Training hard on too little fuel isn't discipline. It's a handbrake.
Most athletes I see aren't under-training — they're under-fuelling, and then wondering why the last interval falls apart, why recovery drags, and why they keep picking up niggles. We fix the fuel and let the training do its job.
If any of this sounds like you
You fade in the back half
The first hour feels fine and then the wheels come off, every time.
Recovery takes days
You're stiff and flat long after the session, and the next quality workout suffers for it.
Constant small injuries
Niggles that never quite clear, and a nagging sense your body isn't repairing properly.
You don't know what to eat around sessions
Before, during, after — you've read ten conflicting things and settled on guessing.
You're training for something specific
A race, an event or a season, and you'd like the nutrition to be as planned as the training block.
Weight goals and performance are fighting
You want to change your body composition without wrecking the quality of your training.
You don't get fitter during the session. You get fitter after it.
Training is the stimulus; the adaptation happens while you recover. If the fuel and protein aren't there in the hours around your sessions, you've done the hard work and collected only part of the benefit.
So we build the eating around your actual training week — what you take in before a session so you can hold the intensity, what you need during the longer ones, and what recovery looks like when tomorrow is another quality day rather than a rest day.
Hydration and, where relevant, race-day and event-day fuelling get planned and — importantly — rehearsed in training, because the worst possible time to try a new fuelling strategy is on the day itself.
Four things that make the difference
Fuelled for the session
Enough of the right fuel at the right time so the quality of your training stops being limited by what you ate.
Recovery that actually happens
Protein targets and timing that support repair and adaptation, spread across the day rather than piled into one meal.
Built around your week
Your plan bends to fit shift work, early sessions, double days and the weeks when life gets in the way.
Daily accountability
Real-time check-ins so fuelling gets adjusted as your training load rises and falls, not once a season.
What's included
- Fuelling plans mapped to your training week
- Protein targets and timing for recovery
- Pre-, during- and post-session strategies
- Hydration guidance for your climate and sweat rate
- Event and race-day fuelling, rehearsed beforehand
- Daily check-ins that track load and adjust intake
Under-fuelling doesn't make you tougher. It just makes the same training produce less.Lee Jaffe — Registered Dietitian, RD(SA)
Sports & Performance, answered
What sports do you work with?
Plans are built from the demands of your sport and your training week rather than from a template, so the approach applies across endurance, team and strength sports. Tell me what your week actually looks like at the first consultation and we'll build from there.
Do you do body-composition work as well?
Yes, and the two need handling together rather than separately — trying to change body composition with an aggressive deficit in the middle of a heavy training block usually costs you training quality and recovery. We plan it around your season so you're not fighting yourself.
Do I need supplements?
Food first, always. Some athletes have a genuine need for specific supplementation depending on their sport, diet, bloodwork and situation, and that's a conversation to have with your medical team and me together — not something to decide off a shop shelf.
Is exercise programming included?
Nutrition is my side of it. I partner with a certified sports scientist and personal trainer, so training can be built in alongside where that helps your goals.
I'm plant-based. Does that change things?
It changes the planning, not the outcome. Protein quantity, spread and variety need more deliberate attention, along with a few nutrients worth keeping an eye on. It's very workable — it just needs building properly rather than improvising.
Can we do this online?
Yes. I consult online across South Africa and in person in Sea Point, with the same plan, app access and daily accountability either way.
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Read moreGet the nutrition as planned as the training.
Start with the free 2-minute assessment for a personalised next step, or book a free 15-minute discovery call. Online across South Africa, or in person in Sea Point.