By Guest Writer, Lily Mannion
In February 2020, I retired from competitive swimming. Growing up as a highly active and competitive child, I was frequently told I could “eat whatever I wanted” because I would “burn it off” in training. While I understood that I needed carbohydrates, protein, and fats, and to “eat the rainbow,” I had not thought about how or why I was fuelling myself.
When I finished swimming, I found that I still enjoyed being active, and so, pushed by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, I picked up running to get outside and eventually began training for long-distance triathlons. My diet changed significantly, and I gained a new interest in nutrition. When I started looking more into nutrition to support my active lifestyle, I realised I had missed some key information to help me train my best and (more importantly) feel my very best throughout my day.
Nutrition is essential to support your performance in physical activities and protect against the health risks associated with underfueling. For women, underfueling can lead to missing periods, usually a sign of low oestrogen, which can decrease bone density and increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. Bone fractures and heart disease, aside from carrying life-threatening risks, can also prevent you from participating in the activities you enjoy and impact your overall quality of life. Ensuring you are fueling appropriately will help guarantee you can stay active throughout your life.
The tips I share below do not only apply to people training for long-distance races. Anyone active can benefit from learning and applying this information in their daily lives – whether for their morning jog, gym class or tennis session.
Disclaimer: Please note that the below is not intended to be individual health or medical advice. Please always consult your doctor if you have any concerns about RED-S, hypothalamic amenorrhea or a missing cycle.
Top considerations for female athletes
Timing of eating
If you are active, it is not just about what you eat, but when you eat is incredibly important. While there is some evidence that fasted workouts benefit men, research has found that the same does not apply to women. Even if you are working out in the early morning, it is important to have some food going into it. I know I struggle to eat immediately after I wake up, but luckily (as long as you are not going into a long workout) it does not need to be a lot of food – you can have a snack and save your big breakfast for after your workout. I like having a Deliciously Ella oat bar or a pack and a half of dried mango from Urban Fruit. Ensuring you have this type of food in your system ensures easily and quickly digested carbohydrates, which provides energy for your body.
After your workout, it is also essential to eat again, ideally within an hour to 90 minutes, to replenish what you have lost and help keep your energy levels up for the rest of the day. As appetite can be suppressed after exercise, smoothies can be a great vehicle to get some food in if you struggle to eat within the hour – just make sure it has a good mix of nutrients. You can add nut butters, plant-based protein powders, and oats to help make it more filling.
Eat your carbs
The media can demonise carbohydrates, but they are critical for fuelling our activity. Eating carbohydrate-rich foods before, during, and after exercise is important. During a workout, especially if it is over one hour long, I try to consume at least 30g of carbohydrates every 45 minutes to an hour. This is on the lower end of most endurance athletes – elite athletes will consume 60 to 90g of carbohydrates every hour. Most exercise gels or gummies will aim to have around 30g of carbs per serving, but for an idea of how much to have, a pack of dried fruit has about 30g, and an oat bar usually has about 60g. I have been slowly building up and working on my own tolerance. If you do not usually eat during a workout, getting to higher levels from the start may be challenging for multiple reasons. Exercise suppresses appetite, so you may not feel like you need or want to eat while exercising. Different foods can also be difficult for you personally to digest while exercising and may cause stomach or digestive upset. Fats take longer to digest than carbohydrates, so it’s best to ensure that your pre- and mid-workout snacks are high in carbs to make them easy to digest while moving. Build up slowly and experiment with different foods that work for you.
Don’t forget about protein, especially when on the go
Protein is critical for recovery. Historically, plant-based diets have been misrepresented as being protein deficient. It is 100% possible to reach your protein needs in a day on a plant-based diet, but sometimes it needs a little bit of extra planning. This can be especially hard to do when travelling and eating out. I travel with plant protein powder (Healthspan Elite has large bags of plant protein or Veloforte’s individual packets if you are tight on space). Dry roasted chickpeas can help top up some meals. Most hotels have soya milk and nuts/seeds available and using the mini fridge in your room (for some blocks of pre-marinated tofu or soya yoghurts, for example) can be great. Finally, most plant-forward restaurants are better prepared for plant-based protein. Using apps like Happy Cow or TripAdvisor can help you find restaurants that are ideal for different plant-based diets, as rated and suggested by fellow users.
Ultra-processed foods have their place too
In my personal health journey, I began to cut out many ultra-processed foods due to the evidence that they can harm our long-term health. After a time, I realised that not all ultra-processed foods should be labelled as “bad” in all cases. Ultra-processed foods can be great in helping with easy-to-grab and digest fuel. Veloforte’s energy chews are some of my favourite things to bring on a long run or cycle (I especially like the Fresco – Lemon & Cool Mint ones). Other ultra-processed foods can help us meet energy needs, like using textured vegetable protein, meat replacements or legume pastas, to increase protein in plant-forward diets.
You are not eating for just that workout
It can be easy to slip into thinking about calories in, calories out as an immediate balancing act – what you just ate is counteracted by what you just burned in a workout. You can get caught up in only thinking about nutrition for the session you just did or are about to do. However, that is not how nutrition or exercise work – it’s not an immediate effect but a cumulative one. Instead of thinking about it as a balancing act, try to think of it as a building effect. Your fitness builds daily, week by week, month by month, and your nutrition helps you fuel for upcoming activities and recover from prior ones. This is especially important to think about on recovery days – just because you are not as active as usual does not mean you should eat less or restrict yourself.
Summary
Nutrition for any active person is essential but can be particularly important for women. While I have been an athlete my entire life, it was not until recently that I realised just how important eating well and fueling appropriately can be for your energy and overall health. Being active is important for chronic disease prevention, but it is not the only line of defence – athletes also suffer from chronic diseases. Eating nutritious foods in support of your active lifestyle can also help promote your long-term health and well-being. Simple changes such as having a small snack before your workout, bringing some food on your longer runs, or adding a good source of protein to your recovery smoothie can significantly support your health and keep you energised throughout the day.
About Lily Mannion
A lifelong athlete, Lily competed at a national level swimming in the USA. She continued her
swimming career at Division 1 level, swimming long distance freestyle and individual medley
for Princeton University. After moving to the UK, Lily began competing in triathlons, placing
first in her age group at Ironman 70.3 Barcelona and qualifying for both the Ironman 70.3 World
Championships in Finland (2023) and New Zealand (2024). She is also undertaking her 200-
hour Yoga Teacher Training to become a certified yoga instructor. Lily holds a MSc from UCL in
Early Child Development and Clinical Applications and currently works for nutritionist and
author Rohini Bajekal. She is interested in plant-based nutrition and how diet can support
lifestyle and enhance wellness. She is also rescue diver SCUBA certified and enjoys travelling to
explore the ocean; and an avid reader.
