Binge Eating Is Normalized in Powerlifting… But Should It Be? (with Malisa Nguyen, RD, LD

Binge eating isn’t just something that happens when you’re stressed out with a pint of ice cream; it’s often built into the culture of certain sports.

I'm sitting down with fellow dietitian and strength coach Malisa Nguyen, RD (founder of Strength and Intent) to pull back the curtain on how binge eating and disordered eating are normalized in the world of powerlifting — and what athletes and coaches can do differently.

TOPICS COVERED:

• 🏋️‍♀️ The hidden side of powerlifting nutrition — why “making weight” often comes at the expense of health
• 🍔 Binge eating after weigh-ins — how it’s normalized, glamorized, and why it can be harmful long-term
• 🧠 Recovery & physique goals — can you pursue fat loss or body composition changes after disordered eating without relapsing?
• 💬 The power of intention — why your why matters more than the macros
• 👭 Support systems — how coaches, dietitians, and community can make or break an athlete’s relationship with food

Whether you’re an athlete, coach, or just someone who wants to know if you can pursue fitness goals without sliding back into old food struggles — this conversation is a game-changer.

JUMP TO:

01:08 – How Malisa went from business major → dietitian

05:47 – Growing up with mixed food/body messages (clean your plate… but don’t get fat 🙃)

10:22 – Can you actually chase fitness goals without wrecking your head?

15:03 – The messy middle of recovery + learning to eat without tracking every bite

21:32 – Realizing “oh wait, I get to decide what’s best for me”

23:06 – Why you still need people in your corner (even if you’re a pro)

27:57 – Powerlifting has a binge eating problem… let’s talk about it

35:13 – How to fuel smart for performance instead of last-minute crash diets

37:21 – Building a community that doesn’t glamorize disordered eating

📲 CONNECT WITH MALISA:

• Instagram: Malisa Nguyen
• Instagram: Strength & Intent
• Website: Strength and Intent
• Nutrition for Powerlifters Course
  
  

💡 Ready to quiet the food noise, stop binge eating, and build a healthy relationship with food? Grab my free mini-course: The Binge Free Blueprint

Transcript

Michelle Yates (00:00)
Hello and welcome back to Nourished and Free, the podcast where we like to talk about how to a healthy relationship with food, fitness and your body. And today's guest is a perfect one for talking about how to do all of those things, especially when it comes to being on a fitness journey and trying to navigate having a healthy relationship with food in the midst of body composition goals or wanting to have performance goals that you're pursuing.

So today's guest is Malisa Nguyen, registered dietitian and owner, I believe, of Strength and Intent. Yes, I'm so excited to have you here. We're like little social media buddies, but I've never actually gotten to sit down with you.

Malisa Nguyen (00:29)
Yes.

I know.

I'm like so excited because like I saw when I saw that you followed me like a while back I was like shut up because like I saw you from Alex and I was like my gosh like wait like she followed me? ⁓

Michelle Yates (00:52)
Alex is definitely our little connector, because that's how I learned about you two, is from Alex. And yeah, I feel like we get each other, even just before we jumped on this podcast. It's like, you get me.

Malisa Nguyen (00:55)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh my gosh, 100%. You

didn't have to say anything. You're like, ah. I was like, yeah, I get it.

Michelle Yates (01:08)
I

I love it. Okay, so let's for the listeners introduce who you are. I haven't even really heard your story. So if you could give me like the the origin story, I guess of your existence. Yeah, like your villain origin story or superhero origin story, whichever one you want to be. No judgment. Fill me in.

Malisa Nguyen (01:19)
Yeah.

My villain origin story.

Yeah. my gosh.

my God. Well, Spark Notes version. okay. Yeah. My name is Malisa. I am the owner, founder of Strength and Intent. That's my nutrition counseling practice. But if we backtrack all the way to when things really started my whole lore, I became a personal trainer back in 2016 and I really fell in love with fitness around that time. I had gotten to my fitness journey around 2013 and

like many of us, like I was new to the industry and I didn't really know much and I was just like, yeah, like I think I want to become a personal trainer because I want to learn more about my body, but then also help other people like, you know, kind of develop like their own like personal fitness routine and stuff like that. And as I dove deeper and deeper into that,

I was like, you know, this personal training stuff is so fun, but there's like one part that's missing that people are always kind of like getting quote unquote wrong. That's what that was my thought process at the time. was like.

That's where I was like, I want to become a dietician or a nutritionist. Like I didn't even know a dietician existed until I started like researching what that was. And so I was like deep diving and I'm like, how can I like expand myself like as a personal trainer in this like health and wellness industry and like make myself stand out? I'm naive. I'm like 20 years old. I'm thinking that I'm the most unique person in the world who wants to be a dietician and a trainer. And I'm like, I'm a one stop shop girl. But that's when I discovered like

Michelle Yates (02:56)
Hahaha.

Malisa Nguyen (03:01)
like a dietitian, I was like, my gosh, like these, these people can work in like the clinical field, but they can also just like, they have a little bit more wealth of like knowledge outside of someone who's just like a nutritionist, right? And there's no hate, right? I know some of the world's smartest, like nutritionists who chose not to be a dietitian, but ultimately that's where I really wanted to kind of put my foot in the door. And I was like, I want to make like a living out of this. And so there on after I was like, okay, like I, you know,

Michelle Yates (03:19)
Absolutely.

Malisa Nguyen (03:31)
into my senior year of college of business management. I was like, you know what? I want to be a dietician. Let's switch careers.

Michelle Yates (03:37)
Senior year. Yo. Brutal.

Malisa Nguyen (03:39)
Yeah, yeah. So I was at the ripe age

of 20 and I'm sitting here like, oh my gosh, I want to be a dietitian, but I'm like, I'm one year into finishing my degree. What do I do? But I was miserable. I was a very like star student growing up, like, know, the gifted child, really smart. And I was failing my classes, like.

That's how you knew like I did not like what I did. And it was that in business management. And funny enough, I never got my business degree, but I run a business now. But I was miserable. was failing classes that people were acing so easily and like people that I would consider maybe, you know, just some people who just didn't try. They were like passing and I'm sitting here like, how am I personally failing? But

Michelle Yates (04:09)
in business management. Gotcha.

Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (04:32)
you know, fast forward, decided to take the jump and I was like, I'm scared, I'm terrified, but I'm gonna, you know, switch my degree to dietetics, transfer schools and spend the next three years doing that. Became a dietitian in 2020 and there on after, as you hear, 2020 in the midst of COVID.

There on after that's where everything really started to blossom. I didn't even start my business like in that first year. I did work for other people here and there just to kind of get a little bit more experience. But because it was COVID, there wasn't a lot of opportunities for people to be in person, right? So I had to kind of like force myself into the online coaching space. And I didn't think that that was feasible for me at first, but COVID really showed us like dietitians that it is possible to move into the online

world

and to still be able to provide like such effective services for so many people. And I just ended up staying there essentially, like I got so much experience and afterwards I was like, I really want to start doing this thing on my own. And in like late 20 or early 2022, that's when the birth of strength and intent became about and it's, it's been great since then. That was a long lore story, but yeah, yeah.

Michelle Yates (05:47)
so much.

where does, I know you've mentioned having a tumultuous relationship with food at some point, where does that fit into your origin story?

Malisa Nguyen (06:01)
That was literally the beginning day one. I mean, if we backtracked a little bit more, we could start at childhood, middle school.

Michelle Yates (06:03)
Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (06:10)
I mean, it was very subtle. I was very unfamiliar with what body image disorder dating eating disorder was. It was very normalized in my household. It was talked to me in terms of like, hey, you can't eat this, this will make you fat or hey, like, but I also want you to, you know, clean your plate, by the way, because we cook this food, we spent so much money on it, you better finish it. But also don't eat too much because you're fat.

So I kind of grew up in that environment where it was already ingrained in my head. And when I got to college, you know, that's where I started my fitness journey because I started gaining so much weight. But that was just as a result of having so much more freedom, right? Like.

I was 18. I didn't have to live under my parents' household. I have this nice little meal card where could just swipe for anything that I want to eat. And I remember coming home for my first winter break and my dad looks at me and he's like, ⁓ you look a little And that's where I was like, I need to start my fitness journey, like now. Like I have to start like working out.

And I think that's where a lot of it started to manifest was in college. I became very obsessed with the fitness industry and wanting to look like the people on social media. And ultimately it was also where I kind of got obsessed with that idea of nutrition too, right? Like that was my missing piece. That's what's gonna bring it all together. And it got pretty dark during those years, I won't lie.

I was in like a really like deep denial about it and it was to the point where other people started to see it. Like initially they did it and they were like, hey, like this is a little bit like concerning. And I was like, no, it's not. What do you mean? I was like, yeah, I'm on a journey. I'm making this my career. How can anything be wrong with me if I'm making it my career?

Michelle Yates (07:59)
I'm good, I got this. I'm just on a journey.

I've literally

said those things. Yeah. Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (08:10)
I was like, I know more than you.

It was, yeah, it really manifested in college and I would say, but it was also where I like, I got to learn about myself like the most, like when I switched to dietetics, I think that's where things started to turn around for me. And I was like, what I'm doing is not so great.

Michelle Yates (08:30)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I relate to that a lot. That was

very similar for me. I think a lot of us get into the field because we do have a hyper fixation or passion about fitness and health that can be coming from a disordered place. And then we get in it and I've talked to lot of dieticians like you and myself where it's like, it's like a little reality check. ⁓ maybe.

Carbs aren't the devil, like I thought. ⁓

Malisa Nguyen (09:01)
Right. It's like

maybe an intermittent fasting isn't like the best thing in the world.

Michelle Yates (09:06)
So keto isn't ideal. What? Anyway, so yeah, I appreciate you sharing that. It's yeah, I think that makes somebody more relatable when they're especially in that professional role. And it's interesting how many of us there are something that I've noticed in our field, especially when it comes to eating disorders and disordered eating.

is this idea that if you've ever struggled with your relationship with food at all, or your body image, then body composition goals, changing your way or pursuit of changing your way should just be off the table completely for the rest of your life. And there's this like,

Malisa Nguyen (09:52)
Mm-mm.

Michelle Yates (09:54)
this fear, this like anxiety around slipping back and backtracking, which is, I think justified, right? Like, yes, of course we need to be skeptical and aware and on guard, but I don't.

Malisa Nguyen (10:01)
Great.

Michelle Yates (10:08)
love that there's these kind of blanket statements of like, can never pursue fat loss or like, I know you're really into power lifting, like things like that. People are just like, you have a history of this. So you must be still just a slave to your eating disorder. So anyway.

Malisa Nguyen (10:17)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Michelle Yates (10:25)
Still working out this question here. I guess what I'd love to hear is just initially, what are your thoughts on that since you've been in a position of struggling with your relationship with food and body image. And now, I mean, I know you recently went through like a fat loss phase, cutting, all of that, and being able to watch you do that while having a healthy relationship with food still was really cool. So can you speak to that?

Malisa Nguyen (10:27)
Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, yeah. mean, I think so many dieticians and just media hears that a lot. one of the first thing that popped up into my head when I first like heard about it was, will I ever be able to pursue like the goals that I want to without feeling like shamed about it, if that makes sense.

Michelle Yates (11:08)
Hmm,

yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (11:10)
And it's like those blanket statements almost feel just as black and white like the other blanket statements we make in the nutrition and the fitness industry, I believe intention behind the decision matters a lot.

Michelle Yates (11:20)
Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (11:26)
And knowing yourself as a person and what triggers you and what doesn't is also super important. You you brought up like my fat loss phase, but I actually want to bring it back even further because I competed in bodybuilding. So competitively, like I got to the point where it was very like rigid and strict. And I remember making that decision at a point where I was kind of like very fresh out of my recovery. Like I felt very good about my

about the decisions I was making about food, how we viewed food, my relationship with it, and it was just kind of like this weird back and forth, back and forth where I was like, why am I doing this in the first place? I think, yeah, it was cool to achieve the physique, but I like went into it with the decision of, if I do this, I do this in the healthiest way possible, respective to the sport, right? Like it's not a healthy sport. No one will agree that it is a healthy sport.

But before I even made the decision, I communicated this with my entire support system. I looked them dead in the eye and I said, I want to do this. I know the risks, but I'm counting on myself and you to hold me accountable that if you see anything concerning, I want to communicate that with you, but I also hope that you guys communicate that with me.

And I think that's important when it comes to like pursuing weight loss or physique goals is that the intention behind your decision matters. Why are you doing it? Right? Is it because you hate the way that you look or is it because you want to improve your health or, you know, try to prove to yourself otherwise that you have more grit and determination than you thought you did? That was the reason why I did it. I was like, I just want to prove to myself that I can do it. And I wanted to more specifically prove to myself that I could do it while eating the food

Michelle Yates (13:05)
Mm-hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (13:10)
that I loved. Yeah, so you always see like bodybuilders eat like these like you know quote-unquote clean foods which you know for the most part I did. I ate a lot of nutrient-dense foods but I never sacrificed anything that I liked. Two weeks out I was like drinking boba with my best friend and like my coach was like

Michelle Yates (13:12)
Hmm

You

Malisa Nguyen (13:30)
Yeah, that's fine. Like she was very, very supportive of me too. Like she was like, I want you to do what makes you happy. And I was like, and I did it. won second place. Like, and it was fantastic. And I was like, I, I attribute that all to like communicating very heavily with my support system and letting them know that like, here are the risks. I know what comes with it, but like, I'm going to try my dang hardest to make sure that like, I show up for myself and that I keep my head like very

Michelle Yates (13:40)
Mm-hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (13:57)
fresh and that I'm not like falling back into certain patterns that I know are concerning because I have that sense of awareness right so it was just a matter of just making sure that like I stay aware that I don't fall too deep and get into denial but also like let my support system hold me accountable too.

Michelle Yates (14:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, something that you mentioned was that feeling of shame that can come. it's like, as you said, similar to the black and white things that we hear and opinions that we get thrust upon us from the nutrition world or the health world is like, you're either ashamed for not being small enough or not having enough muscle or looking a certain way.

Malisa Nguyen (14:20)
Yeah.

Michelle Yates (14:37)
or you're shamed for possibly ever caring about that on the eating disorder side. it's such a, I find that working with clients that can be so disorienting for them and they feel like they don't have a place. And they're like, I can't choose recovery because if I can't ever care about my body, then that's not, that doesn't make sense. And so then they end up never really pursuing recovery because of that.

Malisa Nguyen (14:42)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Michelle Yates (15:03)
And I just, you know, being on this side of it, especially when you work with binge eating and there's usually some excess weight that comes with that, it's difficult for me to be fully on board with like, yeah, never ever care about your weight ever again or pursue physique goals, you know. But with that being said,

Malisa Nguyen (15:20)
it.

Michelle Yates (15:23)
you did go through a recovery part of your story, you know, and I think that's important too, that we take time to maybe put those things on the back burner. What was that like for you to like go through that recovery phase? And I guess I'm making assumptions here. During that phase, did you take physique goals off of the table?

Malisa Nguyen (15:38)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I will want to answer your question. Yes. I took it all off the table. I told myself I I want to transition into intuitive eating and I want to focus on fueling my body and like eating the way that Felt right for me, right? Like approach my nutrition gently like make sure that I am prioritizing nutrients but also like finding space for those like fun foods and experiences and it was one of like the absolute best years of my

Michelle Yates (15:48)
Hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (16:12)
like it is crazy right like when you get to that point of recovery and you finally finally can experience food the way that it should be it's like so eye-opening but in the beginning stages of recovery ⁓ my gosh it was so horrible like I told you I was in so much denial and so ⁓ you know I remember going to my first therapy session

Michelle Yates (16:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Hahaha

Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (16:39)
And I did it for me, but also for my friends because they were so concerned. And I remember walking in and she had mentioned something about, and she had said, I told her I was like, really like McDonald's, but I know it's bad. She goes, well, McDonald's not bad, right? It can be enjoyed just as a meal.

And I remember getting so heated with her because I was very stuck in my old thinking. I said, it's horrible for you. Like, what do you mean? It is the worst thing that you could have. How could you say it's good? And I was like, I don't have the problem here. You do. And I walked out of that session.

Michelle Yates (17:18)
wow.

Malisa Nguyen (17:20)
So weird.

Michelle Yates (17:22)
man.

Malisa Nguyen (17:23)
And it was so, I look back on that and I forgive me. I like hope that she was okay after that, because I was so mean to her, but it was so hard. Like the beginning stages is like all about finding acceptance and like, hey, you need help in the first place. And it was really challenging in the sense that like, knew like, eventually I knew what I was doing was just very harmful to my health. And

Michelle Yates (17:31)
Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (17:48)
I was scared to kind of like open up to other people because I didn't think it was severe enough or I wasn't disordered enough or I didn't look the part to get the help. That was also in part of like some belief systems that my family kind of ingrained in me. had a cousin tell me she was like, you don't have any disorder. You're not like in the hospital. You're not like, you know, brittle bones and starving. And I was like,

There is more than just the restrictive type of eating disorders, by the way. ⁓

Michelle Yates (18:20)
Yeah, just because you

don't have a feeding tube up you doesn't mean you're not struggling.

Malisa Nguyen (18:24)
Yeah,

I think the recovery part was just honestly really hard because I was kind of going back and forth for a while of whether or not I was deserving of And I had to kind of like...

do a lot of the recovery on my own and I'm so grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity to be in academics to recognize that. I think that that was actually the first space where I felt safe enough to like admit that yes, I have an issue and now I want to work towards it through the things that I'm learning. And eventually I did go back to therapy and start to talk a little bit more about that as well. I didn't work with like a registered diet edition like directly, but I kind of like started working

that on my own, where I was like, I'm going to challenge myself, right? Like I'm going to be able to like incorporate some of these things, but without like feeling that I wanted to binge in that moment.

and make sure that I'm nourishing my body adequately throughout the day and stuff like that. It was a lot of the stuff that I learned through like, you know, university. So very, very grateful for that opportunity. But then I took that last step of just being like, I'm done tracking. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to focus on like how my body looks like I just want to take a full year even more than that to just intuitively eat. And I think that that is like what really pulled it all together.

Michelle Yates (19:40)
Yeah, that like defensiveness that you mentioned of being in the therapist office is, it's, well, I used to do like outpatient eating disorder treatment. And that's like always like basically first meeting. It's like there's denial, defensiveness, anger. I always told them like, I'm going to be your least favorite person and I'm okay with that, you know.

Malisa Nguyen (19:55)
Yeah.

Michelle Yates (20:04)
because I'm telling people how to eat. anyway, I think that that's normal and I'm highlighting that because I want people to know if they're listening to this, that it is normal to feel that, I guess like flare of tension when somebody's challenging your thoughts. And it's difficult to grow if you're not willing to be challenged and you're not willing to be uncomfortable.

which is where I think motivations are super important in terms of what matters to you. What would you say during that year of intuitive eating? What was your motivation? What was your why for letting all that come off the table in terms of physique goals and pursuing recovery?

Malisa Nguyen (20:50)
Yeah, I think for like one of the first times in my life, I didn't want anyone else's decisions to dictate mine, if that makes sense. Yeah, like growing up in a household where you're constantly told like how to look, what to eat, how to fit, even how to finish your food, right? It's so, it kind of felt like my choices were never my own.

And that year was like a year for me to really just be like, I want every single decision I make to be my own based on like my informed decision making based on what I want, what I need, and not dictated by a-

a tracking tool or what someone in my family told me or what someone on the internet said that was the best for me. I wanted to do what was best for me and I wanted to have autonomy at the end of the day. And that was my driving motivator is if I don't have autonomy over my own food choices or my own body, I will never feel as empowered as I do now.

Michelle Yates (21:55)
I love that. And it can feel like you have autonomy when you're pursuing those things, but then that moment of realizing, actually, I'm pursuing those things because of what somebody else made me believe. Right. You believing what your family believes that was put on you and influencing your choices. And I think that's that's so powerful. And that awareness piece.

Malisa Nguyen (21:56)
Yeah.

Michelle Yates (22:21)
is huge, just creating awareness around why you do things the way you do, what your motivations are, what your beliefs are. When we work with our clients, and it's probably really similar for you, Malisa, when we work with our clients, it's like, in the beginning, it's a lot of...

we're going down deep, bottom of the iceberg. What are your thoughts and beliefs and how do you think about food? How do you think about your body? Because that intent, know, strength and intent is so important. Why are you doing things the way that you do? It changes the outcome significantly. So being now in a position where

Malisa Nguyen (22:40)
Yep.

Yeah.

Michelle Yates (23:06)
recovered, healed, being able to focus on physique goals. What's it like for you now doing things like that? I mentioned, you recently went through a cut bulks phase. Like how do you check in with yourself to be sure you're not slipping back into old ways?

Malisa Nguyen (23:14)
Yeah. Yeah.

That's a great question.

Because you think that at some point you're like, my gosh, yeah, I could totally do it on my own. But I still emphasize having a support system. And I feel like most people don't emphasize it enough of how much community matters, even if it is just one person. That's it. I could have done all of my bulking, my cutting phases on my own, but my life is so busier

Michelle Yates (23:30)
Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (23:49)
and crazier than it was when I had a lot more free time back in college where I could do those things. And this time around when I did it, I was like, I still need a support system. It might not be like my family and friends like the last time, but I was like, I'm going to lean into my coaches like really hard. So I got, I hired Alex as like my training coach and he still goes above and beyond and asks me like how I'm doing with my nutrition and how I'm feeling mentally and emotionally. And those check-ins help so much because even though like

I'm

trying to do that on my own. Sometimes he might ask me something that I wasn't thinking about. I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah, no, like I see what you're saying. But then I took the extra step because I told you I didn't work with a dietician during my first recovery. And I started working with a dietician for this one too. I'm still working with her. And she challenges me a lot. She trusts and believe that I will do what is best for me. But if she does send something that is wrong, she'll...

She'll like ask a couple questions again here and there and get me thinking and I'm like, you know what? No, like, yeah, you're right. But I feel safe and secure enough to be able to communicate that with them. And anytime like something comes up there, they don't jump the gun and be like, ⁓ no, this sounds wrong. Like they ask like really productive questions, like the same way I would ask like a client of mine of just being like, you know, well, like, how does that make you feel? Or like, how do you want to feel like as a result of doing something like this? So

Michelle Yates (25:14)
Mm-hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (25:18)
I would say like it it was a lot easier this time around because I got to do it again, but without like feeling so obsessive over everything and It just felt really good to constantly check in with someone and just say like yeah I did it again by the way like you're almost kind of like constantly proving to yourself that like this is okay This is doable but if anything did come up that's where again that safety and security of being able to express that to them is just like

What do we do now? Like do you think we should pull out? Do you think we should keep going? Like what are we feeling? So they ultimately give me the choice at the end of the day and I think that that's so important is that they just give me autonomy and I appreciate that so much Yeah

Michelle Yates (26:05)
I love the

importance of having people on your team that can point out blind spots, but in an encouraging and kind way. And in a way that it's not confrontational or accusatory. It's like, have you thought about it like this? Or, yeah, I know this about your story. Do you think that that's coming up here? ⁓

Malisa Nguyen (26:23)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Michelle Yates (26:29)
And in the fact that like you are a dietitian, you still brought on a dietitian to help you though. Just nobody is like beyond needing or I guess being deserving of support, right? Like we can get our own professional support and it's okay. Just because of that fact of somebody else being able to look in on your story, it's so much harder to see things and notice things when it's yourself.

Malisa Nguyen (26:54)
my gosh.

And I was going to say like as much as you want to be objective, right? Like you can try to say you're going to be so objective with yourself as much as possible. But like I think going into it, we should always recognize the risks, right? It wasn't like, ⁓ is it a risk that I'm going to like definitely go back into like disordered eating patterns? I was like, probably not, but it's still a risk, right? It's a risk that I don't want to take. So I'm going to remove like that, that chance of like risk and hire someone to be my

Michelle Yates (26:59)
Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (27:24)
second eye to be my objective because it can be very easy to kind of like bottle everything up and kind of like say that you are being objective but really you're being subjective and emotional about like the decisions that you're making. We're human like oh yeah we are. It's like trust me.

Michelle Yates (27:39)
Yeah. Yeah. We're very good at gaslighting ourselves.

So now when you're working with powerlifting and I mean, you're primarily doing powerlifting with people, right? So what kind of connection are you seeing between the powerlifting community and disordered eating, if any?

Malisa Nguyen (27:57)
Yeah, yeah, right now. Yep.

It is, the prevalence is quite high. Right now we don't have a lot of studies on it, but we have some like here and there, but you see it so very clearly just because it's not a physique based sport. The prevalence of disordered eating and eating disorders are still very high mainly just because it's a weight class sport.

So you might not have to be as small or agile like a wrestler, which is another weight class sport, but you see so many people compare themselves to other athletes. They're like, hey, like, so I'm technically considered like a 60 kilogram lifter, but all the other 60 kilogram lifters in like my sport are shorter, way more muscular than me. And I'm like, well, why can't I look like that? Or why can't I lift as heavy of weight as them? Maybe I should move down another

weight class so I could be competitive. And I mean, like it's a strength based sport, right? So you're just trying to lift the heaviest weight at the lowest body weight possible to get the best like outcomes. And so that's where a lot of like this disordered eating starts to come into play where people are just constantly comparing themselves to one another, elite athletes, and then asking themselves, why don't they look like that? Why don't they look like that? And they're doing everything they can to kind of just like push that. But other

things are like because it's a weight class sport, people will take super drastic measures to make weight and not do it in like the smartest way to put it simply, right? Like we're literally two weeks out and you're just trying to drop 20 pounds in two weeks because you want to like get the best, you know, outcome. And I'm like, I'm not sure about that. So they'll do everything they can to get to that point. ⁓

Michelle Yates (29:34)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (29:50)
It's scary and it's normalized. It's way too normalized in the sport, which I don't love.

Michelle Yates (29:57)
Yeah, and that does sound similar to wrestling in the sense of like trying to beat the scale, you know, for different reasons, but it's similar that you're trying to get to a specific class so that it changes the, I guess barometer of how well you're doing because you're in that weight class. ⁓

Malisa Nguyen (30:02)
Right, right.

Michelle Yates (30:16)
and to your point, it's normalized. It's just like a part of the sport. And I think a lot of people would think there's nothing wrong with that. Do you think there is, how to word this, do you think there are people who can engage in those types of things where they're trying to quote unquote beat the scale, change their eating habits as a result of that and did not have

negative effects or consequences on them.

Malisa Nguyen (30:47)
Yes, because surprisingly enough, like I have worked with, I would say a few athletes like that. And maybe that's due to their background and their upbringing where they never were really like exposed to stuff like that or

that they've worked with like really good coaches that kind of like help them plan more efficiently. Some people are just like, I've literally had people would be like, well, if I make it, that's great. If I don't, then that's fine. I would really like to because I would want to be competitive. But they don't seem to suck themselves into like the culture of weight cutting.

They're just like, they're like very out of it, if that makes sense. They're just kind of doing their own thing, which is something I appreciate because they're embracing like their own individuality while being a part of the community. Whereas like sometimes you can be a part of the community, but you don't have your own sense of self. And that's where that culture of weight cutting kind of comes into play where you're bonding over being miserable about like weight cutting. And I'm like,

Michelle Yates (31:23)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (31:48)
You gotta do your own thing, man. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing, you know? So.

Michelle Yates (31:54)
Do you see binge eating in that like culture, I guess? Is that normalized?

Malisa Nguyen (32:00)
so normalized. You ever have an athlete tell you, yeah after weigh-ins I just ate so much after like the day of weigh-ins because these people are, I mean like even novices right, not even like elite athletes are cutting down like 10-20 pounds and then they're like yeah the day after my meat I just I binge ate for like three days and they're wondering why they can't stay at the same weight and I'm like

Michelle Yates (32:29)
Tough to say. ⁓

Malisa Nguyen (32:29)
I'm not so sure man. I maybe the 5000 calories are you're eating like the

third three days straight

Michelle Yates (32:43)
Yeah, I've seen some some posts from people on social media that it It shows both sides where it's like they're in there. This is more like bodybuilding They're in their sparkly bikini. They're like level 5 tan and they're like biting into a cheeseburger or whatever and I've seen it two ways the post is either just kind of being like this felt so good after my Cut or whatever

or eating clean for however long.

And they talk about how they went on to like binge and binge and whatever. And then the other way, and it's normalized, it's like not a big deal. They're just saying like, yeah, this was so nice to be able to binge, you know? And then the other is I saw this post from a girl, maybe you've seen it, because I think it did go viral. And she was saying like she didn't know it, but at this moment, started her on a trajectory of binging and for like months.

Malisa Nguyen (33:36)
I think I did see that one.

Michelle Yates (33:37)
or

something like that. can't remember the exact wording. And so then it was more of a negative light. It was more like, this is not ideal. And it's just interesting. It's talked about so much. It's normalized. But some people are starting to come out and be like, actually, that's not maybe the healthiest thing. But it's tough, because that's, like you said, a part of the culture.

Malisa Nguyen (33:39)
Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, it's really like, you know, surprising because like I would expect it out of bodybuilding, right? Like you get to such a lean state and you're restricting yourself all that much. When I switched over to powerlifting, I didn't think that I would see it all that much, but then I saw it and I was like, ⁓ like you don't have to, again, like look a certain part in order to have these habits and...

People love powerlifting because of how objective it is. It's not subjective off of how you look. You're not binging because of how you look, but now you're binging because you're trying to meet a certain weight and you've done it in a way that is so...

Michelle Yates (34:27)
Yeah.

Malisa Nguyen (34:35)
so dangerous for your body, which is why like we're back into the space. And like people are always talking about how excited they are to like eat so much food and eat all this stuff like after their meats. And I'm like, nothing wrong with that. But like at the same time, like, we got to find like a happy middle ground. Yeah.

Michelle Yates (34:55)
There's a fine line.

How do you, this is probably the last question I'll ask to wrap this up. What are steps that you take with your clients or with people that you're even just peers in your community that you think are important to minimize the damages of the yo-yoing?

Malisa Nguyen (35:13)
Yeah, I silver athletes such as like them or I guess just in general. Let's talk about the athletes because I think that's a little bit more specific, right? You know, I am very open about like, hey, this part of your your

Michelle Yates (35:21)
Mm-hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (35:28)
I guess like your training journey like matters like your nutrition is going to ultimately play a role in your performance, right? Not just your weight, but your performance and your strength. And I always like tell them openly before you even start, we have to have a smart game plan going into this. You can't just decide one day you're going to wake up and you want to compete at this body weight. And now you only have a few weeks out to achieve that. It's going to be detrimental for your performance. And I think kind of leaning into that like

for them because it's a motivator for all of these strength athletes is lift the heaviest weight and be like the strongest person there, right? I was like, do you want to put yourself back in that same position or do you want to do it in a smart way? Because with nutrition, it's a long game and same thing with training, right? That's a long game and you have to treat your nutrition the same way you do with your training is plan accordingly. Think like, you know, in like big macro cycles, meaning that, you know, we're going to think about what it's going to

look like at the end game for your meet that's going to be in like nine, 12 months. And now we have a game plan for those like subset months leading into it. And it'll make their lives so much easier and it'll feel so much better. I've had athletes walk out of meets with me and say like, it didn't even feel like I did anything. That's what it's supposed to feel like. Yeah.

Michelle Yates (36:37)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah. It's

like what I'm hearing is that we're making small sustainable changes instead of big drastic like, ⁓ crap, I've got two weeks to figure this out.

Malisa Nguyen (36:51)
Yep. Yep.

Perfect.

Michelle Yates (36:55)
and

desperate measures, you know, and I love that. And I think whether you're an athlete or not, that's the name of the game, you know, looking for that small, sustainable timeline that isn't gonna feel like a shock to the system because that's not gonna last long, you know? ⁓ Well, cool, I love this. This is so fun to be able to talk more about this population. I don't think I get like.

Malisa Nguyen (37:02)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Michelle Yates (37:22)
I mean, to your point, there's not a lot of research and I also just think conversations in general don't usually bring stuff like this up. So I love this. Yeah. Tell the audience more about how they can find you if they want to learn more about working with somebody who's into powerlifting and has experience with bodybuilding and all of that.

Malisa Nguyen (37:26)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, well, you can find me on all my socials at MelissaWin. That's my main page. But you can also, if you just want to follow more of like my business stuff, it's going to be at Strength and Intent. Otherwise, honestly, that's really all you can find me because that's where most of my social media platforms and my work businesses. But I mean, aside from that, the things that we're doing right now,

Another colleague of mine, he's also a dietitian in the powerlifting realm. His name is Dan Feldman. It's powerlifter dietitian, I believe on social media. He and I are working on a powerlifting nutrition course. I'm so freaking like obsessed with the sport and the nutrition and I guess like the lack of nutrition education in the sport that we are going to be releasing a course in June of 2025. That's going to teach athletes the

Michelle Yates (38:04)
Yes.

Mmm.

Malisa Nguyen (38:26)
foundations of nutrition and how to actually plan accordingly to help them make weight like very efficiently for, you know, just competing. It's so fun. So we're super duper excited about it. So if you guys want to follow us on our social medias, we'll be sharing more about the course over the next few months or so. my gosh, that's gonna release next month.

Michelle Yates (38:48)
Yeah, I was gonna say it's me.

Malisa Nguyen (38:50)
It's literally next month. Never mind the next few weeks actually

Michelle Yates (38:54)
Well, I'll put the links to your socials in the show notes. I love that you guys are doing that. I follow Dan as well. And you're both awesome educators and just very level-headed, which is what people need more of, especially.

Malisa Nguyen (39:00)
Yeah.

Thank you. Yeah, this is why

we all also get along.

Michelle Yates (39:10)
I know, I know we've got like

our little community of like also follows so and so and I'm like, yep.

Malisa Nguyen (39:15)
Yeah, I was

like, I'm gonna follow them because I trust all of their judgments. like, I yeah, we're just like our in our own little tiny evidence based level headed bubble. Yes.

Michelle Yates (39:21)
You

and nuanced too.

I love it.

Malisa Nguyen (39:32)
But thank you

so much for asking such like thought provoking questions. Like I know with your community, it can feel very difficult to want to like pursue certain goals in like their fitness journey. But at the end of the day, I just feel like it's important to have those conversations with people you trust and love and whether or not like you, if it feels right for you, then like definitely go for it. But obviously just make sure that like you have the support that you need. ⁓ But if you don't, there's also no shame in that either.

Michelle Yates (39:59)
Mm-hmm.

Malisa Nguyen (40:02)
We don't have to stay in these camps of you can do this or you can't do this. Everyone gets to have their own choice at the end of the day.

Michelle Yates (40:10)
Yeah. And I love what you said earlier about being in charge of your own, like what you want to do, what you want to pursue and what's best for you. Like nobody knows you better than yourself. And at the same time, yeah, we can gaslight ourselves and be a little bit too subjective when we think we're being objective. So having support systems is so important there and people.

to be real with you. Yeah, love it. Thank you so much for your time. Any other words or last-minute thoughts that you want to share that we didn't get to?

Malisa Nguyen (40:37)
Oh my gosh, thank you.

No, I don't think so. But other than that, like I just like I want to say like what you're doing is like, obviously amazing. And I love that we're both like in this space to be able to help everyone. So yeah.

Michelle Yates (40:52)
yes, I'm so

glad we got connected. Shout out to Alex. I know we should do like a all three of them. we actually should. That's a really good idea.

Malisa Nguyen (40:55)
Yeah, I know. It's like, let's bring Alex back on.

We should.

It's like, let's do that. I love it.

Michelle Yates (41:06)
Thanks, Malisa.