Still crashing in training? If you’ve already cut the fasting, ditched keto, and stopped worshipping bad science, here’s the next mistake: eating ‘too clean’ and ignoring intra-workout fuel.
Mistake #6: Eating clean all the time.
Eating clean all the time harms both your performance and your sanity. Here’s what I mean by eating clean.
What I consider eating clean.
I had to include this to avoid confusion. I once heard someone say, “I never drink chocolate milk; it’s full of sugar and bad for you.” This comes from a person who only eats dry chicken, with no sauce or anything added.
This must be as horrible as it sounds. But this is a common issue in this generation. Eating clean often means avoiding all processed foods—but some processed foods are just natural ingredients. Not all ‘processed’ food is bad.
But that is eating too clean in a nutshell. Eating foods that come from nature only. This leaves a lot of foods that help with performance out of the equation.
White sugar? All-natural, vegan… and probably tomorrow in the superfood section.
Anyways, time to take a look at how all this impacts your performance.
Your performance is down the drain.
Let’s start with your performance. Eating clean all the time is something that came over from the bodybuilding world.
It sounds great on paper, but in reality it isn’t great at all. You have to eat a lot of food to meet your needs. Especially if you’re very active. I don’t know about you, but personally I don’t get excited about chicken, rice, broccoli, and oats day in and day out.
Because your calorie demands go up the more active you are. Imagine needing 3500 calories and trying to get them all clean. You’ll hate your life. You’ll spend a whole day chewing on your dry chicken breast. Or being bloated and nauseous at the gym.
Aside from that, it also comes from a misunderstanding of nutrition. Sugar isn’t evil. It’s just fast fuel. Perfect before or during hard sessions, pointless if you’re just sitting around.
It’s easy, right?! It’s all about context. A bowl of cereal with chocolate milk is great for an athlete who trains 30 min later. A person that just goes to work at an office job would benefit more from oats with some milk and fruit.
Not using this to your advantage is a mistake that kills your performance. This is something we’ll break down in a bit.
First I want to cover your sanity.
Going insane in the brain.
People that only eat clean are often lunatics. They’re definitely not the most pleasant people to talk to or be around when you order food. These people mostly create eating disorders for themselves because they’re very black and white when it comes to their mindset.
By labeling foods as good and bad, it goes downhill very quickly. These people are also very gullible for online trends backed by thin air. With this mindset the food choices shrink drastically over time.
Now I assume you don’t want to be like that. So what’s the better approach?
A better approach is to realize which foods can be eaten when. I have a place close to the gym that makes the best Korean fried chicken. I probably eat it once a month. Yes, sometimes I eat something fried, and I enjoy it. This is mostly eaten after evening training or on a non-training day. I don’t overindulge in it and mostly share it with friends.
Once in a while eating something you enjoy is good for you. You could do this for any food you like. Or you make a homemade version of it. A homemade hamburger with potato wedges is delicious. It’s a healthy alternative to going to a fast food chain.
Living like a robot isn’t healthy. It’ll make you miserable. Be human and eat foods you enjoy once in a while. It won’t kill you, nor will it make you fat.
I make this point clear to my clients from the start. A nutrition plan is easier to follow if you enjoy it. And let’s be fair: enjoying foods occasionally is great, but if you’re still crashing in training, the missing piece isn’t what you eat after—it’s what you fuel yourself with during.
Mistake #7: Ignoring intra-workout fuel
Working out is a form of stress. Most people don’t seem to realize this. Hence, some people drink black coffee intra-workout, completely frying their central nervous system. The trade-off isn’t worth it. These people just crash really hard eventually.
What is needed intra-workout is carbs. Not caffeine and not those sugar-free drinks either.
So why carbs? Because carbs, especially simple carbs, are a fast form of energy. Never noticed that the majority of intra-workout formulas have some form of simple carbs in them?
When doing hard workouts that last over an hour, consuming at least 30 grams of carbs per hour of hard exercise will help you. You’ll feel a massive difference from the start.
This could be some fruit juice lengthened with water. For example, 250 ml of orange juice and 750 ml of water. Could be a handful of candy, an intra-workout supplement….
People that switch from never to intra-workout nutrition never switch back to anything else. The difference is that big.
Try it during your next hard session—you’ll never train without it again.
Nutrition coaching
Over the years, I’ve helped fighters heal their metabolism, lose weight effectively, and fuel their bodies for peak performance. If you’re struggling with weight loss, underperforming due to poor nutrition, or dealing with a damaged metabolism, DM me “nutrition” on Instagram to get started.
In my 3-month coaching program, I’ll guide you through:
- Healing your metabolism.
- Losing weight sustainably without burnout.
- Learning how to fuel for performance when maintaining and losing weight.
- Cutting weight safely for a fight (only for fighters).
I only take on 3 clients every 3 months. If you want one of those spots, DM me ‘nutrition’ on Instagram or Twitter.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram.
Until next time.
Alex
Further reading
- Eat, Sleep, Overtrain, Repeat → I cover the truth about underrecovery (most people call it overtraining).
- The Issue with Eating Out in Thailand → Aimed at Muay Thai fighters, but useful for anyone training here.
- The Nutrition Mistakes Killing Your Performance (Part 1)
- The Nutrition Mistakes Killing Your Performance (Part 2)
- The Nutrition Mistakes Killing Your Performance (Part 3)
- Zero To Alpha Wisdom #31: no risk, no story
