💡 Fuel For Thought Numbers aren't the destination. They're part of the map. Imagine two endurance athletes who both finish the day having eaten exactly the same amount: 2,800 calories, 400 g of carbohydrate and 140 g of protein. On paper, they're identical. But one spent the day ignoring hunger because meetings got in the way, squeezing lunch in between emails, eating because an app told them it was time, and finishing the day mentally exhausted from trying to hit every number. The other ate...
13 days ago • 3 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought Five lessons from 14 years in the field When I moved to Australia a decade ago, I paused my nutrition practice to complete my Master’s Degree. As I decided to stay longer, I almost gave up on my dream because starting over felt daunting, and I lacked confidence in myself. Then, in 2020, like many others, I began to reassess my life choices. Gradually, the idea of reestablishing my practice took root, and a year later, I was ready to quit my job and fully commit to...
20 days ago • 4 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought The foundation isn't basic. It's everything. I recently asked my current and past clients to share one thing that had changed for them since we started working together. An overwhelming majority talked about how much the adjustments they made to their everyday nutrition had impacted their health, their performance, and their life. Funny thing is when someone comes to me wanting support, daily nutrition is almost never what they have in mind. They're thinking about...
27 days ago • 3 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought Your brain is running too In the last couple of live group sessions I've had with my clients, we've been talking about the role that race nutrition plays in mindset. The actual physiological connection between what you're eating during an event and how clearly you can think, how soundly you can decide, and whether that voice telling you to stop feels like wisdom or noise. This topic has come up because athletes keep describing similar experiences. They're deep in a race;...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought From "nobody" to Team Canada... and what fuelling had to do with it In December 2024, an anonymous listener sent a message to the Backyard Ultra Podcast. He described himself as "a nobody" in the backyard ultra world, had one backyard to his name, and declared, to no one but himself, that he believed he could earn a spot on Canada's Backyard Ultra Satellite Team. He signed off as an anonymous backyard enthusiast. That person was Michael Rouleau, IntensEAThlete and Fuel To...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought The optimisation trap: when chasing perfection gets in the way of actually performing Sports scientist and coach Steve Magness recently wrote about a concept he calls schmexcellence: the appearance of high performance without the substance behind it. When optimising every variable starts to replace actually doing the work, we've lost the plot. He illustrates this with two examples: a podcast host who spiralled for three days after a few glasses of wine because his wearable...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought When a good race plan becomes the wrong plan Most athletes I work with are meticulous planners. They research courses, study elevation profiles, and calculate cut-offs. They adapt their training to suit the event. Then race day arrives... and reach for the exact same fuel they used last time. It's an easy trap to fall into. Fuelling is uncomfortable to experiment with, and if something worked before, it feels risky to change it. But what worked for a road marathon with...
2 months ago • 3 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought The missing piece in your training puzzle I talk to endurance athletes every day who feel they have done everything right. They're running the kilometres, wearing the watch, tracking the zones, following the plan. They've invested in the gear that tells them exactly how hard they worked and how well they slept. They know their VO2 max, their heart rate variability, and their weekly load. And yet, something isn't adding up. Performance has plateaued. Recovery feels harder...
2 months ago • 3 min read
💡 Fuel For Thought Stable isn't boring. Stable is the point. What am I supposed to feel when I take a caffeine gel? A client asked me this at one of our group sessions last week. And it's one of my favourite questions because the answer surprises almost everyone. Nothing. You're supposed to feel nothing. If you've ever played Mario Kart, you'll know the moment you hit one of those star power-ups, suddenly you're invincible, untouchable, flying through the track. That's the expectation most...
3 months ago • 3 min read