You're not eating badly. You're eating too little 🍽️

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Friday September 11 · Beginners · Part 3

After so many days on marathons, Chicago and the autumn that's finally here, I think it's time to come back to basics. And it's been a while since I wrote about nutrition.

No supplements, no complications. What to eat before running, what after, and why most beginners get it wrong in the opposite direction to what they think.

Ten years watching the same pattern

Beginners don't eat badly.
They eat too little.

🍽️ The question I get every season

"Henri, which supplement do you recommend?" And every season my answer disappoints slightly: none.

They show up to train with the tank half empty, recover badly, plateau, and end up thinking the problem is their body, their genetics, or the absence of some magic powder.

The real problem is more boring: unintentional chronic caloric deficit, disguised as "I'm eating healthy".

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REASON

Many people start running with weight loss as a goal. That creates the association "running = restricting food" — when running raises daily expenditure, and that expenditure needs replacing for the body to adapt to training.

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL REASON

Training stress leaves measurable traces — inflammation, oxidative stress, muscle damage — that need substrate to resolve [PMID:41922043]. Without it, it isn't that nothing happens: it accumulates.

And it's more common in recreational runners than competitive ones, because competitive athletes usually have closer nutritional monitoring. The Tuesday-and-Thursday club runner logging 25-30 km a week who "eats normally" is often in deficit without knowing it.

⏱️ What to eat before running

No secrets here, just basic physics: available, digestible carbohydrate, low fat, low fibre, and enough time to digest.

2-3 HOURS	A normal meal, with carbohydrate as the base — rice, pasta, bread, oats, fruit — some protein and moderate fat. Nothing exotic.
30-60 MIN	Something simple and fast-digesting: a banana, toast with honey, a handful of dates. Avoid fat, fibre and large amounts of protein — they're the most common cause of GI trouble while running.
FASTED	If the session is under 45-60 min at low-moderate intensity, you probably don't need to eat. But if it includes intervals, tempo, or runs over an hour, it'll cost you quality — you'll feel like you "have no legs", and that's probably exactly it.

The practical rule I use: if you finish training with extreme hunger, dizziness, or a sharp energy crash mid-session, you ate too little or mistimed it. Adjust there — don't guess.

🥛 What to eat after

This is the part most neglected — and the most important if you train three or more times a week.

🍚 Carbohydrate — to replace the muscle and liver glycogen you spent.

🥚 Protein (20-30 g) — to start muscle protein synthesis and repair training microdamage.

💧 Fluids and sodium — to replace sweat losses, especially after long or hot sessions.

In practice: chocolate milk and a piece of fruit. Yoghurt with granola. A turkey sandwich. Rice and eggs. You don't need isolate protein powder or recovery gels.

If you train hard, then "aren't hungry" and skip the next meal, that's exactly the pattern that creates the chronic deficit.

Loss of appetite after intense effort is physiologically normal. But it isn't a sign you don't need to eat — it's a sign you need something easy to get down, even without the appetite.

⚖️ The "run more, eat less" trap

Many people start running partly with body composition goals. That's fair. But aggressive restriction isn't the most efficient or the most sustainable strategy.

There's evidence that circadian dysregulation of adipose tissue — eating at erratic hours, sleeping badly, training chronically fasted without structure — carries cardiometabolic implications independent of body weight [PMID:41752941].

That describes exactly the runner who trains at 5am, skips breakfast, runs a deficit all day, and wonders why nothing improves. The problem isn't only how much they eat, but when, and how consistently.

My read as a coach

A recreational runner's body composition improves more, and faster, when the body has enough energy to train well, recover, sleep better and hold consistency — than when the deficit is chased as the primary goal.

Aggressive deficit kills consistency. And consistency is the only thing that genuinely moves the needle.

🚩 Signs you're eating too little

These are the flags I check first when an athlete plateaus or gets injured with no clear biomechanical cause:

›	Fatigue that doesn't improve with more rest
›	Frequent colds or infections
›	Irregular or absent menstrual cycle
›	Recurring bone injuries — stress fractures, persistent shin splints
›	Irritability, feeling cold constantly, poor sleep
›	Performance stagnating despite training well

None of these is an automatic diagnosis. But several together, in someone who also "watches what they eat carefully", are reason enough to raise it with a healthcare professional and review total quantity — not just quality.

🎄 And since December is coming...

We're approaching the season where a lot of people panic about eating too much. Worth saying now, with time to spare: the same principle applies in both directions.

Food isn't the enemy of training, and a week of celebrations doesn't erase three months of consistency. What does erase progress is walking into January with the logic of compensating through restriction — exactly the pattern this whole email is about.

There's nothing revolutionary in any of this, and that's the point. The average runner's nutrition doesn't need to be complicated — it needs to be enough.

Before buying the next gel, the next bar or the next powder, ask yourself honestly whether you're eating enough for the volume you're training. That question solves more problems than any supplement on the market.

📖 Full article — 3 PMIDs · 9 min · the six practical recommendations

🇺🇸 Read full article → 🇪🇸 Leer en Español →

Your question today

Do you eat something within an hour of your training sessions?

Yes or no. It's the shortest answer I'll ask you for, and the one that changes most if it's "no".

Have a good weekend. Tomorrow we close with something lighter.

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