236: Athlete Mental Performance with Hannah Silva Breen

This episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition Podcast features Lindsey Elizabeth Cortez, a sports dietician, and Hannah Silva Breen, a PhD student in sport, exercise, and performance psychology. They discuss the mental health and body image issues that female athletes face. Hannah shares her journey from being an athlete to focusing on mental health and body image research. The episode delves into practical strategies to improve body image, the impact of social media, and the importance of body functionality. They also discuss systemic changes needed in sports culture to support female athletes better. In this episode, Hannah shared Body Confident Sport, a free online tool researched and co-developed by Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and the Centre for Appearance Research, with support from Dove and Nike. This tool is globally informed and tested, and works! There are brief education modules for coaches of girls, and resources for coaches to share directly with their athletes. Episode Highlights: 01:27 Meet Our Guest: Hannah Silva Breen 03:32 Understanding Mental Performance vs. Mental Health Counseling 09:49 Stigmas in Sports and Mental Health 14:19 Hannah's Journey: From Athlete to Mental Health Advocate 23:52 Addressing RED-S and Nutrition for Female Athletes 26:27 Body Image and Weight Bias in Different Sports 27:29 Exploring Body Image Issues in Team Sports 29:39 Impact of Social Media on Athletes' Body Image 32:10 Fitness Influencers vs. Athletes: A Comparison 35:40 The Misconception of Body Image and Performance 40:07 Strategies to Improve Body Image in Female Athletes 45:55 Creating a Supportive Environment for Athletes 50:35 Conclusion and Resources for Female Athletes For more information about the show, head to work with Lindsey on improving your nutrition, head to: http://www.lindseycortes.com/ Join REDS Recovery Membership: http://www.lindseycortes.com/reds Check out WaveBye: DISCOUNT CODE for 15% off: LINDSEYCORTES Direct referral link for discount: https://www.wavebye.co/?ref=LINDSEYCORTES Visit WaveBye's Website: http://wavebye.co Follow WaveBye: @‌wavebyeinc on Instagram @‌wavebyeinc on TikTok @‌WaveByeInc on YouTube