Athletics, Nutrition, and Mental Health with Maria Flores

When personal struggles are overcome and leveraged for the
benefit of others, it is a true victory and blessing. Joining us
on the show today is Olympic gymnast Maria Ines Flores who
trained at the well-known Bela Karolyi Gym alongside the likes of
Mary Lou Retton back when she was a young girl at the peak of her
athletic career. The conversation starts with Maria telling
listeners about her life as a gymnast, highlighting her natural
aptitude for sports and how her family and loved ones supported
her and compromised a great deal for the sake of her promising
athletic career. She talks about the strenuous training that, in
retrospect, might have hampered her performance at the Olympics
and when she finally decided to hang up her leotard for good. But
that was the beginning of a difficult time for Maria who then
struggled to fill the void that giving up gymnastics left, and
how she battled to find her way forward without the passion that
consumed more than six hours each day. But, years later, when her
gymnast daughter also decided to quit the sport, it was as if she
relived the same trauma and knew that she needed to get help to
recover from the deep sense of loss that had laid dormant for a
long time. After getting help from a neuro-linguistic therapist,
she was finally free and able to say goodbye to gymnastics for
good. Today, she helps other athletes overcome the same
challenges she had, sharing her wisdom around competition,
sacrifice, nutrition, balance, and more with people of all
ages.   





Key Points From This Episode:


Get some background information about our guest and how she
got started in gymnastics. 

Hear about Maria’s sport-intensive schooldays and moving
around to get the best coaching. 

The incredible support Maria was getting from her parents,
grandparents, coaches, and more. 

Maria talks about the other sporty members of her family and
her competitive children. 

The importance of enjoying the sport and maintaining a
healthy perspective on competition. 

How training too hard for the Olympics jeopardized Maria’s
performance as an athlete.  

Maria reflects on the sacrifices her family had to make for
the sake of her athletic aspirations. 

Why it is so important for athletes to find another hobby or
interest other than their sport. 

The difficult transition from intensive training to quitting
and not knowing how to fill the void. 

Maria shares how neuro-linguistic therapy helped her to
grieve and let go of gymnastics. 

How her body and relationship with food changed from her
training days to after she quit. 

Striking the balance between being over-restrictive and in
control and completely letting go. 






Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:


Maria Ines Flores on LinkedIn 


Let’s Be Fit Today on Facebook


Let’s Be Fit Today on Instagram 


Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood 


Mary Lou Retton


Simone Biles on Twitter


Institute for Integrative Nutrition 


Christy Henrich Story 


Sherry Burkhard


Mosaics of Mercy