Eating More Isn’t the Answer...Eating Properly Is, Here what we mean.
- Poppy Hawe
- Feb 6
- 2 min read
One of the most misunderstood topics in female performance is fuelling.
Women hear:
“You need to eat more”
“Stop under-eating”
“Fuel like an athlete”
And panic because eating more feels risky.
But here’s the truth:
Eating more doesn’t fix under-fuelling
Eating properly does.
You can eat:
1,400 calories and be under-fuelled
2,800 calories and still be under-fuelled
I’ve coached women eating high calories who still showed clear signs of low energy availability because the fuel was mis-timed and mis-distributed.
What under-fuelling actually is
Under-fuelling isn’t just “not enough food”.
It’s:
Fueling with fats and protein
Avoiding carbohydrates
Training intensely without glycogen availability
Your body needs carbohydrates to:
Support high-intensity work
Maintain training quality
Protect muscle tissue
Regulate hormones
Without them, even high calories won’t help.
Why weekend banking backfires
A common pattern:
Restrict Mon–Fri
Train hard midweek
Overeat Sat–Sun
Physiologically, that creates:
Low energy availability during training days
Protection mode midweek
Calorie surplus at weekends
Result:
Fat loss stalls
Weight fluctuates
Hunger hormones spike
Confidence drops
Not because you lack willpower, but because the system is mismatched.
What proper fuelling looks like
Carbs before and after training
Higher intake on hard days
Lower intake on true rest days
Protein as the base, not the obsession
Fuel aligned to output
When energy is available at the right time, training quality improves — and physique follows without harder dieting.
The reframe
Food isn’t something to control your body with.
It’s something to support what you ask your body to do.
When you fuel properly:
Performance improves
Recovery improves
Muscle is protected
Inflammation drops
Physique changes naturally
If you resonated with any of this, reach out, we love to hear from you and help where possible!
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