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

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.

Kathryn Vidlock M.D. is an Associate Professor at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is fellowship trained in primary care sports medicine. She has been the team physician for the University of Iowa, local teams, and the physician for athletes from the recreational level to Olympic qualifiers. She was an All- American Collegiate swimmer and understands the mindset of athletic performance. She has worked with athletes and fueling for performance for over 20 years. She and Catherine Liggett are the co-founders of the SPRING Forward research project.

Catherine Liggett is a medical student at the University of Colorado. She was an Academic All-Big 12 first-team athlete with numerous outstanding performances at Big 12 championships. She is compassionate about mental health and fueling for female athletes. She helped create the research project behind the principles of SPRING Forward.

Andrew Dole is a registered dietitian currently working with the New Zealand Olympic rugby teams as well as numerous elite endurance on an individual level. As a certified executive chef, sports dietician, and sports scientist, he combines his skills into performance-driven plans for athletes. He is working on his Ph.D. studying nutrition with female ultra-endurance runners at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.