Body Image Bullsh*t, Fitness Culture, and Athletes

Aug 28

What happens when the pressure to perform collides with the pressure to look a certain way? This week on Your Diet Sucks, Zoë and Kylee tackle body image in sports and fitness, breaking down the differences between body dysmorphia, body dissatisfaction, and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and why athletes are especially vulnerable.

From social media-fueled comparison traps (looking at you, Facetune) to toxic fitness culture and outdated coaching methods, we explore why so many athletes struggle with body image, and what actually helps.

We also take a deep dive into why traditional body positivity isn’t enough, and how frameworks like body neutrality, fat liberation, and radical body acceptance are shifting the conversation.

Spoiler: It’s not your body that’s broken: it’s the system.

Zoë Rom

Zoë Rom is a science and environmental journalist with bylines in The New York Times, Outside, and High Country News. She co-hosts Your Diet Sucks, an evidence-based nutrition and wellness podcast, with registered dietitian Kylee Van Horn, RDN, where they investigate how wellness culture distorts science and how athletes can do better. A Colorado-based ultrarunner, she finished second at the Leadville Trail 100 and top five at Run Rabbit Run 100. Her reporting and commentary focus on the intersection of sport, science, and the wellness industry's long history of selling women their own anxieties.