The 4 Types Of Runners I Most Often Help
Over 10 years of working with 1,000+ runners, I’ve learned that there are 4 main reasons related to nutrition that female runners don’t love the way their body looks or aren’t achieving their running goals.
To help my clients better understand this, I created a concept called “fueling personalities” based on the habits, mindset and eating preferences of the 4 types of runners I most often help.
While each of these women are getting some things right – there are some key things that are causing them to gain weight, hold on to belly fat, recover slower from workouts & long runs, feel tired every afternoon, wake up at 3 AM hungry, and/or get stuck in a running plateau.
Fueling Personality #1: Yo Yo Yolanda
- Yo Yo Yolanda – Protein shake for breakfast, salad for lunch… but also eating half a bag of chips at 4 PM on Thursday, grazing on chocolate chips from the pantry most nights, and driving through Chick-Fil-A- at 5 PM on the dot on Saturday after a long run.
Fueling Personality #2: Justifying Jen
- Justifying Jen – Grabs a coffee and croissant after long runs, eats a burger and fries on Saturday nights, loves a post race beer garden.
Fueling Personality #3: Eat Clean Claire
- Eat Clean Claire – Protein & veggies at every meal, carries an apple and water bottle wherever she goes, doesn’t have a hard time saying no to dessert, may use dates and potatoes on long runs instead of gels.
Fueling Personality #4: Fueling Felicia
- Fueling Felicia – On the high carb fueling train, eating pop tarts & Graham crackers every day, sipping Tailwind on an easy run and have nerd clusters in her pockets.
Why Identifying Your Fueling Personality Matters
Identifying your fueling personality (it’s normal to identify with at least 2) is in Step 1 of my 4 Step Run Fuel process – because the approach you’ll need to take to adjust your fueling habits is slightly different.
Notice I said “adjust” – becuase this isn’t about pointing blame or trying to change everything you eat.
How Fueling Mistakes Impact Weight and Performance
My goal is to help you better understand why you want to devour a bag of kettle chips at 4 PM the day after your speed workout & then learn how to fuel that speed workout differently next time so that you can run faster during it, recover faster afterward AND actually be in the mood to make a healthy dinner that night.
Even Coaches Make Fueling Mistakes
The thing is – I still make fueling mistakes myself. But I don’t blame myself & I know how to fix them.
As my mileage increased this past week heading into marathon training & my work schedule was packed with calls & the photoshoot, I found myself falling into some “Yo Yo Yolanda” tendencies along with a hint of “Justifying Jen” when the brownies came out at the BBQ we hosted on Sunday.
Why Self Awareness Matters More Than Perfection
If this happens, my goal for the runners I help is that you’re no longer beating yourself up and thinking you have no self control, or doubting your fueling strategy – instead you know how to adjust going forward.
Learn More About Why Female Runners Gain Weight
Want to learn more about how these fueling personalities can cause weight gain in runner? Watch my free training “The 4 Reasons Female Runners Gain Weight.”
The 4 Reasons Female Runners Gain Weight
Want to lose weight AND learn to fuel your running in a sustainable way, without starving? Then Join Run Fuel now. You’ll not only get the education, but the support (including 1:1 feedback when needed) & accountability to stick with it too.
Questions or concerns or feedback? Reply to this blog. I’ll send you a personal reply.
Happy running,
Nicole Dobransky
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