SPRING Forward: Balanced Eating, Exercise, and Body Image in Sport for Female Athletes

By: Kathryn Vidlock and Catherine Liggett and Andrew Dole

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Synopsis: Many female athletes struggle with body confidence and change their nutrition in unhealthy ways, only to the detriment of both their performance and their health. SPRING Forward: Balanced Eating, Exercise, and Body Image in Sport for Female Athletes provides performance nutrition and body image flexibility guidance for adolescent and adult female athletes. This book details the problems and the consequences, and provides extensive education on healthier, higher-quality performance. Nutritional details include specific nutritional needs for female athletes related to hormones and nutrition for peak performance, as well as fad diets. Body image education includes societal pressure, unrealistic ideals, handling mental aspects of body image, psychological obstacles, and dealing with more severe problems. Healthy performance is addressed along with sleep, camaraderie, and how to manage the ups and downs of being a female athlete. Several instructional manuals that can be easily used for teams at any level, from secondary school to elite athletes, are included in the book. Secondary school athletes who used the program showed significant improvement in body image flexibility and gave the program rave reviews, stating that not only were they stronger athletes, but their teams also felt the education was a bonding experience.