The Reality of Racing Weight

Aug 28

Kylee and Zoë wade into the murky waters of “racing weight” — a concept that’s haunted endurance athletes from the bathhouses of ancient Greece to today’s gels-and-gum-fueled pre-race rituals. From wrestlers sweating it out centuries ago to modern runners spitting into bottles to shave grams, the obsession with weight and performance has a long, bizarre history.

In this episode of Your Diet Sucks, we unpack where the idea of “racing weight” came from, the pseudoscience that props it up, and why lighter doesn’t always mean faster. Along the way, we explore how fixation on the scale can derail not just your performance, but your overall health.

Expect spicy history lessons (figs, bloodletting, and yes, Horny Goat Weed), alongside evidence-based insight into why chasing a number on the scale is more harmful than helpful. Spoiler alert: you are so much more than your power-to-weight ratio.

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.