As climbing revolves in many ways around our strength to weight ratio, it is pretty much impossible to avoid the topic of weight loss when discussing climbing performance and training.  While loosing weight to maximize climbing performance is certainly not the only or best way to improve your climbing level, it can be done in a safe and healthy way which can produce some serious gains on the rock.  However, it can also be a slippery slope that can not only lead to sabotaged performance but also unhealthy eating habits and life choices.

To shed some light on this topic and hopefully guide you towards a generally healthy lifestyle, here’s an article by climber Teal Dreher in which she candidly describes her own relationship with eating and climbing and shares some of the insights she’s learned through experimenting with and reflecting on her diet.

“I struggle with food, not in a way that is outwardly apparent, but I often find myself eating past the point of feeling full, which is not a healthy activity physically or mentally. After some self-reflection, I have found that this happens most when I am trying to be the most mindful of what I eat, which can be super frustrating!” – Teal Dreher

While Teal is careful to point out that she is not a nutritionist, she has experimented with diet quite a bit and seems to have found what works well for her.  She then goes on to share some of the lessons she has learned along the way.  They include:

• Make sure you eat enough food while you are climbing/training!
• Having something for recovery just after a workout can do wonders for your body!
• Try and be more mindful on rest days.
• Don’t beat yourself up if you overindulged or had a bad eating day

While these tips may not revolutionize your diet or have you quickly shedding weight, they are a good starting point for developing a healthy diet to fuel your climbing and maintaining a healthy relationship with food in the process.  Click through below to give Teal’s full article a read.

Additionally, if you are interested in learning more about nutrition check out our Nutrition Guide by Aicacia Young and Neely’s Paleo Cookbook for some more ideas about how you can tweak your diet to better fuel your climbing and training.

Click Here: Teal Dreher – Climbing & Eating 

(photo courtesy of tealasaurus.wordpress.com)

Other Articles You Might Like:

• Introduction to Losing Weight for Climbing
• Nutrition Tip for Breaking Plateaus: Eat More!
• 5 Tips to Lose Weight for Climbing
• Weight Management for Climbers