Melina Costanza is a competition powerhouse and the 2021 US Boulder National Champion. She opened up recently about her struggles with an eating disorder and decided to step away from competitions. We talked about her foot injury and surgery, why patent law is similar to climbing, how sports glamorize suffering, getting stronger during recovery, how gratitude can impact your training, and fun facts about Melina from ketchup to baby teeth necklaces.

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/melina-costanza

Nuggets:

0:06:25 – Update on Melina’s foot surgery and recovery

0:10:27 – The patent bar exam, and similarities between patent law and climbing

0:15:15 – Legos, and being a nerd growing up

0:16:45 – How taking her first physics class improved her climbing

0:19:30 – Modern volume climbing

0:24:06 – How Melina is thinking about her climbing moving forward, and training for upcoming competitions

0:26:20 – Plans to get back into sport climbing, and Melina’s Tumbler account

0:28:31 – Why Melina decided to quit climbing in college

0:33:36 – Fun in competitions, and only doing competitions that she wants to be at

0:36:48 – Expectations and pressure, and competing to win vs. competing to not lose

0:42:25 – Competitions as data, and “shoulding”

0:45:21 – Melina’s Instagram post about her eating disorder, and the story of breaking her foot

0:50:40 – The distortion your mind experiences with an eating disorder, and how sports glamorize suffering

0:57:42 – How your identity becomes entangled in an eating disorder, and rewriting the stories you tell yourself

1:01:53 – The importance of including fat and carbs in your diet, and getting stronger quickly once she started fueling properly

1:09:54 – Taking a leap of faith, and being vulnerable publically to help others

1:15:40 – A comment from Nicole

1:16:23 – Patron question from Katja: What inspired her to go public with her story?

1:19:13 – Not letting her eating disorder define her

1:20:09 – Did talking about it publically help?

1:22:53 – Patron question from Ana: Did anyone bring up Melina’s weight as a concern?

1:24:50 – Patron question from Eric: How would someone bring up concerns about an eating disorder in a tactful way?

1:27:10 – Patron question from Zachary: How does Melina deal with intrusive thoughts around weight? How does she balance performance with recovery?

1:30:52 – Disconnecting morality from food, and sweets

1:34:31 – How not eating enough disrupts sleep

1:37:30 – Fun facts with Melina Costanza!

1:37:37 – Tattooing people in high school

1:39:02 – Ketchup

1:40:44 – Container store

1:42:05 – Whiteboards and houseplants

1:43:54 – Taylor Swift

1:47:41 – Doja Cat

1:49:46 – Sharks

1:50:18 – The meat packing industry in the early 1900s

1:51:59 – Parents and academics

1:54:17 – Training at home during covid with her brother, and the role of gratitude in training

1:59:07 – Current training, and getting strong

2:04:29 – Training her fingers for the first time, and using the Tindeq (use code NUGGET for $10 off!)

2:07:47 – How hard can Melina climb with one foot?

2:09:18 – More fun facts with Melina!

2:09:50 – Frozen peas

2:10:46 – Baby teeth necklace

2:11:50 – Forensic pathology DVDs

2:15:02 – Raw octopus

2:15:49 – Medival torture museum, and developing confidence

2:19:15 – Fencing

2:20:20 – Olympic aspirations

2:21:23 – A couple of questions from Tyson Schoene

2:26:19 – Wrap up