Female athlete nutrition, BJJ weight cuts, menstrual cycles, combat sports nutrition, carbs, dehydration, RED-S, fight week, and performance all matter when making weight.
In this new episode of The Doctor Jiu Jitsu Show, I sat down with Lindsey Rhatigan, founder of Female Fight Nutritionist, sports nutritionist, martial artist, and someone who has personally experienced the good, the bad, and the very ugly side of cutting weight for competition.
This is a topic I care about because combat athletes are constantly being told to make weight.
Eat less. Cut carbs. Sweat more. Sit in the sauna. Get the number on the scale down. But making weight and performing well are not always the same thing.
Lindsey learned that firsthand.
She talks about periods in her career where she was eating around 1,000 to 1,200 calories, eliminating carbohydrates, making the weight, and then arriving at competition flat and unable to perform the way she wanted.
That is where this conversation gets really important.
Carbohydrates are fuel.
Losing water because you removed carbohydrates can make the scale move quickly, but that doesn't necessarily mean you've lost body fat.
And if you're stepping onto the mat shortly after weighing in, you may have very little time to undo the damage from an aggressive cut.
We also go deep into something female athletes need to understand better:
The menstrual cycle.
Your body doesn't respond exactly the same way every week of the month.
Water retention can change. Hunger can change. Recovery can change. Sleep, pain tolerance, energy, and performance may change.
But Lindsey also makes an important point:
Your period should not become another reason to tell yourself you can't perform.
Every athlete is different.
The goal is to understand your own cycle instead of blindly following generalized advice from Instagram or TikTok.
We talk about why tracking your cycle can be useful, when weight fluctuations are likely to occur, why some women may need more time to make weight than men, and how nutrition can be adjusted around training and competition.
Then we get into fight week.
What should you actually eat? When should you reduce fiber? When should you keep carbohydrates in? What should you eat 15 minutes before stepping onto the mat? And why are some of Lindsey's athletes buying baby food before competitions?
We also talk about one of the most concerning parts of weight cutting:
Young athletes.
Kids are growing. Their brains are growing. Their organs are growing. Their bones and muscles are developing.
Lindsey is very clear that children should not be trying to manipulate their bodies to stay in a weight class they have physically outgrown.
And finally, we talk about the psychological side. Because sometimes the scale starts controlling the athlete instead of the athlete controlling the process.
Your entire identity cannot become your weight, your division, or how lean you looked at weigh-ins.
Combat sports should make you stronger.
Your nutrition should help you perform.
And ideally, you should be able to finish your competitive career with both your health and your relationship with food intact.
