443: Skinny Is Back...And It's Not A Good Thing: 3 Mindset Shifts for Women Runners in 2026

Skinny Is Back — And It’s Not A Good Thing.

Skinny culture is back.

Everywhere you look, there’s an ad for a new weight loss drug, celebrities are literally shrinking before our eyes, and social media is full of influencers selling peptides or the latest “get skinny quick” scheme.

Haven’t we been here before? 

Sure, not with the social media aspect of things, but if you’re a kid of the 80s and 90s like me, this feels like an old movie that’s making a comeback.

There’s a renewed obsession with thinness, a rise in quick-fix weight loss solutions, and a lot of messaging that sounds familiar.

So as a runner over 40, those red flags should be going up, big time.

For a while, it felt like we were moving in a better direction. Conversations around strength, body respect, and health at every size were gaining traction. Runners were learning to fuel better, lift weights, and stop punishing their bodies.

Now? We’re seeing a swing back toward shrinking, restricting, and “less is better.”

And this time, it’s even riskier — because rapid weight-loss methods don’t just impact aesthetics. They affect muscle mass, bone density, hormones, energy, recovery, and long-term health.

As runners over 40, these are the things that need to take a top priority if you want to live a strong and independent life, both now and when you’re 90.

Because what skinny culture never talks about is how the obsession to be thin not only damages us mentally, it can do some real physical damage too.

Instead of falling back into old patterns, this is our opportunity to consciously choose a different path — one that supports performance, confidence, and longevity.

Here are the three mindset shifts that I want to invite you to take on this year, instead of reverting back to skinny or else.

1. Building Over Losing

For so many years, we were taught to focus on losing weight, losing inches, losing parts of ourselves.

Shrinking, becoming smaller, not taking up as much space.

What if we shifted the focus away from losing and started asking:

What do I want to build?

Muscle. Bone strength. Resilience. Energy. Confidence.

Especially in midlife, building muscle isn’t optional — it’s protective. It supports your running economy, helps prevent injuries, stabilizes hormones, and lowers your risk of issues like osteoporosis later in life.

You don’t need to be smaller to be healthier.

You need to be stronger.

2. Strong Over Skinny

Let’s say this clearly: skinny is not a health metric.

Having smaller body does not automatically make you healthier. 

In fact, being too thin can actually make your health worse in a lot of ways.

Strength, on the other hand, is a fantastic metric that we all should be chasing.

Muscle is the organ of longevity, and increased muscle mass is correlated with decreased all-cause mortality, aka the more muscle you have, the longer you live.

Strength gives you independence, power, and trust in yourself.

Strong runners recover better, get injured less often, and feel more capable in their bodies — on the run and in everyday life. 

If you’ve ever felt conflicted between wanting to run faster and wanting to weigh less, this is your invitation:
👉 Choose strength.
👉 Choose capability.
👉 Choose confidence.

Those things last. Skinny doesn’t.

3. Fueling Over Restricting

This one might be the hardest — and the most important.

Food is not the enemy. 

Food is fuel for your body, your performance, and your body’s ability to stay strong.

For years, we’ve been told to eat less and to restrict our calories or carbs or fats (depending on the current trend), which has only led to disrupted hormones and a dysregulated nervous system. 

Under-fueling leads to poor recovery, stalled progress, hormone disruption, fatigue, and a nervous system that’s constantly stressed. 

When you chronically underfuel, your body doesn’t have the resources it needs, leading to declines in your performance (bye bye speed and endurance), increased risk of injury, and a body that doesn’t trust you anymore.

And if you’re a woman over 40, you might even notice that you can’t lose weight either. That’s because your body is trying to hang on to all its resources just to survive.

Proper fueling supports better runs, better sleep, better moods, and yes — a healthier body composition over time.

Restriction might promise control, but fueling gives you freedom.

Choosing Power, Not Pressure

These mindset shifts aren’t flashy. They don’t promise overnight transformations or quick wins.

But they work.

They support long-term health, sustainable running, and a relationship with your body that’s rooted in respect instead of punishment.

So as we step into 2026, I want to invite you to flip the script:

• Add strength instead of taking food away

• Build muscle instead of chasing a smaller number

• Fuel your body instead of fighting it

This is how you keep running — and living — strong for years to come.

If this message resonates with you, the podcast episode is a must-listen. Kevin and I break this down even further and talk about how to apply these shifts in real life, not just in theory.

Are you in?

Let’s choose strength — together!