"athletes don't get the same grace a lot of other people get for their bodies to be changing"
Q & A with Katie Spada, a registered dietician who works with former athletes
hi, i’m back!
This break from the newsletter was longer than I initially intended, but July was a month full of life changes, big decisions, and quality time with friends and family. These past few weeks have also been really challenging for me in eating disorder recovery (more on that next week).
I felt so ashamed for taking a month-long break from something I care about, but if Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics has taught us anything, it’s that we are allowed to take a step back/tap out/take a break when our mental health is suffering — especially when our mental health is putting our physical health in jeopardy.
Speaking of the Olympics, I’m so excited for you to read this Q & A with Katie Spada, a registered dietician who works with former athletes. We talked about why former athletes struggle with body image, food and exercise. Katie also gives advice on how we can all be a little kinder to ourselves and our bodies as we watch the world’s best athletes compete on TV.
Q&A with Katie Spada
(Note: this interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity)
Julie Gallagher: Hi Katie! To start, can you tell me a little bit about who you are, what you do and why you decided to work in this field?
Katie Spada: Hi! I am now a registered dietitian, but before I became a registered dietician I was a competitive synchronized swimmer (which is now called artistic swimming for anyone who is trying to search it in the Olympics). And being an artistic swimmer, I battled with my body and food for a very long time, trying to maintain this aesthetic that was seen as being better than other body types. And so I decided to become a dietitian, truthfully, because I was like 1) there has to be a better way and 2) I thought, ‘Oh, well, if I become a dietitian, then I'll always be skinny.’ That's literally what I used to think. And then I became a dietician and realized becoming a dietitian does not always solve all of the nutrition problems that you have.
So when I retired [from swimming], my battles with food and body image and counting and tracking and obsessively working out, they actually got worse. And so I stumbled upon intuitive eating and started to implement that into my own life. And once I felt really confident as an intuitive eater, I thought other former athletes really deserve to have this same framework available to them in their life because the transition out of sport is so challenging. Your body changes, your structure changes, your identity changes. And it's kind of like, ‘what do I do?’ And often times, they turn to food as a way to control some aspect of their life and it can turn into full-blown eating disorders, it can be borderline disordered eating or orthorexia. And coming out of that structure, they deserve to have more freedom. So I help former athletes overcome their food and body battles in retirement, so that way they can live as intuitive eaters and have more body confidence once they're out of sport.
JG: Why do former athletes have such a hard time coming out of sport? Why is it common for them to fall into these behaviors, or have this lack of confidence, or develop an eating disorder? Why does that happen?
KS: So in the athlete community in general, and to become an elite athlete, you have to have certain personality traits like perfectionism, striving, Type A, etc. that predispose you to eating disorder behaviors. And in the sports world, we really praise these behaviors as a positive thing: working out often, only eating “clean,” avoiding sugar, those sorts of things. They're praised in that world. And so when athletes leave the world of sports, and they leave that structure, it's very common for them to default back to the things that they were praised for. And if their body changes, they struggle with that identity even more so. It makes sense that they start to try and control their food or exercise more, because they're grasping for something that feels familiar. We also don't really prepare our athletes to leave sport very well. A lot of people talk about it in like the superficial way like, ‘oh, you're going to miss your sport, enjoy it while it lasts.’ No one talks about the fact that now your hunger-fullness cues are all over the place because you're not working out or eating the same. Your sleep pattern is completely off. You don't have thirst cues like you used to because you're not sweating all the time, and so maybe you forget to drink water. And it's all these other things that no one prepares you for, and athletes feel like [they’re] the only one and they suffer in silence.
JG: Yeah, I definitely felt that after high school as a competitive cheerleader. I focused so much on what my body was like then and really struggled my first year of college when I didn’t move like that anymore. I wonder if you could touch on this, as a swimmer, what is the impact of bodies becoming a focal point of the sport? I'm seeing it now a lot with the Olympics - people constantly talk about the shapes and sizes of athletes' bodies, their uniforms, their physiques. How does that impact athlete's relationships with their bodies?
KS: In an aesthetic sport, like cheerleading, for example, your body is directly tied to your worth. So you have to look a certain way in order to be worthy enough to compete or in order to earn a spot. And now your worth is directly tied to the way your body looks. And when you retire, you step away from that. If your body starts to change from what was deemed acceptable or secured your worth in sport, it feels like you no longer have worth. That's one of the reasons why I see so many former athletes go to extreme behaviors. I mean, as athletes, we are okay with doing the extremes. That is what we do. Whether it’s high school, college, a national team, or professional, you have to choose to do some sort of extreme in order to become successful. And so we're okay with doing extremes. My athletes are like, ‘well, now my body's changing. I'm feeling frustrated, because I'm feeling unworthy.’ People see and remember athletes for when they were at their top competition. And athletes don't get the same grace a lot of other people get for their bodies to be changing.
JG: Yeah. Wow. You're so right. And to have that athletic body from a young age and often be seen as in your “prime” during your teenage or young adulthood years, and then to not have the grace from society to grow into an adult body after sport must be so hard.
KS: Yeah, exactly. I sometimes say athletes go through two puberties because their first one is kind of stunted. Because they're working out so intensely, maybe they're not eating enough, or, you know, whatever it is. And then when they retire, their body changes all over again and the hormones re-regulate. And they don't know how to handle it, because for whatever reason, the body you have at 18 or 19 is apparently the body you're supposed to have for the rest of your life. But that's just not how that works.
JG: From the front end, how do you think coaches, and athletes’ family members and friends can be better about helping the athletes in their lives, so that when retirement does come, it's not a shell shock? So that, like you said, it's not so devastating when their body does change?
KS: I think the first thing that needs to happen is we need to stop commenting on people's bodies.
JG: Hell yes.
KS: Like, first and foremost, let's stop doing that. I would love to see a world where that completely goes away. But alas, we still live here. So within your family or within your team dynamic, don’t make such a huge deal about people's bodies — comment on their performance instead. So that way, when they retire and their body does change, it's not directly tied to their worth, because they'll take that into adulthood and the workforce. Instead of thinking things like ‘Can I perform in the job? Am I a good fit with this company?’ they'll start to place more emphasis on their appearance and that facilitates the spiral around food and body issues.
I also really just want coaches and others to open up a conversation about it. Talk to your athletes about the fact that they might not have a six pack for the rest of their lives, and that's actually okay. We've never really talked about this; it's always just been hush hush, or people talking behind an athlete’s back like, ‘oh, did you see how much weight they gained?’ Just normalize the fact that their bodies might change. Shawn Johnson did a YouTube video on this, and she talked about how hard it was to watch her body change and know people were talking about it, and that made her struggle even more.
Q: In your work, what is your approach when you get a client who is a former athlete, and they are struggling with their body image, disordered behaviors around food and fitness, etc.?
KS: So it is obviously a personalized approach with every client. But I have kind of five pillars that guide all of my coaching, whether it's one-on-one or in my group program. My program is called POWER, and it stands for the pillars:
Personalized approach
Optimize
Work On
Evaluate
Rediscover
(Note: You can learn more about Katie’s program and methods in her e-books, which you can buy online)
Q: What are your thoughts on how social media impacts athletes and former athletes?
KS: I think is overall in general it has impacted them negatively. And I hear this a lot because I work with current athletes as well. They’ll say things like, ‘I want to be like so and so who looks like X, Y and Z. And so I need to be X, Y, and Z in order to be good.’ And so they're just seeing this famous runner or this elite gymnast eat this, this and this. And so I should eat that as well. And it just kind of takes away the athlete’s ability to decide what feels best for them. Because now they're looking at social media, and they're comparing themselves.
Q: And with the Olympics, a time when there's so much talk about sport and fitness, do you think that heightens these feelings and pressures for athletes of all levels?
KS: Absolutely, I think that the Olympics makes it so much worse. Because it's talking about the bodies of athletes who are successful. I even just heard while watching a swimming race last night a commentator say, ‘Oh, my gosh, well, he is just so skinny. Like, as soon as he does X, Y, and Z, then he'll be like, a lot better.’ And he was a fantastic swimmer already. And I think it actually impacts the general public, too. It makes people feel body envy. They see Olympic athletes and want their bodies to look like that. And it probably triggers a lot of people.
JG: Everything that you just said is like exactly what I'm experiencing. I find myself constantly not even focusing on the sport, just being so envious of their bodies. And I have no idea what goes into or what's going through their minds about their own bodies. So I'm glad to know that I'm not alone.
KS: No, definitely not. And again, I think this is just something we don't talk about, where we keep these thoughts to ourselves. And people are maybe sometimes hesitant to share because they're feel like the only one, but chances are you are not the only one. But the other thing is, like you mentioned, we have no idea what these athletes are experiencing. Like I know for a fact that a lot of Olympic athletes are struggling with eating disorders, disordered eating and body dysmorphia. And we don't see that. And so then we're emulating something that's actually really unhealthy.
JG: What are some ways people can show themselves and their bodies compassion as the Olympics are going on?
KS: The first thing is to remember that we don't know what's happening in [the Olympians’] lives, because I think we can quickly jump to like ‘Oh, that was such a great lift, their bodies are so great.’ But we don't know what's happening.
The other thing is, and I see this pretty often, is people try and like do things to make themselves uncomfortable for certain results. And what I mean by that is they'll start to wear smaller clothes in order to punish themselves or try and squeeze back into something. And that would be the last thing I would recommend. Continue to wear clothes that fit your current body. That way you're not being reminded about wanting to change it. Then the other thing would be to continue to eat foods that make your body feel good. And stay hydrated. And then when it comes to working out, at least for me, as a former athlete, I think something that happens to me when I'm watching the Olympics is I'm like, ‘Oh, man, I used to be able to do X, Y and Z.’ And so coming from this place of compassion and gratefulness, like, ‘I'm grateful that I used to be able to do that. And I'm grateful for what I can do now.’ Gratitude goes a really long way when it comes to body image. And I think that's a big piece that people miss, because it feels a little bit silly. But just having gratitude for what your body can do right now, can really change the trajectory of your entire day from a bad body image day. Even if it's writing three things down. It could be very simple: I'm grateful that I have legs that walk, I'm grateful for my stomach that digests food, I'm thankful for my arms that allow me to hug. Whatever it may be, express gratitude in three ways to yourself. We can start to get a little sad when we don't feel like our body is doing awesome things. But it is.
JG: If somebody wants to connect with you or work with you, how can they do that?
KS: The best way to get in touch with me is through Instagram (@fueling.former.athletes). People can also email me at spada.strong.nutrition@gmail.com or visit my website.
JG: And then my last question for you is my new favorite question to ask people and I want to make it a thing in my newsletter: What is your current favorite snack? Because let's normalize snacking a little bit.
KS: Oh my gosh, yes. Normalize snacking. Ooh, my current favorite snack. To be honest, I've been really loving a blackberry, dark chocolate chip smoothie. I’ve been obsessed with it. So delicious. Really, fruit and chocolate…I'm good. Strawberries and dark chocolate. Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and chocolate chips. I've been adding chocolate to everything.
what nourished me this past month
what nourished my mind: How Toxic Diet Culture Is Passed from Moms to Daughters by Deanna Schwartz for Teen Vogue.
what nourished my mind (pt. 2): Why So Many Millennials Are Obsessed With Dogs by Amanda Mull for The Atlantic.
what nourished my mind (pt. 3): Influencers Say Many ‘Body-Positive’ Posts Have a Serious Problem by Kelsey Weekman for In The Know.
what nourished my mind (pt. 4): Sad girl summer: “Wait, wasn’t this meant to be ‘hot girl summer’?” by Hollie Richardson for Stylist.
what nourished my mind (pt. 5): How to support a friend dealing with infertility, from women who have been there by me (!!!) for The Lily. Thank you to all of the women who spoke with me about their experiences. I learned so much and am so proud to have shared their stories.
what nourished my soul: SO many things in July: going to the beach with my college friends for a weekend, relaxing in Shenandoah and drinking wine with my best friend, sitting with my mom on her front patio as the sun sets, celebrating my birthday, going out to dinner with my high school besties and their boyfriends, binge-watching Outer Banks.
what nourished my body: Honestly, giving myself permission to cry. I cried tears of joy, frustration, sadness, heartbreak and excitement throughout this past month. It all helped me feel better.
what nourished my belly: These waffles:
