Start with understanding
Performance asks something of your body. A food plan should consider those demands, rather than measuring progress only by how much you can remove.
Energy needs vary with activity, body size, life stage, and health. A plan copied from another person can miss your actual training and daily workload.
At Primal, PRODUCE supports MOVE. The question is what helps you follow a sustainable training plan while protecting your health, enjoyment, and relationship with food.
Video coming soon
Explore the written guide and illustrated lessons below.
Connect understanding to daily life
Define the outcome you want
“Eat better” is difficult to evaluate until the goal becomes clear. Are you trying to prepare for an event, make workouts more consistent, or organize meals around a long shift? Describe that outcome and the routines that currently get in the way. Nutrition planning becomes more useful when it supports a real activity rather than an abstract ideal.
Review the workload before restriction
Consider both planned exercise and the demands of ordinary life. A physically demanding job and a new training program belong in the same conversation. If the plan focuses only on smaller portions while workload keeps growing, ask whether the goals still fit together. A sports dietitian can help distinguish body-composition aims from the food needed for the activities you want to do.
Take persistent warning signs seriously
Prolonged or severe low energy availability can affect athlete health and performance. Persistent fatigue, repeated injuries, menstrual changes, or a marked decline in performance warrant assessment. These signs have other possible causes too; they are not a self-diagnosis. Bring training changes, eating habits, and symptoms to a qualified clinician rather than trying to push through.
Build the logistics, not just the intention
Identify a dependable meal before a busy day, an option after activity, and a backup when travel or work changes the schedule. Share barriers with your coach and dietitian. The plan should be adjustable without turning a missed meal into a moral failure. If food restriction feels compulsive or frightening, ask for support from an appropriate health professional.
Educational information complements individual guidance. Your health history, goals, and examination determine appropriate care.
Build your understanding
Five ideas to build your understanding. Swipe, use the arrows, or focus the slides and use your keyboard.
Can fat loss and training goals coexist?
Sometimes, but the plan needs individual assessment. A qualified dietitian can help balance goals, training demands, health, and sustainability.
Is fatigue proof that I am under-fueled?
No. It has many possible causes. Persistent fatigue deserves medical assessment and a review of training, sleep, food, and health history.
What the evidence means for you
Low energy availability can harm athletes
The IOC’s 2023 REDs consensus links problematic prolonged or severe low energy availability with impaired health and performance in female and male athletes.
Put it to use: Seek assessment when restriction and rising training demands coincide with persistent symptoms.
Keep in mind: The consensus targets athletic populations; symptoms alone do not establish REDs.
International Olympic Committee / British Journal of Sports Medicine (2023) →Personalize food around the workload
The joint sports-nutrition position statement identifies food, fluid, and timing strategies as part of athletic health and performance and recommends a personalized nutrition plan.
Put it to use: Ask a sports dietitian to align your eating routine with your actual training demands.
Keep in mind: A professional position statement is not a universal calorie target or a promise of a particular result.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and ACSM (2016) →