Top 5 Nutrition Mistakes

Training might get all the glory but without smart nutrition, you're leaving performance gains on the table.

Too often, nutrition is the afterthought. The forgotten sidekick while training steals the spotlight. But here’s the truth. Without the right fuel, your body can’t adapt, recover, or perform at its best. After 7 years in private practice, I’ve seen firsthand how correcting just a few key nutrition mistakes can completely transform an athlete’s results. It’s time to stop sidelining your nutrition, let’s flip the script and tackle these 5 common nutrition mistakes that could be holding you back.

1. Back-Ending Your Nutritional Day

In our busy world of ‘New day new me’ mantras everywhere, I see so many clients start the day underfueled, only to crash later and raid the pantry when blood sugar levels hit rock bottom. Your body is primed for fuel in the morning after an overnight fast and a solid breakfast can make a big difference to your energy, recovery, and even body composition. Here’s why front-loading your day with good nutrition works (1,2).

→ It aligns with our circadian rhythms. Eating more earlier in the day, when your body is most active, supports better digestion, blood sugar control, and hormonal balance (3,4).

→ It supports your training. Especially if you train in the morning, eating before and after helps with energy, performance, and muscle recovery (5,6).

→ It reduces cravings later in the day. Including complex carbs, protein, and unsaturated fats keeps you fuller for longer and helps prevent afternoon or evening overeating.

If you feel you need help with this check out my meal plans online here, or reach out to me for a personalised plan.

2. Skimping on Protein

Insufficient protein intake over prolonged periods of time may lead to loss of muscle, fatigue, decrease immune function, hormone disruption, decrease transportation of numerous nutrients and increase satiety for sugar and fatty foods (7). 

→ Active women need around 1.4-2.2g of protein/kg/day (menopausal women should aim for the higher end) (8,9) 

→ Active men need 1.7-2.2g of protein/kg/day (10)

→ Athletes in a calorie deficit may need 2.3-3.1g/kg/day to maintain muscle (11)

3. Underfuelling

→ Under-eating can disrupt hormones, gut health, recovery, sleep, mood, and lead to fatigue, weight gain, and performance plateaus (12,13). 

→ Aim for around 45 kcal/kg of fat-free mass per day to support health and performance (14).

4. Not Fuelling After Training

Nutrition before and after training is key for fuelling exercise and supporting muscle recovery.

→ Consuming high-quality protein shortly after training, ideally within 60 minutes, can help maximise muscle recovery, especially if you haven’t eaten for a few hours beforehand (15).

→ Aim for 20-40g of high quality protein as close to finishing training as possible. Post-menopausal women should aim for the higher end to support muscle recovery and adaptation (16,17,18). 

→ Delaying eating post training, especially if you trained fasted, can limit your muscle-building response (19).

5. Choosing the Wrong Training/Racing Fuel

The ideal fuel source for each athlete is going to vary based on our physiology. Things like gender, gut tolerance, training load, diet, and how much you sweat should guide your choices. But many athletes skip this and copy what’s trending or what top athletes are doing, instead of choosing what actually suits their own body.

Some women and people with sensitive stomachs may struggle with sugars like fructose or in some cases maltodextrin. Choosing sports products with alternative carbs, like glucose blends, can be easier to tolerate (20,21,22,23). Consider trying;

• Huma Gel- Lemonaide 

• Naak- Ultra Energy Puree

• UnTapped - Energy Gel (<5% fructose)

• Maple Movement - Sap Fuel Energy Gel (<5% fructose)

• SiS gels

• Koda gels

• High5 - Energy Gel Aqua

• Pure Sports Nutrition - Fluid Energy Gels - Orange / Single (50g)

• Clif Blocks – Citrus, Ginger Ale, Orange with Caffeine, and Margarita

• Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Mix – Lemon & Lime, Strawberries, Strawberry Lemonade

• Tailwind Nutrition Endurance Fuel – Naked Unflavored, Lemon, Mandarin Orange, and Berry

• GU Hydration Drink Tablets – Lemon Lime, Strawberry Lemonade, and Tri Berry

→ It’s worth noting that some of these products do contain fruit concentrates, which can contain some fructose.

Quick Tips on Sweat Composition

Everyone’s sweat rate and composition is different. Some lose more salt, others more potassium, and some mostly water. Your diet also affects this; for example, a high-sodium diet can lead to more sodium in your sweat.

To know your exact sweat makeup, a sweat test using the FLOWBIO sensor is ideal.

• Salty sweaters may benefit from high-sodium electrolyte drinks like Precision Fuel & Hydration - PH 1500 Electrolyte Drink Mix.
  
  

• Low-salt sweaters could choose balanced electrolyte mixes like Hyro - Electrolyte Hydration Mix - Mixed Bag,  Koda Nutrition - Electrolyte Powder Mixed Pack OR Dr. Hydrate All-In-One Drink.

• If you want carbohydrates while also optimising hydration, go for Skratch Labs - Sport Hydration Drink Mix Bag OR PeakFuel Isotonic Sports Drink

Ash Miller
Dietitian and Nutritionist (Masters)
Bachelor of Physical and Health Education
Instagram: @ashthomo_nutrition 

References

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