You train hard. You eat carefully. You are doing everything right. So why are you not recovering well, feeling flat by mid-afternoon, or not making the progress you expected? The answer, more often than not, is underfuelling. And according to Brisbane sports dietitian Claire Bates, it is the single most common mistake she sees in women who exercise regularly, and most of them have no idea it is happening. In this episode, Leanne sits down with Claire from Nutrition Foodition, an accredited practising dietitian and sports dietitian who works with everyone from recreational gym goers to half Ironman triathletes, for one of the most practical and genuinely useful conversations this podcast has had on exercise nutrition. If you exercise and you want to feel better, recover faster, and actually see results, this one is worth your full attention. In this episode: Why underfuelling around training is the most common mistake Claire sees in women, including the difference between intentional underfuelling for weight loss and the accidental kind that quietly erodes your results Walking, Pilates, and low-intensity sessions: do you actually need to eat beforehand, and when does it matter? Runs under 10K on an empty stomach: when it is fine, when it is not, and the one question to ask yourself before deciding What happens to your glycogen stores during runs over an hour, why hitting the wall is a purely nutritional event, and exactly how much carbohydrate to consume per hour during longer efforts Why lollies, gels, and juice poppers are just as effective as a banana before training, and the science behind why your body genuinely does not care whether the carbohydrate came from a whole food Gym sessions, FitStop, CrossFit, and HIIT: the pre-workout fuelling window, what 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate looks like in practice, and how to train your gut if early morning eating feels impossible right now Body composition goals: how to drop body fat and build muscle without accidentally eating your own muscle mass, and why going too low too fast always backfires The protein timing myth: why the post-workout window is not as tight as the fitness industry has told you, and what actually matters more The red flags that signal your body is chronically underfuelled, including irregular periods, persistent injuries, slow recovery, afternoon energy crashes, and mood swings How to stop the pattern of underfuelling all week and overeating on weekends without it feeling like a restriction Claire's go-to supermarket meals for busy women who do not have time to meal prep, including her favourite quick salad kits, dressings, and protein combinations that take less than five minutes to pull together Find Claire Bates: Instagram and TikTok: @nutritionfoodition Website: nutritionfoodition.com.au Brought to you by Garmin Today’s episode is proudly supported by Garmin. The new Garmin Venu 4 helps you train smarter and recover better with advanced sleep coaching, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, on-wrist coaching, lifestyle logging for caffeine, alcohol and stress, over 80 sports apps, mindfulness tools, a built-in LED flashlight, and multi-day battery life. Learn more at garmin.com.au. Work with Leanne or her team: Lean Gut Mind Method, Leanne's premium 1:1 coaching program: fully personalised nutrition plans, daily support, and a dietitian matched specifically to your goals. Visit https://leangutmindmethod.com/ Leanne Ward Nutrition Virtual Clinic: single consults, review consults, and nutrition packs covering hormones, perimenopause, gut health, fat loss, body recomposition, busy mums and more. All consults are virtual, available worldwide. Visit: https://leannewardnutrition.com/virtual-clinic/ If this episode opened your eyes, please share it in your Instagram stories. Tag Leanne at @leannewardnutrition. This is exactly the kind of conversation that needs to reach more women.
