Be smaller. Be lighter. For our entire lives those messages have been drilled into us from every angle, including very often from those in our sports. We hear we need to be at “race weight.” We’re shown “idealized” images of what female athletes “should” look like. It’s all incredibly damaging, especially as we hit menopause and midlife and our bodies start to change. It’s also based on BS. Women with cellulite and extra body fat win races. Women who are well-fueled outperform those who are not. There is no one magic number on the scale or body fat percentage that makes us a success. All the destructive messages that make us hate our bodies feed the diet culture machine. This week we sat down with coach and sports dietitian Marni Sumbal to dismantle that machine and help us find body peace, so we don’t spend the next chapters of our lives in an endless war with ourselves. 

Marni Sumbal MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N is the owner of Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition, a coaching and nutrition company based in Greenville, South Carolina, which she runs with her husband and RETUL bike fit expert, Karel Sumbal. Marni is a 3x author, board certified sports dietitian and holds a master of science in exercise physiology. She is a 19x Ironman finisher, 2x XTRI finisher, and 6x Ironman World Championship finisher. You can learn more about her and her services at trimarnicoach.com. 

Resources:

Marni Sumbal’s latest book: Athlete to Triathlete: The Ultimate Triathlon Training Plan for Sprint and Olympic Races 

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