increasing appetite, promoting fat storage, and potentially leading to muscle breakdown, especially when combined with overtraining and excessive stress outside of the physiological stress we put on our bodies.

• Amenorrhea (the loss of a female's menstrual period), a common side effect of underfueling, can increase recovery time, decrease optimal muscle mass for performance, and negatively affect neuromuscular performance (via reduced reaction times).

So not only is there a detrimental effect on our bodies when we try to lose weight, but how we talk and think about food has a massive impact on our self-confidence and esteem, and research has proven how we think about food to be more impactful than the food we eat. The negative impact of worry and stress over healthy eating has more of a detrimental effect on our health than the actual food consumed, and the effect of positive emotional experiences can have a greater impact on health than the foods people actually eat.  As I said, the number on the scale doesn’t consider hormonal fluctuations, hydration, body composition, or stress levels, which can all influence your weight (but we often don't consider that when we see the number on the scale go up).

There’s an athletic advantage in addressing and healing this foundational relationship:

• Self-Confidence and Self-Trust: Too often, athletes tie their worth and ability to a number on the scale. This approach erodes self-confidence and undermines self-trust, two qualities critical for athletic performance. Healing your relationship with food redirects your focus away from external measurements and toward intrinsic markers of resolve and strength. It’s about recognizing what your body is capable of rather than what it looks like.

• The Role of Self-Compassion in Athletic Success: Self-compassion isn’t just a feel-good idea—it’s a performance booster. Athletes are often their harshest critics, but research shows that self-compassion helps build resilience, recover from setbacks, and reduce burnout. Imagine how much better you’d perform if you stopped criticizing yourself for every mistake.  

• Deep-Rooted Self-Esteem and Body Image: Athletes face unique challenges regarding body image. Constant scrutiny—whether from coaches, teammates, or social media—can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with appearance. Healing one's relationship with food fosters a deeper, more stable sense of self-esteem that isn’t tied to external validation.

Having a healthy relationship with food isn’t just about better eating habits – it’s about transforming how you see yourself as an athlete and a person. When you shift your focus from external metrics to internal growth, you’re not only building a healthier connection with food but also cultivating the self-confidence, self-compassion, and self-esteem that underpins true athletic success.

If you believe you need to lose weight to be successful, you are limiting yourself—in your potential, your belief in yourself, and your abilities.

To start the shift in your mindset with food and weight, here are a few things you can do today:

• Stop using the scale: Stop letting a number dictate your mood, worth, or capabilities.

• Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full: Your body knows what it needs. Listen to it.

• Honor your cravings: Embrace the foods you love. This diminishes the chances of binge eating and the mental energy wasted on guilt or indecision.

• Avoid comparison: Recognize that comparing yourself to others doesn’t serve your growth or body image.

• Believe in your training! Don’t let your belief in your ability hinge on a number on the scale – you discredit all your hard work from an arbitrary value

• Don't let people's compliments get to your head, and don't let their criticism get to your heart: As well said by Lysa TerKeurst, the more we let other's opinions (good and bad) influence our self-esteem and self-confidence, the more power we give to the hands of others. Like believing in your training, focus on your internal qualities that provide you with strength instead of handing that role to others!

We can't change how we think or act until we intentionally try to do so. For athletes struggling with food and weight in pursuit of athletic performance, there are other ways to succeed that don't solely rely on the scale.