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Life After a Bodybuilding Show: Why Your Brain Still Thinks You’re in Prep

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

Release Date: 01/26/2026

Post-Show Blues in Bodybuilding: Symptoms, Causes, and What to Do

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

Post-show depression is real. After a bodybuilding show, many women feel empty, sad, anxious, unmotivated, and disconnected - aka the post-show crash. In this episode we talk about post-show blues, identity loss, rebound eating, and how to recover mentally and emotionally after prep. I share my own experience stepping off stage after winning my pro card and breaking down backstage. Relief, gratitude, grief, fear, and anxiety all at once. If you’ve ever felt lost in life after competing, you are not crazy and you are definitely not alone. We get into why post competition depression happens,...

Life After a Bodybuilding Show: Why Your Brain Still Thinks You’re in Prep

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

Coming out of a bodybuilding show can seriously mess with your head - and no one really prepares you for that part. If you’ve ever dealt with post show blues, rebound eating, loud food noise, or felt like your brain was still stuck in peak week even though the show is over, this episode is for you! I’m Diane - retired IFBB pro and longtime competitor coach and in this episode of Boss Bitch Radio, I’m breaking down what actually happens after a bodybuilding prep. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. Most post-show plans focus on reverse macros, training, and cardio. What...

The Retreat That Helped Me Stop Carrying My Past Like a Weight

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

Ever wondered what actually happens at a healing retreat? In this episode of Boss Bitch Radio, I’m sharing my real, unfiltered experience attending a small, intimate women’s healing retreat - the kind that isn’t rushed, isn’t performative, and goes way deeper than journaling and yoga poses. I talk about why I chose a retreat focused on healing the heart, what it felt like being in such a small group (only five women), and why that intimacy completely changed the experience for me. We get into nervous system regulation, breathwork, silence, somatic healing, and what happens when you...

What No One Tells You About Real Retreats

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

What if your next reset wasn’t another plan… another strategy… or another thing to fix yourself? What if it was a place where you could finally stop performing and actually do the deep work? In this episode of Boss Bitch Radio, I’m sitting down with Lana and Mark Royce, the husband-and-wife duo behind BlissTopia Retreats in Arizona and this conversation is special. I recently attended their Heal Your Heart retreat, and honestly… it rocked me in the best way! This isn’t one of those fluffy retreats where you relax for a weekend and come home unchanged. BlissTopia is intimate,...

Stuck Isn’t Real: How to Move Through Fear, Guilt & ‘Imposter Syndrome’

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

This episode of Boss Bitch Radio is one I will never forget. I’m joined by Tracy Litt, and what unfolds here is not just an interview - it’s a real, embodied conversation about becoming who you already know you’re meant to be I first met Tracy at Kathy Heller’s retreat, and one spontaneous moment of coaching in a small hotel suite completely rocked my world. In this episode, I share that experience and bring you inside the exact moment where everything shifted for me - the kind of moment that changes how you see yourself forever! You’ll hear powerful reflections on identity shifts,...

How to Build Inner Strength

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

What if the thing holding you back isn’t what you need to do… but what you need to stop tolerating? In this raw, fiery, recorded-from-my-car episode of Boss Bitch Radio, I’m talking about inner strength, self-betrayal, and why so many women stay stuck in lives, relationships, and identities that no longer fit. I break down powerful research showing that 82% of women wish they had more inner strength, and why that gap exists - not because women are weak, but because we’re conditioned to ignore our truth! This episode is deeply connected to my Main Character Energy Activation...

Main Character Energy (Part 2): Stop Abandoning Yourself & Become the Woman Who Shows Up

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

Welcome back to Boss Bitch Radio 💋 This episode is Part 2 of the Main Character Energy series, and honestly… it gets juicier! If you’ve ever caught yourself saying “I can’t stay consistent,” “I do great until I get stressed,” or “every new year I fall back into the same patterns,” this episode is absolutely for you. In this conversation, I’m breaking down what really happens when you abandon yourself and why piling on new habits, new plans, and new goals never works if your identity hasn’t shifted first. We’re talking about main character energy as a mindset, not an...

Main Character Energy: The Identity Shift That Makes Weight Loss Effortless

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

What if weight loss was never the real goal? In this episode of Boss Bitch Radio, I’m breaking down the real reason so many women struggle to stay consistent and it has nothing to do with willpower, motivation, or the “perfect plan.” Today, we’re diving deep into what it actually means to become the main character of your life - the woman who no longer chases weight loss, but naturally makes decisions from her highest good. If you’re trying to live a Level 10 life but feel like you’re operating from a Level 2 identity… this episode is your wake-up call. This is your software...

Done With Diet Culture: The Identity Shift That Ends “Start Over Monday”

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

If your January plan sounds like punishment, restriction, or “I just need to get back on track,” this episode is for you. In this episode of Boss Bitch Radio, we’re talking about an identity hangover - the space where your old diet culture identity doesn’t fit anymore, but your brain keeps trying to live there anyway! This conversation is for the woman who misses feeling confident in her body but refuses to go back to obsession to get it. We’re unpacking why living like your life is one long diet cut stops working, why rest can feel like failure, and why chasing another plan,...

Holiday Boundaries: Stop Performing This Christmas

Boss Bitch Radio w/IFBB Pro, Diane Flores

Christmas Eve isn’t always cozy lights and perfect vibes. Sometimes it’s pressure, family triggers, body comments, food guilt, grief, loneliness, and feeling like you have to perform and call it love. In this Christmas Eve truth talk, I’m speaking directly to you. No fluff. No toxic positivity. Just real talk about boundaries, protecting your energy, and reminding you that you do not have to earn rest or shrink yourself to keep other people comfortable! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, triggered, lonely, numb, or just “off” this holiday season, you’re not broken. You’re human....

More Episodes

Coming out of a bodybuilding show can seriously mess with your head - and no one really prepares you for that part.

If you’ve ever dealt with post show blues, rebound eating, loud food noise, or felt like your brain was still stuck in peak week even though the show is over, this episode is for you!

I’m Diane - retired IFBB pro and longtime competitor coach and in this episode of Boss Bitch Radio, I’m breaking down what actually happens after a bodybuilding prep. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

Most post-show plans focus on reverse macros, training, and cardio. What they miss is the identity crash, the control spiral, and the mental health fallout that so many women experience once the structure of prep disappears.

If this hits home and you’re ready to unwind prep brain and calm the food noise, you’ll find a link in the show notes to book a clarity call and see if one-on-one coaching makes sense for you.

Join the newsletter for more behind-the-scenes tips, cheat sheets, and practical tools → https://www.bossbitchradio.com/newsletter

Key Takeaways:

00:32 Who I Am and Why I Care About This

01:52 The Bodybuilding Identity Crash

04:16 The Mental Health Piece Coaches Ignore

07:12 Prep Brain and Why It Doesn’t Shut Off

10:01 Rethinking Training After the Show

11:23 Rebuilding Trust With Food

15:46 Why Meal Rhythm Matters Post Show

18:20 Hunger Hormones, Food Noise, and Emotional Eating

20:16 Final Thoughts on Post-Show Recovery

Links Mentioned: