As competition season approaches, many parents are suddenly seeing more fear, anxiety, and mental blocks in the gym. What’s surprising is how often these struggles show up right as families start asking about fueling. This episode explores the connection between gymnast mental blocks and nutrition, and why emotional challenges often intensify when the body is under stress.

First, this is common. The pressure of upcoming meets can absolutely trigger mental blocks, and many gymnasts benefit from working with a licensed therapist or sport psychologist. Mental support matters.

But nutrition is often a missing piece. When a gymnast isn’t eating enough to support training, growth, and stress, the body shifts into survival mode. This activates the fight-or-flight response, making the brain more reactive and less flexible.

Underfueling often shows up as increased anxiety, panic before skills, emotional outbursts, or sudden fear that feels “out of nowhere.” When food restriction or disordered eating patterns are involved, nervous system stress increases even more, often intensifying mental blocks and emotional volatility.

When gymnasts are supported with consistent fueling, adequate electrolytes, balanced minerals, and stress-aware nutrition, improvements in mood, focus, sleep, and emotional regulation often follow.

Mental health in kids and teens isn’t just psychological. It’s also physiological. Minerals play a key role in nervous system regulation, stress response, and brain chemistry. Mental health symptoms are rarely caused by one deficiency. They’re usually the result of imbalance.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about:

• The connection between gymnast mental blocks and nutrition
• Underfueling and the fight-or-flight response
• The minerals that affect brain chemistry

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 22: Fueling the Gymnast to Beat Competition Nerves
• What foods should gymnasts eat on competition day?
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

If you’re listening to this episode, there’s a good chance you’ve been there... standing in a hotel room, a gym lobby, or in the car on competition morning while your gymnast says, “I’m not hungry,” or flat-out refuses to eat anything. And you’re left wondering, what do I do with this gymnast who refuses to eat before a competition?

Is this normal?
Am I overreacting?
And… is it actually safe for them to compete?

So today we’re going to talk through exactly what to do when your gymnast refuses to eat before a competition. Calmly, practically, and with safety in mind.

It's actually incredibly common in gymnastics. This happens at all levels, even with gymnasts who fuel well the rest of the time. Most of the time, this is driven by nerves; when the nervous system is in a heightened stress state, digestion slows and appetite drops. That is a normal physiological response. HOWEVER “I’m not hungry” does not mean “I don’t need fuel.

Gymnasts don’t need a full stomach to compete safely. But they do need available energy. Fuel supports focus, coordination, confidence, and injury prevention.

And if your gut tells you something isn’t right, listen to it.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about:

• Reasons why a gymnast refuses to eat before a competition
• What are the safety concerns around competing when not properly fueled
• Proactive strategies to help your gymnast

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 22: Fueling the Gymnast to Beat Competition Nerves
• What foods should gymnasts eat on competition day?
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

“My gymnast just wants to feel light when competing.”

If you’ve heard this phrase, or your gymnast has said it herself, this episode is for you.

When a gymnast says she wants to feel light when competing, she might THINK she's talking about a number on the scale. But she’s really trying to describe something deeper. She wants to move faster. She wants to feel powerful and explosive. She wants skills to feel effortless instead of heavy and stuck. She wants to look dynamic, confident, and sharp under pressure.

But here’s the problem.
Most gymnasts are chasing the feeling of being “light” in ways that actually make them feel slower, weaker, flatter, and more anxious when it matters most.

In today’s episode, we break down what it really takes to achieve a faster, more powerful and dynamic way of competing. And why so many gymnasts are unintentionally sabotaging that goal.

You’ll learn the three biggest mistakes gymnasts make when trying to feel light in the gym, and what actually matters from a physiological, nervous system, and fueling standpoint.

If your gymnast has been chasing that “light” feeling by eating less, skipping meals, or fearing fuel, this conversation will shift how you think about performance forever.

Because the gymnasts who look light aren’t empty.
They’re prepared.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about why Gymnasts Say They Want to Feel Light When Competing (And What Actually Works)

Links & Resources

• Episode 77: Gymnast Nervous Stomach and Competition Nutrition
• The Ultimate Guide to Gymnastics Competition Season Nutrition
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com