I have a lot of feelings about the way runner nutrition gets packaged online, especially when underfueling is framed as discipline.
The basic message I keep seeing is: eat as little as possible, stay as small as possible, and call it “healthy” or “dedicated.” And as a sports dietitian, I need to say this plainly: that is not performance nutrition. That is diet culture wearing a fitness outfit.
A lot of runner “what I eat in a day” content looks harmless on the surface, but when you zoom out, it often normalizes low energy availability, rigid food rules, and an almost celebratory approach to not eating enough. If someone is training hard, logging long runs, and showing a day of food that wouldn’t adequately support recovery, hormones, mood, or basic daily functioning, I’m not impressed. I’m concerned.
What really gets me is how often the comments reward it. People praise the “discipline,” the “clean eating,” the tiny portions. But being underfueled is not a character strength. It’s not a badge of honor. And it definitely isn’t the secret to becoming a stronger runner.
More often than not, better fueling supports better training.
That means enough carbohydrate. Enough total energy. Enough recovery. Enough consistency. Enough flexibility to eat like a human being instead of performing wellness for the internet.
I also think we need to talk about how individualized fueling actually is. My plate is not your plate. Your training week is not someone else’s training week. A body in marathon training does not need the same thing as a body returning from injury, restoring a period, or navigating REDs recovery. This is why I’m deeply skeptical of content that turns nutrition into a copy-paste formula.
And for athletes dealing with hypothalamic amenorrhea, REDs, or period loss, the online noise can be especially brutal.
There’s already so much conflicting advice:
- keep training / stop training
- eat more / but not “too much”
- go on birth control / that means you’re “fixed”
- look healthy / perform well / stay lean / recover hormones
It’s exhausting. And honestly, a lot of people are trying really hard to do the right thing with very confusing information.
One thing I wish more athletes understood is that a withdrawal bleed on hormonal birth control is not the same thing as restoring a natural menstrual cycle. And more broadly, getting your period back is not just about checking one symptom off a list. It’s about addressing the underlying energy mismatch and supporting the whole athlete.
I care a lot about performance, but not at the expense of health. I also care a lot about health, but not in a way that spirals into food obsession, fear, and moralizing every bite. That middle ground matters. I live there on purpose.
And beyond performance, there’s a bigger cultural piece here that hits me hard: so many women are taught to chase smallness for their entire lives. Even into older age. Even during illness. Even when strength, resilience, and nourishment would serve them so much better. That’s not empowerment. That’s grief, dressed up as virtue.
So if you’ve ever watched runner nutrition content and thought, “Why doesn’t my eating look like that?” I want to gently remind you:
It probably shouldn’t.
You do not need to earn your food. You do not need to prove your discipline through hunger. You do not need to mimic an influencer’s intake to be a “real” runner. And you absolutely do not need to sacrifice your period, recovery, mental health, or joy in order to belong in sport.
I want us to stop romanticizing underfueling. I want us to stop confusing thinness with fitness. I want us to stop treating basic physiological needs like weaknesses.
I want more runners eating enough to train well, recover well, and actually enjoy their sport.
That’s the goal. Not perfection. Not tiny portions. Not internet praise.
Fueling that supports a strong, resilient, well-fed athlete.
That will always be the standard I care about most.