Dealing with Off-Season as a Competitive Athlete

If you are a competitive athlete and have a history of major weight loss or disordered eating, going into the off-season can be challenging. It is important to recognize what you are struggling with and ways to change your thinking patterns.

I went into this off-season so ready. I was ready for a break. Ready to have more free time, ready to let my body just be without putting constant demands on it. It’s been one week… just one week without running, hard workouts, and strength training. I have gone on walks and done some short and easy cardio. 

I had plans to do some fun things like bouldering and the ninja gym during my off-season but some muscle strains that originated from a car accident a couple of months ago and then never got to heal because I was constantly demanding things of them have me more sidelined than I planned. I looked forward to doing some fun workouts at this time but I am taking it extra easy.

What I Didn’t Expect During Off-Season

I used to be fat. For a long time, I was fat. Other than the obvious of being overweight, I never felt that I had a problem with my eating behavior. I never felt like I ate more than anyone else or binge ate or anything like that, I honestly never really understood was always bigger than my brothers and friends growing up, and even in college, I felt I ate the same and did all the same things as everyone else. I provide this background information for a purpose. 

Last September I had my first off-season. My coach knew my history and had witnessed some of my disordered eating issues that summer when I switched from a Fitbit to a Garmin and was emotionally distressed over it because I was losing my calorie-tracking system. It took months, but I started to eat like an athlete, not someone trying to lose weight. So when the off-season rolled around she gave me VERY clear instructions.

“EAT! Keep eating. Don’t eat like shit only but don’t restrict yourself either. And NO counting calories. Not even in your head. If you gain a couple of pounds that is COMPLETELY normal and even desired. Your body will adapt to the workload, as will your appetite. Give it what it wants and needs.”

It was pretty hard at the time, but she knew I needed to hear it. I went into this 2021 off-season a bit nervous about weight gain but remembered all the things I have heard all the other wise people in the sport talk about as far as eating during the off-season and felt like I was really ready.

No big deal, I will eat. I might gain some pounds and that’s okay. I am one week in and I think I messed up. That quote from my coach I had not revisited until now and I realized I have not grown as much as I thought.

Off-Season After Weightloss

I have spent A LOT of time dieting. I did low-carb, low-calorie, paleo, clean, and even the cabbage soup diet. Something that happened during all of my diets was binge eating. I would feel so deprived that I would go on binges.

I would just eat everything all day until I felt sick and then I would sit on top of my pile of self-loathing and scold myself and make myself feel emotionally terrible for what I did. I did not do this often but it happened often enough that looking back now I realize it was indeed binge eating. 

I have not engaged in that type of behavior since early 2020. I eat a pretty balanced diet. I enjoy treats when I want them but I also make sure to provide my body with the healthy balance of foods that it needs to get done the things that I want it to. But today I realized that I may have started doing the binging thing during this off-season. 

I don’t really drink alcohol because I often am running the next day and I don’t want it to take away from my workout. Well, in this off-season I have decided that a drink or two in the evening was allowable since I never do it otherwise and I should take full advantage of it now. The same goes for my food choices.

A lot of the time I don’t eat a certain thing or a second helping of a thing because I know that I will be too full or my body might not react well and it could impact future workouts. I don’t ever feel like this is a restriction, I still have treats and delicious meals out sometimes, but I don’t overdo it because I know how it can impact my performance.

Well, currently I don’t need to perform so I realized that I am overindulging. Unconsciously telling myself to go for it because next week I need to perform.

My workouts keep me in check far more than I realized. I am conscious of not making poor food choices regularly because I know my performance will pay the price and that isn’t worth it to me. So, it turns out I have something new to work on. Treating my body nicely all the time, regardless of whether I am expecting it to perform or not.

It should always be treated nicely. Yes, I had all the Thanksgiving goodies and that was fine, but I also told myself it was okay to have more pie than most people might tell themselves is okay. I have had more alcohol than I ever do.

I am not “fixed” as far as struggles with eating behavior go. I thought this off-season would be easy because I understood that I needed to fuel and not fixate on calories, but it seems I took it to the other extreme.

How to Move Forward

I think it is important that I acknowledge that this was a struggle for me. I feel a bit ashamed that I still struggle with food things and sharing this is hard because I try to be an example to others when it comes to how to stay fit and healthy post weight loss. But it is important to be transparent. What I won’t do is start counting calories and restricting myself tomorrow because I feel like I overindulged last week.

What I will do is spend some time grocery shopping and preparing some healthy well-rounded meals that I won’t weigh or calculate calories for. I will make sure my body is getting everything that it does need and a bit less of what it doesn’t. I will probably still eat some ice cream and a Christmas cookie or two but I won’t eat goodies like they are going out of style.