Episode 36: Fueling for performance: Support the work you're doing

This week on Dirt Nap Diaries, I’m talking about eating for performance and why trying to lose weight while training for an ultra can backfire fast. We get into underfueling, heavy legs, poor recovery, brain fog, and why carbs are not the enemy. I also talk about the pressure, especially on women, to shrink themselves while asking their bodies to do really big things, plus a quick Cocodona training update and a "foster" dog (Kaibab aka Kai) update because she's now the producer of this podcast.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why weight loss and peak endurance performance do not go well together
• Signs you may not be eating enough
• Hunger, recovery, and weight fluctuations after long runs
• Why eating carbs matters for endurance athletes
• The pressure to look a certain way in running and why you do not need to shrink yourself to be a better runner

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey y'all, welcome back to Dirt Nap Diaries. I'm your host, Brittany Olsen, trailrunner, women's trailrunning coach, hype woman, and professional overpacker of the mid-run snacks. This show is for the everyday trailrunner, the ones training on real-life legs and real life time. You've got work, relationships, laundry, pets, a group text that never shuts up, and maybe a big goal sitting quietly in the back of your head that you're not totally sure you're allowed to want. You're not out here chasing podium spots, you're chasing finish lines, sunrises, and maybe a little sanity. This podcast is about trail running, but it's also about navigating life. The hard seasons, the joyful ones, and the ones where everything feels like too much. So let's get into it. Obviously, personal life update. So uh first of all, had another great long training run on the first 36 and a half miles of the Coca-Dona course on um Saturday, and the day before I did a five-hour um long uh Verdi run. Um, so lots of climbing. Uh went up goat camp at the white tanks and all the way up to the towers and then back down. I did shut it down actually half hour. It was supposed to be five and a half hours, but something felt weird. Um I didn't feel hot, didn't feel hungry, didn't feel dehydrated, but I was off. Um sometimes you can just feel that. I don't know um if you guys ignore that or just keep moving. I didn't feel good about it. And I knew I had a really long day the next day that I really wanted to nail, so um I just knocked off a half hour. I got back to my car and went home and felt fine after a while. So I don't know. Sometimes those things happen. Um I had a little bit of a cold though, also, or something after like I could tell that like a couple days later. So maybe that was just telling me, hey, something's happening to your body. But either way, feeling okay today, which is good. Um and the training run went fantastic on Saturday. Uh it took, I don't know, I was out there about 11 hours or so. Um the best I've done out there, I think. I ate and at the end I was like doubling up on gels because I was getting hungry. My body was just like wanting food. So it's a good thing. Like I was able to eat and drink the whole time. Um, did did the thing I needed for me. Um, and it just went really, really well. So again, it's always nice to get point-to-point on that course. Getting to do the hardest part is great. I've done it twice this training block now, so feeling good. Um outside of running though, uh, I think I mentioned last week uh we got a foster dog. Uh her name was Little Mama when we got her, and that didn't fit. So we have named her Kaibab, aka Kai. Uh, for those of you who don't know, uh the Kaibab uh trail, so it's in South Kaibab to North Kaibab. That's the main corridor trail in the Grand Canyon, so that's where that comes from. Um it is Paiute for uh upside down mountain, which makes sense for the Grand Canyon. So we're calling her Kai. Um probably a phosphoryl. I've been looking for a dog for a while, so um, she's fantastic. We're crate training, uh, and that's been the hardest part, and it hasn't even that hard. She's just so good at everything else. Like she's came potty trained, she lived somewhere before, that's for sure. Um, so either way, she is recording her first podcast today. She is behind me, um, just laying on her back, paws up in the air, totally relaxed on the bed. So uh she's having a good, a good day. Actually, a good life now. It's been it's been almost a week, and uh yeah, she uh she was actually said to be euthanized last Tuesday. So uh yeah, which is totally crazy. Not a thing like wrong with her, not that I think people should euthanize dogs just because anyway, but like she is totally chill, totally sweet, loves attention, is not super food motivated, but she can make crate training a little harder. But uh she's bringing a lot of joy into our house, so it's been it's been fun. So outside of that, uh training, dog crate training, uh just doing all the things. So outside of that, we are going to talk about food today. And it's not the whole what to eat in a day. Again, it's not gonna be super science-y or anything like that. We are gonna talk about eating for performance for sure, but I'm not gonna get into like this is everything you should eat, like this is why we eat this way and all these things. It's more about how a lot of people, um, when I talk to them, they're they're trying to fast or they just don't want to eat too much because they want they want to like lose some weight too, but they're training for an ultra. And it's not really a it's not really a good thing to try to lose weight and train for an ultra at the same time, only because of the food we need to eat to be able to not only run, but also recover and even like function in our day-to-day life so we're not fatigued all the time. So it's coming up now. It's something that's been on my brain for a while. Um, and I'm gonna have to do another episode to get really into more things about how, especially women, we try to shrink ourselves. Um, but like I'm just seeing it more lately. Uh, I'm I'm seeing it from friends, from athletes, uh on in the online space, and I'm like, I can't believe I'm seeing it more. And I don't know if it's whatever I'm Googling or what's happening with coaching, but like uh when I when I Google stuff for coaching, I was like, maybe, maybe I'm just that's why it's popping up on different places, but I'm seeing a lot more about like losing weight and training for an ultra. Um and it seems like people just like are eating less. Um, it's more because they're worried about what they look like. And it is okay, I want to say this, it is okay to want to lose weight. I have mentioned this um earlier, like I've lost about 13 to 15 pounds before I really jumped into um higher volume um in this training block because I did have some goals and I was running, and I could tell that my running was uh definitely like heavier and it wasn't um as efficient as I'd like it to, and it was because I had gained some weight. Um, so like I did focus on that for a while, but that was before my volume went up in this training block. So there's nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight, but if you're focusing on running and ultra and your volume is higher and losing weight, it can be definitely a disaster uh for you. So um, but at the same time too, like people will be do this and they're like, they feel like, man, I feel super tired. Oh, my legs feel heavy, oh my runs feel like shit. And many times it's definitely a fueling issue. Um, and not just like during your runs, but even before and after, just throughout. So this episode is just really gonna get into um all of that. So um, but these things are connected, not eating enough and you being tired or your legs feeling heavy, or like your day-to-day, even just being tired all the time. You don't get to underfuel and then be confused why your body isn't showing up for you. Um, so you can underfuel, but don't be confused why your body isn't showing up as you need it to for you. Um, don't be surprised if you're not getting faster. Don't be surprised if your runs feel worse. Um, don't be surprised if strength training is harder. Don't be surprised if you have a rest day and you are just trying to do your day-to-day life and you feel tired. Um, there are reasons for that. And normally it's a lot of it when it had to come if you're underfueling, that's where that comes from. Okay. So here's what I'm gonna say, and I'm gonna say it clearly, and some of you may not agree with me, and that's okay. You cannot chase weight loss and peak per peak endurance performance at the same time. And again, that doesn't mean weight loss is bad. It doesn't mean that at all. There is nothing wrong with wanting that for yourself. Obviously, there's body dysmorphia, there are other things going on, right? Don't get me wrong, there are things that are out there, but I'm generalizing right now. Um, weight loss, wanting to lose some weight is not necessarily a bad thing. Okay. But if you start chasing that weight loss, if you start cutting calories in your daily life, if you start counting everything that you put in you, if you decide to eat less while you're running instead of doing what you're what you're planning to do because you want to lose weight, you are not going to perform like you want to, and your body's gonna be pretty fucking angry. So, what does that anger look like in your body? Um, it could be as just simple as like, again, the like fatigue, the tiredness, all of that. It could lead to being uh more nauseous out there. It could lead to struggling to eat after your run or struggling to eat in subsequent days after a long run, especially. Um, brain fog is another one, not just during the run, but you're trying to work, you're trying to live life, you're just trying to do normal stuff. Um, it can also lead to like other things outside of like what your body's feeling. It could lead to just like missing out on things with your friends. Um, part of that could be, hey, like your mind could be going, like, I can't eat out, like I need to, you know, I want to lose this weight. So you just don't eat out. Um, so you don't go out friends, you miss that. Another reason why you might miss out, like going out with friends or family or whoever it is you're gonna see, uh, is because you're just so tired because you are not fueling your body well enough to be able to perform just day-to-day stuff that you normally would be able to. So again, I don't want anybody to like feel bad about wanting to like lose weight either. I'm gonna mention a lot because I that I don't want to invalidate that, but there's a time to focus on that and then a time to focus on performance. They do not go hand in hand at the same time. So it will come at a cost. So let me say this too. Yes, sometimes weight changes during training. Uh, you could have losses, you could even have gains. Like, that's what people I think are really surprised at. Like, how am I gaining weight? Like, what the heck? Um, many times, not always, and it also depends how you're eating too. Some things can balance out. Um, there are days where, especially think about this, like for long runs and going into a long run, there's probably a little bit more carb intake. It definitely during the long runs, you're taking in more carbs. Um, and that can lead to some bloating. Um, that can lead to a little bit of water retention or a lot of water retention. We're taking in sodium too while we're out there running, hopefully. Um, so we get these weight fluctuations, and then like it's like, oh my God, I gained weight. I don't weigh daily, I don't even weigh weekly. I don't even know how often I weigh. I only have a scale because of the last few months. Um, so, but that's gonna fluctuate day to day, even in training, even if you are eating what you would consider like we'll call it perfectly, um, you are taking in more carbs during that run. So you're gonna have those fluctuations. I know during or after my long run on um Saturday, I mentioned I was out there 11 hours. I was feeling pretty hungry by the end. And then by the time I ate, I ate a little bit, and then I was like, oh my god, I can't eat. Like I came home and c and uh Greg had made quesadillas and he made me one and it was full of like veggies and meat and black beans and all of that, and I couldn't eat till the next day. Like, and the next day is when I ate a ton. So I'm not so when you s when I saw myself like the next day, and I will weigh myself between long run, like if I have a long run, just to make sure like I'm not losing too much weight or I'm drinking enough, like I mean I looked super, super like just teeny tiny. Um, and it was just it was kind of weird, but it made me realize, like, well, like yesterday you didn't eat enough afterwards, not because I didn't want to, because I couldn't. So today, when you're hungry, you need to eat. So I ate a lot more on Sunday. And I didn't eat the stuff that people consider the best for me. I ate stuff that was salty because my body was craving salt. I ate some carbs. I definitely ate protein because I need that for recovery. Why am I telling you what I'm doing? And why don't that do with weight fluctuation? It's because many times when you do a hard effort, that same day it can be difficult to eat, especially the longer that effort, at least for me and a lot of people that I that I work with and I talk to. Uh, it's also uh as the temperatures get hotter too, especially I know here in Phoenix, SoCal, and you know, other places get hot too. North Carolina, Georgia, you know, all the southern states that get that humidity. It can just be harder that same day or until later that day of the long run to eat more. Um, it can be even harder than the heat during a normal, like shorter session, too. So, but the long runs make it difficult. However, you may be like, oh my gosh, I can lose weight because I didn't eat as much after my long run. More than likely your body's gonna be on fire for food the next day. So that can be why those weight changes happen. Sometimes, like I said, it's just bloating, water retention, hormones, like we gotta keep those in mind. But those are just a little bit of nuances there. I just want to bring those up so you know. I don't like to just be generalized all the time. It doesn't work because as endurance athletes, things are different. Um, but if you're actively trying to be in a deficit while increasing that that running volume, um, that's where things start to break down. Um, if your goal is to run longer, if your goal is to get stronger, if your goal is to run faster, if your goal is to recover better, you have to eat like someone doing those things. There is no caveat to that. There is no ex maybe except no. If your goal is to run longer, get faster, feel stronger, recover better, you have to eat like someone doing those things. Period. Okay. Said that twice. Hopefully that sticks. Um now, why is it that like we do want to like we we get focused on that weight loss? Like, I know people like, I know I need to eat more, like I have this, and I have these goals and I want to do this, but like they still get kind of stuck in their brain. And this is not me making fun of that. I have been there, I have tried to shrink myself to fit into like that ideal body that we are all that we all see, right? That's talked about, that people tend to marvel at, right? Um we've been taught to be smaller, especially soon. I'm talking to you women. I'm not saying men are not taught to be anything, but when Dad Bod came out, that was like so cool. But like women are taught to be smaller. We are taught that we need to look a certain way to be pleasing aesthetically. You know, we are taught that we um I'm gonna give an example here. Uh, and I don't think I've brought this up before, but like there are women who um are super, super, super skinny and they have had an eating disorder. And when people have have heard their story, they feel some kind of way about them. They feel like, oh my gosh, like this person like really definitely like needs some help here. You know, they have a lot of empathy, I guess. And some people have that sympathy for them, right? So there's that level. Then you have women who are larger bodied, who face a lot more judgment, um, who have uh potentially an eating disorder or disordered eating or something else, food noise, something else going on that is also mental health related. The same as this person who who is very, very tiny um and is working their way through that too. However, because of how our society views people, they view these larger body individuals as lazy. Um, they're not doing what they need to do. Um, they they don't see this as like a mental health thing. So that is where like cultural things are that we see and like expectations that we see. It is absolutely wrong we should have empathy um for all people who have like mental health issues, especially with like the food pieces, um, and even like we can even put alcohol into that. Like some people who see alcoholic, some have empathy, some are like just super super judgy, right? Either way, it is it is a mental health thing. So, why am I bringing up that up here? Because that's what we're fighting through. Like, we have people who are, you know, larger bodied, and that's totally fucking fine, guys, just so you know, but they are working through some things for themselves and they don't have the same support. And our culture teaches us that we need to be a certain weight. So people on on each end of the spectrum um aren't always getting the help they need, but also that that support for larger bodied for somebody who is super, super just like underweight, it's not the same. Um, so then we try to shrink ourselves because we want to fit into those expectations, we want to fit into the culture. Um, but we see it especially like women in endurance sports, and not even just endurance sports. Sorry, that you know I shouldn't do that. Sports people will comment on a woman's body before they comment on a man's body. Um, if somebody is, especially if somebody is larger bodied again, like people will comment. Um I don't know how many of you out there have run like longer distances. I figure a lot of you, because you're listening to this podcast, but there are times where like I've ran races and like right away I am just like my stomach is just like sticking out, like it's distended, and that's just all it is because I've had a lot of carbs, there's a lot of stuff happening in my body, my organs are like, what the fuck did we just do? So like uh, but I have seen other women look this way after race who've won races, who are elite athletes. Uh Lucy Bartholomew is one of um those that I'm thinking of who people have made comments about her. Um and like sometimes after race, you're just super bloated. People will just comment on that. Um, and then I've had races where I finish and I'm like, Jesus Christ, I I look like where like I'm not this like I'm not this small, like I need to eat. But then people see me and they're like, oh, you look great, right? So you get those comments like that, and it does kind of feel good, right? When somebody tells you you look great, doesn't that feel good? So I get where that comes from. Um, another example, uh, this is just a personal of mine. I was having a lot of stomach issues a few years ago. I mean, I have a sensitive stomach anyway, but we were figuring out what was going on with me. Um, I was working with a naturopath, but right before um I went and saw this naturopath, like I went out to eat and I got a picture taken of me, and I hadn't been running a lot, I hadn't been lifting out, I was just exhausted because like I wasn't able to eat like I wanted to, and I was just so freaking tired. Um, and I was like I looked at the picture of me and I'm like, ugh, like that's skinny. Like that's not that's not Brittany, that's not me. And then I had people comment because the picture got posted, like, ah Britney, like you look so great. And then people are like, what did you do to lose weight? And that's and also and it's like, oh, great. I have a stomach issue, like I've got something going on, and like this is but people think I look great. For me, luckily I did not feel good enough, and like we got it figured out and I gained some weight back, and that was good. However, there are people who like will get those compliments too, and this is not a diss, it just is what it is who will who will thrive on that and and love that feeling, right? So it still shows though, even with that, that people put that we should be looking a certain way, like up on a pedestal. So I've probably hit that point too hard because most people know about this. But I guess what I'm gonna do is validate how you feel when you s when you are feeling like when you see people who look a certain way and people like glorify that, and how it can be like it makes you second guess like how you look and second guess what you're doing. But if you were focusing on you, your performance, how you're feeling, your recovery, your daily life, that is where you can figure out how you need to eat for you. Um there's almost like this weird badge of honor around eating less. Um and we should make a badge of honor on eating more, eating more, eating what's right for you, having something that people don't see as perfectly eating. Like it's okay to do that. There is nothing wrong with that. So just so you know, and eating less doesn't make you disciplined. It makes you underfueled. That's it. That's all it is. It's not making you disciplined. It might make you a little obsessive, too. So um and again, you can want to lose weight, that's not wrong, but trying to do it while training in a higher volume block, especially that's where you're working against yourself. And we don't want to work against yourself. We want you to do the things that you have set up to do, and that includes eating. And it means eating carbs, y'all. There is some dude online and he calls himself no carb runner. Just don't listen to him if you ever see him. Um, so but there are definitely just so you know, there's a lot of research article, and I am not getting into the research article, so I've looked into this too much, um, how no carbs, what it can actually do to you long term, um, what it does in the short term, why it can work for some people in the short term and why they think it will continue to work for them. But it also shows how your body actually starts to break down um when you don't get carbs in you. So just keep that in mind. You can go on the internet, by the way, and find any research you want that will accept, like, or that will be what you want it to be. You can find stuff that shows, like, oh look, they agree with me. I don't need to eat these carbs. But if you actually go into the science, like the actual scientific articles, the ones that have actual research, the ones that are real, you will find answers that you don't want to hear probably. Um, but it does talk about how athletes do need to be eating carbs, how they do need protein and fat too, how we need all the things. So just keep that in mind when you start reading articles, you know, make sure they're they're well, they want to be scientific, but they need to be peer-reviewed. There's a lot of different things. But also know that when you're Googling things, and if you're Googling hard enough, you're gonna find something that says what you want it to say. So try not to look in into it like that. Come at it from like a lens of I want to learn and I want to learn what's actually right for me and for my body and for my training. So, and I mentioned this earlier too. So, what does this actually look like? And I've already gotten to the real life stuff because I can't help but just weave stuff in and out. But like long run day, hey, he might not eat a ton after. Um, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, by the way, y'all. Um, I think it depends on how long it is, but and how like hot it is and all that stuff, like I mentioned earlier. Um, but like you want to eat before your long run, no fasted long, no fasted runs, period, um, with the intention for it to be fasted. Let me, and I'm saying that with the intention because there are some mornings where I get up super early and go for a run, and my body is not hungry. It is just not. Like, if I try to eat, it's like, nope, nope, it's not, it's not gonna happen. So, but I will also always carry food on me because I could be in the middle of a 45-minute to 60-minute run, all of a sudden I'm like, I could be 10 minutes in, and I'm like, oh, I'm kind of hungry. So I eat, just so you know. So I don't ever intentionally go out fasted. Like, I know maybe I haven't ate in the morning, but I'm always drinking water. Um, and then if I do get hungry or I feel something while I'm running, I am going to eat. So I nuance that because like I do have some people like, I didn't eat before I ran and I felt fine. I'm like, yeah, sometimes I don't know if it's a 45 minute to an hour long run. Um, because like I'm just not hungry that early in the morning. But typically, like, if you are hungry, you need to eat. Okay, but now before that, so that was shorter runs. Long runs, eat before. Figure it out. There are some mornings I have been up at three o'clock in the morning to go for a run. Um, and I had to figure out a way to get food in me. Um, and there are times where I will do a route knowing that I'm up super early. Uh, so I eat a little bit at least beforehand, but I'm like, I can't put any more footing fit anymore in me. And then I'll make a short route so I can route back to my car and actually eat some more food. So, but and just so that's the pre run. Post run, again, you might not be able to eat that much. What I'll do too is I will have like a protein shake afterwards, because sometimes that will help spark hunger for me, and I can get it down, and it gives me um some recovery too. Like it helps with that. Uh so sometimes just having some liquid calories afterward. Is helpful. I tend to lean towards a protein shake because we do need protein to recover. Oh, we do need carbs too. But protein is really good for that. So, but it can be anything liquid. I mean, I don't drink soda in my day-to-day life, but man, a coke, straight up coke, mmm, so good. You got the sugar, you got the bubbles, all that's so good. But even if you don't eat a ton after, when you do get hungry, fuel yourself. And I'm not saying you have to fuel yourself with something in particular. I say get the carbs, get the proteins, get the fats, like get it all. But for me especially, man, I'm always craving something salty afterwards. So like I make sure there's salt or I put extra salt on it. If I'm like if sometimes if I'm craving, that's uh that's when I might crave some different food. Um I am very well, I don't know if it's really strict I'm eating, but I'm a meal prepper, so like I eat my meals that I prep throughout the week, so it's just what I eat. Like it's just there and that's what I eat. But on those days whenever I may not have been super hungry after a long run, or even if it's the next day when I finally eat, um if I'm craving something, that's when I have it. Not because I think my body should like, oh look, I burn all these calories, so I can eat this thing that I don't normally eat. It's just more my my body's craving it. And it it's craving a higher calorie load, typically is what it is. Because it's like, hey, you did this thing, your body needs to recover, and you are gonna be moving again very soon. We need you to eat. And guess what? You're craving this hamburger and french fries right now. Uh, and just so just eat it. Just have it. Um, and I know I'm saying this, and I I'm not I'm not saying it flippantly, but I feel like I'm saying it kind of casually. I'm not saying it's not hard for people who do have eating disorders, have um any kind of other mental health issue, I'm not saying it is that easy, but it's something you can like hopefully work towards. Again, if you have different things that are out of my my scope of practice is not psychology or anything like that. So if you do need help with that, please like go talk to somebody. There are lots of people out there who are um educated and can provide that help. So I just want to throw that in there. But like if you're somebody um who just like is in your brain about like I need to look this way, you still might need therapy, but some of it just might be you gradually working on eating more um as you go. So keep it in mind. Um if you do need help, get it. Um, it is super, super important. Like, our bodies don't need just fuel, even if you're not an endurance athlete, we need to be able to eat to keep up with our lives. So, all right. So again, I mentioned this too. Like, if you are not hungry the day of the long run or you don't get hungry later, you're probably the next day or two gonna be hungrier. So eat. This lasts the long run I did because I did back-to-back ones. Sunday, I was pretty darn hungry, and then Monday, it wasn't Monday morning, but then Monday later in the day, like I got super hungry, and I didn't even do anything yesterday, like it was a complete rest day. Sometimes I do strength training on those days or some mobility. I didn't even do mobility. I was like, I'm kind of tired, my body's feeling it. And then I got hungry, so I ate. I don't even remember what I ate, but I think I ate some leftover Chinese food for breakfast. I did. I had sesame chicken and rice, just so you know. Um, not my normal breakfast, but it was there and I was hungry. So, and then as the day went on, like, so breakfast I was hungry. Later on the day, I felt like normal hunger, like the normal stuff, so I just ate, and then at the end of the day, like closer to the end of the day, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm really hungry. So I ate. Just ate. So, and just so you know it's normal. It's your body catching up. Eat then, that counts. So I'm not saying like don't eat after your long run. Like, if you feel hungry and you can eat, good. Like, do it. Totally do it. The whole point of this message to hope you get it. If you were hungry, eat. Um, some people, excuse me, do not have the um same hunger cues. Uh, some things need to be learned. Some people are on um GLP1 or some kind of other um obesity care meds. Those can impact hunger. This podcast is not going to get into those nuances um because, well, that would be a long podcast, and that is out of my scope. I would rather have somebody here talking about it than me talking about it. So, yes, there are other things that can happen as to why you're not feeling hunger if you're on um certain meds uh especially. So, like I I am very uh much to understand that, like, yeah, like sometimes I can't eat because literally these meds like cause this to happen to me. Very different thing. So um you are under hopefully like a doctor's care for that, and they are able to like work with you like on how to get food in. Maybe it's smaller, more frequent meals. Um, maybe it's just eating when you're hungry and then waiting like an hour and then trying to eat the rest of your meal. Again, totally different, but just so you know, I did want to throw that in there because like I know there are some reasons why, other reasons why we're not hungry. It's not just for the hard effort, it can be due to um different types of meds that you're on. So that's okay. Uh also, no, not every day is gonna look the same. There could be a long one where you can eat right after, there could be a long one where you can. There could be one day where you're super hungry and one day where you're not. All of that said, it's why we don't focus on weight loss and performance. Not the only reason. It's one of the reasons why we don't focus on weight loss and performance at the same time because there are so many fluctuations in how we eat throughout our day. I am not sitting here eating 1800 calories a day, and that's what I do. Boom, boom, boom, boom. That's not it. That's not how it works for performance. You can do that again if you're not focusing on running um a longer distance. And I'm gonna let you know, it's not just ultras, y'all. Like this can be like half marathons, this can be 10Ks. It depends on where you're at um in your running life and what your goals are. So this could this is not just for ultra running. Um, specifically, yeah, like the longer you run, the more you're gonna want to eat or the more you need to eat. But still, not every day can look the same. This these can be just new distances for you, um, or a distance you haven't done in a long time. And you're gonna have those fluctuations in how you eat, which means you're gonna have fluctuations on weight. So if you are focusing on weight loss in that performance and when you're trying to perform, you're gonna see a lot of different fluctuations because of the performing that you're doing. So your body doesn't reset every 24 hours. That's not what happens. There's not some like boop, okay, restart. What you're doing, um, I guess it's cumulative. Like, as that's the reason, like before you run a hundred-mile race, you don't run a hundred miles in one day, right? Like you train and you the whole block is just volume and intensity that makes your legs tired by the time you hit your long run. So you can kind of know what it feels like, and then you can practice eating, you know, when you have that cumulative fatigue. Um, but there is no like reset, it's not like that. It would be probably nice because it'd make things easier, but that's not how our body works. So just remember your body's not resetting every 24 hours, it's feeling everything that you've been doing. So also ignoring hunger because I already ate enough yesterday is not a good idea. Um, so and I just had a coughing fit there. Uh so but that's not how our bodies work. Again, it goes along with that we don't reset every 24 hours. If you are hungry, you need to eat. If you may have um an issue figuring out like the difference between hunger and boredom, that's a totally different thing. So we're not getting to that, but like if you are hungry, eat. And I'm not saying like eat a whole pizza. I'm not saying eat broccoli and rice and and and uh avocado and chicken. That's not what I'm saying. Eat, right? Um, I've kind of got away from the word moderation because uh just because of all the wellness influencers that just like talk about moderation so much. Um but I just want to like reiterate it is okay to have a burger and fries, it is okay to have some pizza, it is okay to have a calzone, it is okay to have some super nachos from Federico's, which is a 24-hour Mexican place here. Yes, I've eaten there. Um, and it's also okay, like, that you want chicken, broccoli, and rice and avocados. It's okay that you might want some salmon and couscous and asparagus, right? Like eat what your body's craving, especially whenever you've had a long run, you haven't been eating very much just because of the effort, but eat. That's the whole point of this. Again, it's not a lecture of what to eat, it's to eat. So let's like focus on like eat for what you're asking your body to do. Like I mentioned it earlier about how like if your goal is to run longer, feel stronger, get faster, be more efficient, recover better, you have to eat like someone who was doing those things. So this is this is really the point I want to drive home. All these points I want to drive home, but training is stress. Like it is stress on your body, it is it is creating stress, um, so you can actually do really, really big things. Food equals support, food supports, not the tra well, it's it's a stress, but it's the training, right? Food is there. You don't get to ask your body to do big things and then not give it what it needs to do them. You can do it, but you shouldn't. If you want to get faster, stronger, all the things I just said, you have to fuel your body for that. That also means drinking um the right things for you too, right? Like getting enough sodium in and all that too. But we're talking about food. So if you're asking your body to do something big, you have to have food to support what you want to do. That's it. Um, it's gonna give you energy during your runs, it's gonna give you recovery after your runs. If you are doing strength training, it's gonna help that strength training. Um, it's gonna help with your hormones, your sleep, your mood. All of those things, if you are fueling for performance, it's gonna be better for those things. I'm not saying I can fix your hormones because you're eating, by the way, but like you do need to have the right fuel to have energy during your runs, to recover after runs, to have strength training adaptations for those hormones of sleep mood. Yes, I repeated that. I repeat myself because people need to hear things seven to fifteen times for to stick, and I'm only saying it a couple times. So for the love of God, eat carbs too. Eat carbs, please. Like, please, please, please eat the carbs. There is no no no low carb option for us. Eat the carbs. Hope I got that across. Eat the carbs, eat the carbs, eat the carbs. Yeah, okay, got it. Um, so but again, not I'm not telling you exactly what to eat, but you do need to have that fuel in you to be able to support the stress of training, right? Um, also, I will add in this in just a little bit. Um, alcohol, I do. I have a beer now and again, I have a margarita from time to time. Um, but alcohol will not help with performance. There is nothing good about alcohol. There is and there's other things outside of alcohol that aren't really that great for us. Like, soda isn't super great for us, but like I have soda too, like I said during ultras. Man, sometimes I have a Coke, I like Coke Zero. I'm not sure. Like, I actually had a Coke Zero very recently in the past couple months, and it was so delicious. Um, but I also have a sparkling water addiction. So, but anyway, what I'm what I'm saying here is really when it comes to alcohol, I have had some athletes be like, man, like I don't I'm don't feel like I'm getting faster. Like I feel like uh like my my my workout this week, my hard workout was rough. And then we talk about it, it's like, well, there was like two work happy hours, and then they went to dinner with friends, you know, and there was a couple of drinks. I'm not judging taking in alcohol, just so you know, again, I do have um, I do drink alcohol, not all the time. I can't at Impacts Training too much, and that's the point of this. Like, that will also impact training. I will do a whole other episode on alcohol, but just adding that in, um, if you are, I know people who what they will do is when they do their long runs, especially, or just even when they're running through the week, they will they will make sure to eat like protein and maybe some fat and maybe a little bit of carbs, but they will actually save their carbs for alcohol, and that is not the kind of carbs you need for training. So some people might be like, well, that's basic common sense. However, there are people who do that because they do want to be smaller, they are still focused on losing weight outside instead of performance. So just something I'm not gonna have the alcohol. That was my whole alcohol spiel. Just want to throw that in there because that does it infects energy during run, the recovery after run, strength training, hormone, sleep mood, all of that too, um, but in the opposite direction of what fueling your body does. So that's not meant as a lecture. I'm not saying don't ever drink alcohol ever again, but keep in mind when you're training for something big, you might you're gonna want to limit that. Um, some people completely eliminate it, and there's nothing wrong with that. But those are not the carbs I'm talking about when I say for the love of God, eat carbs. All right, I think I made my point there. Thanks guys for listening. Uh, so now mention the signs you're not eating enough. I mean, I said like you're tired a lot, and not just during your run, but through your daily stuff. Your legs feel heavy, um, your runs feel harder than they should. You have a lot of cravings. Like you are continuously like having these cravings hit you. Maybe if you're thinking about food a lot. Uh, slower recovery. Uh, so like maybe you did your long run, you had a rest day, and then you went to run the next day, and you're and you didn't feel recovered at all. You're you could feel your heart rate was shooting up. Your effort was like supposed to be easy, but it was hard to hit that easy effort. And when you when you felt like you were in the easy effort, you were so much slower and sloggier. Like, that is definitely a sign you're not eating enough. You are super irritable. Oh man, I get hangry by the way. That might be one of the reasons I don't have a problem like eating, um, because I I get hangry. I mean, I have to eat or I am just a miserable bitch. Um, so like I make sure I eat. Um, but you will get more irritable. Um, and again, just the impact of training, like I mentioned, like it is gonna not help you hit your goals if you are not eating enough. So, again, that's not a discipline problem, that's an underfueling problem. So, we want to make sure you are eating. I don't know how many times I said we want to make sure you're eating, but I hope it's enough that it sticks. Um, all right, and let's let's think about this all as well as like we bring it back together. It's not about perfection. It's not about judgment, it's not about tracking every single thing, it's about consistency. It's about eating consistently for your performance. It's about not focusing um on weight loss while you're in those blocks. Um, it is also being okay with, hey, you know what? I'm in this block for training and I think I want to lose a few more, a few pounds, or maybe even 20 pounds, maybe 50 pounds, maybe a hundred pounds. I don't know where you're at in your journey. But when you are in working on these endurance blocks, especially, you have to focus on performance. And then you can make a future plan of, you know what? I'm gonna still run, but I'm gonna back off of these ultras or back off of this. I'm just gonna, you know, just keep my body moving because I love running. And then in that, then those moments you can think about, okay, like what does this look like for me to lose to lose weight? Like, how can I lose weight, still be able to live my life, um, and still run some, but like I'm not training for something big. So that's totally fine to think about and totally fine to do. Just don't do it while you're working on uh doing something fucking amazing that your body's going to need to be fueled for. Support the work that your body is doing. That's what it's about. So if you are working on running a longer distance for you, if you're coming back to running, whatever it is, support the work that you are doing about fueling for what you need. You don't need to shrink yourself to be a better runner either. You need support, you need to support yourself to become one. So some people feel like uh there's a certain body type uh for runners, not just runners, other athletes too. Um, but you don't actually have to shrink yourself to be a better runner, just so you know. Um, I don't I don't know where the narrative came from. Like, we need to look a certain way to be able to uh be be even be a runner, right? It's not even be a better runner, but be a runner. There is no perfect body type for that. Like if you run, you're you're a runner, period. It doesn't matter. I've had so many people, not even people who like want to lose weight, just people in general who are like, well, like I don't I don't look this way or I don't run this way, so like I'm not really a runner, and it's you're a runner, period. So don't feel the need to shrink yourself to be a runner or and to be a better runner. Like you actually don't have to. So if you are fueling yourself properly, you can be a better runner too. Just so you know. Okay. So if you're training for something, whether heck, it's your first trail run, your first 50k, or you're just trying to feel stronger out there, you have to eat like it matters because it does. Stop trying to make your body smaller while asking it to do bigger things. That's a losing game. Eat for your runs, eat for your recovery, and eat for your life. Don't shrink yourself, build yourself. Alright, thanks from so much for being here. Spending some time with me, listen to me yammer on and on because that's what I like to do. If you love the episode, make sure you download it, follow the show, leave a review or rating, share it with a friend. It really helps this podcast reach more and more people every week. So, now go move your body, drink some water, stretch your calves, and if you're listening while running, loosen your shoulders. You're welcome. Good effort, positive attitude.