Finishing five Ironman triathlons has taught Michelle Ginsburg a thing or two about eating for performance. “(Before the first race) I had no background in knowing how to eat for long-distance training, so I’d bonk,” says Ginsburg, 35. But through trial and error, she honed her nutrition strategy, being careful not to skimp on the calories it takes to power through all-day training sessions.
“You can’t be afraid to eat—before, during and after,” Ginsburg says.
You may not need to load up like Ginsburg, but whether you’re training for a triathlon or a 5k, a good nutrition strategy can make all the difference in your performance and overall well-being. But, unfortunately, many women get hung up on their weight and the desire to “look good,” leaving them inadequately fueled and even endangering their health.
Running on Empty
A recent study commissioned by Dove reports that only thrity-eight percent of American women are satisfied with their body weight and shape. And athletes may be some of the most critical about their bodies.
“Women athletes under-eat all the time,” says Molly Kimball, R.D., a sports nutritionist with Ochner’s Elmwood Fitness Center, a multi-sport training facility in New Orleans. “In fact, it actually surprises me when I don’t see it. No matter what the sport, (under-eating) is always going to be detrimental to your body.”
When female athletes don’t take in enough to meet their energy and nutrient needs, more than performance suffers. Health professionals have long encouraged high school and college coaches to talk to their team members about the dangers of the female athlete triad—disordered eating (under-eating and unhealthy eating), amenorrhea (lack of menstrual periods) and osteoporosis (literally “porous bones”). The triad usually strikes girls and young women, but older athletes are not immune.
It works like this: Disordered eating keeps the body from getting adequate nutrition, and low calorie intake can lead to hormonal changes that cause amenorrhea. And amenorrhea lowers the levels of estrogen, a hormone responsible for bone development, increasing the likelihood of bone fractures and breaks. In its Handbook to the Athlete Triad, the National College Athletic Association discourages coaches from setting weight requirements or having female athletes weigh-in, stressing that they focus on overall health and good nutrition instead of weight as a means to improving performance.
