Why You’re Not Recovering From Your Runs (And How to Fix It on a Plant-Based Diet)

In this episode, sports dietitian and Greenletes founder Natalie Rizzo breaks down the most common mistakes runners make when it comes to recovery, especially on a plant-based diet, and how to fix them so you can feel stronger, faster, and more energized.

You’ll learn:

•  Why under-fueling is the #1 reason runners struggle to recover 
•  What the research actually says about the post-run recovery window (hint: it’s more than 30 minutes) 
•  How to properly time your post-run snack and meal for better energy and less soreness 
•  The key nutrients plant-based runners need to watch (like iron, B12, and vitamin D) 
•  Why hydration and electrolytes can make or break your recovery 

Plus, Natalie shares simple, realistic plant-based meal and snack ideas you can start using right away.

🎯 Free Resource:
 Start the Plant-Based Performance Reset: a free 7-day course to help you fuel smarter, recover better, and run stronger. Sign up here!

Apply to work with Natalie for 1-on-1 nutrition coaching! 

Have questions or want to request a show topic? DM us @greenletes

Check out Natalie's book 📕: Planted Performance

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Do you ever finish a run and think, why do I feel so exhausted the next day? Maybe your legs feel heavy, you're constantly sore, or your energy just isn't bouncing back. If that sounds familiar, it's probably not your training. It's actually your nutrition. But more specifically, how you're recovering after a workout, especially if you're plant-based. I'm Natalie Rizzo, sports dietitian and founder of Greenleeds, where I help runners fuel their fitness with plants so they can recover stronger, run faster, and actually enjoy your training. And today I'm breaking down the most common reasons you're not recovering from your workout and exactly how you can fix them. Because here's the truth recovery isn't just about rest days or foam rolling. Recovery starts the second you end your run. And what you do in the hours after that run matter so much more than most runners realize. So I'm gonna break down a few reasons that you may not be recovering properly after a run, specifically with your nutrition and how we can fix them. So the first one is that you're underfueling. The one issue I see by far is that most runners just aren't eating enough. And this is especially common with plant-based runners because high fiber foods are filling, so it's easy to under-eat them without realizing that you're not getting enough calories in your diet. Plant-based foods just tend to be less calorically dense than animal foods, so you may be eating less than you actually need, especially if you're plant-based. So if you're skipping snacks or eating light meals or trying to eat clean, you're probably not replacing the calories you burn. Think about this: you go for a run, you burn a few hundred calories, and then you just move on with your day without really eating those few hundred calories back. You can't expect your body to recover from a workout if you don't give it enough energy to do so. So you need to make sure that you are fueling before your run, making sure you have enough carbs to get you through that run, and that you're actually replacing the energy that you burn during that run with the enough calories, but also with carbs to restock glycogen stores and protein to help your muscles recover. It's not just about what you eat after your run, it's about what you eat all day long. So you're making sure that you're getting in enough calories throughout the day to make sure that you have enough for your body to be nourished. And then after the run, you're also recovering with carbs and protein. And we have a past podcast and a past video about this. The Green Leeds Fueling Framework lays down exactly what you need to eat before, during, and after your run. So go back and listen to that if you want a little more. But the lowdown on that is basically carbs before, carbs give you the energy, carbs and protein after that helps you recover. And we'll get more specifically into that in a minute. Reason number two, maybe you're missing the recovery window. So there's a lot of talk online about an anabolic window after a workout. And what that essentially means is that there's a certain amount of time where your muscles can really take up fuel and help you recover so that you feel better for the next day, so that your muscles grow stronger, something called muscle protein synthesis, which helps your basically generate growth in the muscle. That's how you get stronger and faster. This anabolic window, there's been studied over a long period of time, and people for a long time thought you have to eat within the first 30 to 60 minutes after a workout. Research has kind of debunked that and shown that this anabolic window can last for a long period of time, up to 24 hours. So it's really about making sure that you get a recovery meal in after a workout, and it could be a snack and then a meal later that gets you that growth that you want, but not neglecting that after a workout, you do need to take in some fuel to help with that muscle protein synthesis. So maybe you're skipping your post-run meal or you're waiting too long to eat, and you've, again, you've heard about this 30-minute recovery window, right? So here's what the act the research actually shows. There's really a one to two hour window after where you run where good things happen. Basically, you're replenishing like your glycogen stores. Glycogen is that stored form of carbs that your body uses during a run, and you're starting the muscle repair. So I like to think of it in two phases, this post-run recovery window. Basically, the first 30 to 60 minutes is when your body is the most efficient at refilling these energy stores. And this is when I like to recommend runners take in some sort of snack. Because a lot of times after a run, you're not feeling like you are hungry. I can give you an example from myself. I'm training for a half marathon right now, so I'm doing double digit runs, low double-digit runs on the weekends, 10 miles, sometimes eight or nine, which is not double digits. But some days I am so hungry after that run, and some days I have zero appetite for the rest of the day. But you know what I still prioritize? Making sure I get in that recovery snack after that run. And for some people, that's a simple smoothie. That's myself. I like a simple smoothie. I also sometimes keep breakfast burritos in my freezer with tofu in them and beans and salsa if my stomach can tolerate a little bit more. If I can't really have anything at all, maybe it's just a little bit of edamame with some grapes, a very small snack that I can get something in. So that's in my phase one, is that small snack. Phase two is about two hours after your run. Your body is still primed for recovery. It's just slightly less efficient at that time. But you still want to take in something in that two-hour window, that's where a meal comes in, because that's how you're going to help continue that recovery process. And also, this helps you control appetite. For anyone who's ever been completely ravenous hours after a run, you know that a lot of times that comes from not recovering properly. So that two-hour, three-hour window later after the workout, that's when you take in the meal. And the way I kind of go about it is waiting for the hunger to kind of come back. Now, if you're dealing with nausea, GI issues, you may not have that hunger come back at all. But think about it from two to three hours post-run. That's when you're going to take in a little bit, something bigger that's more well balanced with carbs, protein, and maybe a little bit of fat. So if you wait a few hours to eat, especially after a long or hard run, you're maybe slowing down the recovery process. And that can show up as you may have more soreness, you may have lower energy the next day, or you're just feeling like your legs never fully bounce back. So here's the practical takeaway from this. This instead of stressing about a strict 30-minute reel rule, here is kind of what I recommend. Try to eat within 60 minutes, have it be a small snack, and then if you can, have a full meal two hours later. Now I'll always get questions about protein shakes, and I do think that a protein shake can be beneficial for you if you're just so tired. It's a convenience food, but protein shakes don't have the carbs you need. So if you're gonna have a protein shake, have a piece of toast with it, have something that harves carbs because you need that to help you recover. And carbs refill that energy for the next time you're gonna run, protein repairs the muscles. So here's some other easy plant-based options. A smoothie with soy milk and fruit, that's gonna give you the protein and the carbs. A rice bowl with tofu, toast with peanut butter and banana. Reason number three that you may not be recovering after a run. This one gets a little more into the nitty-gritty, but you may not be eating the right balance of micronutrients, especially if you're plant-based. There's a few nutrients that can impact your recovery, and if you're not getting enough of them, you may not feel great. So certain things like iron. Iron is harder to get on a plant-based diet. It's in plant-based foods, but the body doesn't absorb plant-based iron as well as it does iron from animal foods. If you're low on iron, you may feel fatigued during the run and you may feel fatigued after the run. Figuring out your iron levels is as simple as asking your doctor to do a blood test and check if your ferritin is low. You do not want to supplement with iron unless you know that you're deficient in iron because you can overload on iron. But if you are deficient in iron, then you may that may be affecting your recovery. Also, vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is made in the stomach of animals. So it's not really in plant-based foods. Because of that, it's harder to get on a plant-based diet, but it's not impossible. Not everyone will be deficient. You can take a B12 supplement, you can get it in fortified foods like plant milks, nutritional yeast, plant uh meats. So it's not impossible to get, but again, this is something you could check with a simple blood test. And vitamin B12 plays a huge part in your energy levels. It actually helps with glucose metabolism. So it helps your body take in the energy from food and turn it into glucose, which gives you energy for your run. Vitamin D is another one that's hard to get on basically any diet unless you eat a lot of fatty fish. So vitamin D supports muscle function, and a lot of people end up deficient in vitamin D as well. And then there's hydration, which is one of the most overlooked parts of recovery and most overlooked parts of running in general. So a lot of people don't hydrate well enough during their run. They don't take enough electrolytes if they're running in hot or humid weather, and they don't take enough electrolytes if they're running for longer than 60 minutes and they're losing them in sweat. And being dehydrated, even if you fueled perfectly, even if you fueled perfectly, if you're dehydrated, you're gonna feel it later. You're gonna get headaches, you're gonna be fatigued. So making sure that you are the type of person who always has a water bottle with you, you're sipping throughout the day, and you are sipping throughout your workout. That will help your recovery later in the day. So basically, if you're sweating during your runs, especially during longer runs, drinking enough water is imperative, but drinking enough water plus electrolytes may be what you need to help you recover better. So to wrap this all up, there were three things we talked about here in terms of why you're not recovering properly. One, you are underfueling your life. You're not nourished, you're not eating enough calories, you're not eating enough protein throughout the day. It happens a lot on a plant-based diet. Two, you are not taking in that recovery wheel meal in that window after the workout to help your muscles recover and help your glycogen be restored. You're missing out on certain nutrients, or maybe you're not hydrating well. So if you're not recovering well, it's usually not one big thing though. It could be a small, a few small things. You may be doing some of those things that we talked about. But the good news is these are all fixable. And when you fix them, you will see the difference almost immediately in your energy. I'll give you an example from myself. I was not taking in enough electrolytes for my runs because I tend to be a heavy sweater who is a salty sweater. I get salt kind of on my face. So I started using electrolytes during my runs, and the headaches that I was feeling post-run went away immediately. Simple things like that can make a huge difference in your energy, your soreness, and your performance overall. So if you want a simple done-for-you way to fuel your runs and recover properly, I have all of this in a free seven-day course on my website. It's a plant-based performance reset, which you can download and start for free for seven days. You get tips sent to you on all of this: fueling for performance, recovery, all around nutrition. It's super helpful. And you can subscribe right now, go to the link in the show notes or go to the link in the description below. You can start the course right now. And if you found this helpful, make sure you subscribe or follow along for more plant based fueling tips for runners. I appreciate you being here. Again, I'm Natalie, the founder of Greenleads, and I'll see you in our next episode.