Aspire guide
Team Resources
Team Resources manual
How to Talk About Weight Without Causing Harm
Coach-facing scripts and guardrails to address fueling and performance without harmful weight talk or body-focused messaging.
Why this matters
Coach-facing scripts and guardrails to address fueling and performance without harmful weight talk or body-focused messaging.
Read time
3 min
Audience
Coach + Parent
Use it for
Team Resources
Start here
The safest weight conversation is usually a fueling and health conversation instead.
Coach prompt
Rewrite one risky phrase your staff uses into a performance-based version this week.
Print & share
Printable handout preview
One-page sheet
How to Talk About Weight Without Causing Harm
Read time
3 min
Audience
Coach + Parent
Start with the printable
The safest weight conversation is usually a fueling and health conversation instead.
Best next move
Use it this week
Rewrite one risky phrase your staff uses into a performance-based version this week.
Quick reference map
Use the guide like a structured handout
Protocol
Start here
Jump to this section and use it like a coaching quick reference.
Overview
TL;DR Card
Jump to this section and use it like a coaching quick reference.
Timeline
What Coaches Can Say
Jump to this section and use it like a coaching quick reference.
Comparison
What Coaches Should Never Say
Jump to this section and use it like a coaching quick reference.
In the library
Format
Read the full ebook here, then jump to the one-page handout when you need the shareable version.
Best use
Open the sections you need, print the handout, then send both to coaches, parents, or athletes.
Quick start
Start here
Coach-facing scripts and guardrails to address fueling and performance without harmful weight talk or body-focused messaging.
Better script
Comment on what the athlete can do, not how they look
- Use language like low energy, poor recovery, missed meals, or repeated flat sessions.
- That keeps the focus on performance and health instead of body surveillance.
What to avoid
Never turn body size into team currency
- Avoid public comments, comparisons, weigh-ins, or praise for visible shrinking.
- Even casual jokes can shift the whole team toward harmful interpretation.
When you need to talk
Use private, direct, low-drama check-ins
- Ask about breakfast, lunch, pre-practice fuel, recovery, sleep, and stress first.
- Stay curious and concrete instead of leading with assumptions.
TL;DR Card
- Never coach body size. Coach behaviors.
- Replace weight talk with fueling, recovery, and training consistency.
- Public weigh-ins and body comments create risk and liability.
What Coaches Can Say
Your energy looks low late in workouts. Let's fix pre-practice and recovery fuel.
I want your fuel and recovery to match your training load.
We do not talk about body size in this program.
Let's bring in a sports dietitian and keep this focused on performance.
Comparison
What Coaches Should Never Say
Harmful phrase
- You'd be faster at a lower weight.
- You look leaner. Nice.
- Cut carbs this week.
- We need weekly weigh-ins.
Better focus
- Fueling, recovery, and consistency
- Effort, health, and performance
- Training quality and recovery
- Private clinical support if needed
Team Practices That Prevent Problems
- No weigh-ins in the team setting.
- No body-fat competitions.
- No body comparison talk.
This Week
Announce a no body-comment, no public weigh-in standard to staff.
Build a referral list for sports RD, sports medicine, and mental health support.
Use one private check-in to ask about breakfast, recovery, and energy.
Watch for
Red Flags
Meals skipped often.
- Meals skipped often.
- Fast weight change.
- Fear of foods.
Quick reference
Key targets to keep in view
Use these as planning anchors when you turn the manual into weekly actions.
Talk about
performance and behavior
Treat this as a decision anchor, not a trivia stat.
Do not talk about
appearance and comparison
Treat this as a decision anchor, not a trivia stat.
Escalate
clinical concerns early
Treat this as a decision anchor, not a trivia stat.
Coach takeaways
What to say
These are the cues worth repeating before the week gets busy.
Use this language
Fuel, readiness, recovery, health.
Meals missed, energy low, patterns observed.
Avoid this language
Lean, skinny, race weight, body comparison.
Public body commentary of any kind.
Escalate when
Weight changes fast.
Injury, dizziness, restriction, or fear around food show up.
What to do next
Use it this week
Rewrite one risky phrase your staff uses into a performance-based version this week.
Source topics
Mountjoy M, Sundgot-Borgen JK, Burke LM, et al. (2023) IOC 2023 consensus statement on REDs. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57:1073-1098. • De Souza MJ, Nattiv A, Joy E, et al. (2014) 2014 Female Athlete Triad Coalition consensus statement. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48(4):289.