Exercise and Nutrition (Part 2)
How Should You Fuel Your Body Before Exercise?
Your nutrition needs will depend on the type of movement you are doing, its duration and intensity, your usual eating pattern and your individual needs.
However, a helpful starting point is to eat regularly throughout the day and avoid using exercise as a reason to skip meals or snacks.
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy for physical activity. Including carbohydrate-containing foods before exercise can help support energy levels, particularly when you have not eaten for a while.
You do not need to follow a rigid pre-workout eating routine or choose foods based on their calorie content. The aim is to provide your body with nourishment that feels comfortable and practical.
Examples of foods to eat before exercise
Depending on your appetite, timing and preferences, options may include:
Banana and yoghurt.
Toast with peanut butter or jam.
Weet-Bix with milk.
Cereal and milk.
Crumpets and honey.
Crackers with cheese.
A sandwich or wrap.
Porridge with fruit and nut butter.
You might notice that many of these options contain carbohydrates. This is intentional! Carbohydrates are your body's preferred source of energy during moderate to high-intensity exercise. They help provide readily available energy for your muscles and support concentration and performance during activity.
Foods such as bread, cereal, oats, fruit and crumpets provide carbohydrates to help fuel movement. Pairing these with foods containing protein or fat, such as milk, yoghurt, cheese or peanut butter, can also contribute to your overall nutritional needs and help make a snack or meal more satisfying.
As a general guide, a larger meal is often most comfortable around 2–4 hours before exercise, while a snack may be suitable around 30–90 minutes beforehand. These are flexible guidelines, not strict rules. The best timing depends on the size of the meal or snack, the type of exercise, your digestion and what feels comfortable for you.
For people experiencing an eating disorder or recovering from one, eating before exercise can bring up fears about eating too close to a workout, feeling physically full during movement or believing that exercise is more effective on an empty stomach.
These concerns can make it tempting to skip food or delay eating until after training. However, your body needs adequate energy to support movement, regardless of your eating disorder thoughts or fears.
If you are restricting your intake, experiencing significant weight loss or exercising compulsively, adding a pre-exercise snack alone may not be enough to meet your nutritional needs. You may need more consistent nourishment throughout the day and a reduction or temporary pause in exercise to support your physical recovery. Your dietitian and medical team can help determine what is appropriate for your individual circumstances.
What Should You Eat After Exercise?
After exercise, your body needs nourishment to replenish energy stores, repair muscle tissue and support recovery.
Carbohydrates help replenish the energy used during activity, while protein supports muscle repair and maintenance. Fluids are also important to replace losses through sweating.
For many people, a regular meal or snack containing carbohydrates and protein is a practical way to support recovery.
Examples of foods to eat after exercise
Eggs on toast.
A chicken, tuna, egg or tofu sandwich.
Yoghurt with muesli and fruit.
A smoothie made with milk, yoghurt and banana.
Poke bowl with chicken or tofu.
Pasta with meat, lentil or cheese-based sauce.
Crackers with cheese and fruit.
Chicken caesar salad wrap.
After exercise, your body needs nourishment to support recovery and replenish the energy used during movement. Carbohydrates help replenish your body's energy stores, while protein supports muscle repair and recovery. Both are important, alongside adequate overall nutrition, particularly when you are exercising regularly.
You might notice that many of these options combine carbohydrates and protein. For example, a sandwich provides carbohydrates from the bread and protein from the filling, while yoghurt with muesli and fruit provides a combination of carbohydrates, protein and other nutrients.
As a general guide, if your next meal is coming up soon, that meal may provide what your body needs after exercise. If you will not be eating for some time, a snack can help bridge the gap. These are flexible suggestions, not strict rules about when you are allowed to eat. You do not need to wait until you feel extremely hungry before eating. Exercise, stress and an eating disorder can all affect your appetite, so maintaining a regular eating pattern can be particularly helpful, even when hunger cues are difficult to recognise.
I often hear concerns in clinic about whether eating after exercise will somehow undo the workout, cancel out its benefits or mean the exercise was not worthwhile. These thoughts can be particularly distressing when someone is caught in a cycle of trying to control their body through both food and movement.
An eating disorder can make it feel as though food needs to be earned through exercise, or that eating afterwards means you have somehow done something wrong. This can lead to delaying meals, ignoring hunger or feeling compelled to exercise more to compensate for eating.
Eating after exercise is not something you need to compensate for. It is part of nourishing your body and supporting recovery. You do not need to calculate how much energy you have burned to decide how much to eat, and you do not need to exercise to justify having a meal or snack.
If you find it difficult to eat enough around exercise, or feel anxious about resting or eating afterwards, this may be a sign that your relationship with exercise needs some support. A dietitian and your broader healthcare team can help you work towards consistent nourishment, adequate recovery and a more flexible relationship with movement.
Do You Need to Eat Differently on Rest Days?
Your nutrition requirements can vary with activity, but this does not mean you should automatically eat less on rest days.
Your body continues to use energy when you are resting. It is still repairing tissues, supporting your organs, maintaining temperature and carrying out countless other functions.
Rest days are also when your body adapts to training and recovers from the physical demands of exercise.
If you have an eating disorder or a history of restriction, reducing your food intake because you have not exercised can reinforce the belief that food must be earned.
A consistent eating pattern, including regular meals and snacks, can help support your health regardless of whether you train, rest or move less than expected on a particular day.
In clinic, I often encourage clients to consider whether they feel they are allowed to eat the same way on a rest day as they do on an exercise day. If that feels uncomfortable, it can be a sign that food and exercise have become closely linked by rules about what you are allowed to eat.
Your body still deserves nourishment on the days you rest. You do not need to justify your food intake through movement.
How Can You Build a Healthier Relationship With Exercise?
If you recognise some of these patterns in yourself, you do not need to make every change at once.
A helpful first step is to acknowledge what is happening without blaming yourself. Compulsive exercise can be difficult to change, especially when it has become a way of managing anxiety or eating disorder thoughts.
Some strategies to explore with your healthcare team include:
Practise regular nourishment: Aim to eat consistently throughout the day rather than changing your intake according to how much exercise you complete.
Explore your motivations: Notice whether movement is driven by enjoyment, connection and wellbeing, or by guilt, fear and compensation.
Build flexibility: Explore what happens when a workout needs to change or be missed, with support if this feels distressing.
Find other ways to cope: Develop strategies for managing anxiety and difficult emotions that do not rely solely on exercise.
Listen to physical warning signs: Fatigue, dizziness, injury and reduced performance should not be treated as things to push through.
Seek professional support: A dietitian, psychologist and GP can work together to support adequate nutrition, medical safety and a healthier relationship with movement.
If exercise is compulsive or you are medically unwell, continuing to exercise may not be safe. You may need to reduce or pause activity while your health and nutritional status are assessed. This is not a failure; it is an important part of looking after yourself.
Recovery does not necessarily mean never exercising again. For many people, it means gradually building a relationship with movement that allows for enjoyment, flexibility, adequate nourishment and rest.
It is also important to recognise that changing your relationship with exercise can feel uncomfortable at first. If you have relied on exercise to manage difficult thoughts or feelings, taking a step back can make those feelings seem louder.
You do not have to navigate that discomfort alone. Support from a dietitian, psychologist and GP can help you work through these patterns at a pace that prioritises your physical and emotional safety.
How The Nourish Club Can Help
At The Nourish Club, we understand that eating disorders can affect far more than what you eat. They can influence how you move, how you feel about your body and how much control you feel you need over your everyday life.
You do not have to wait until exercise feels completely out of control to ask for support.
As an eating disorder and neurodiversity-affirming dietetic practice, we provide individualised nutrition support for children, teenagers and adults experiencing eating disorders, disordered eating and difficulties with food and body image.
We can work alongside your existing healthcare team to help you:
Develop a more consistent and flexible approach to eating.
Understand your nutritional needs and learn how to fuel your body adequately.
Explore food rules, exercise-related guilt and compensatory behaviours.
Support recovery from under-fuelling and the physical effects of inadequate nutrition.
Build a relationship with food and movement that prioritises your wellbeing rather than punishment or control.
Our approach is weight-inclusive, non-judgemental and tailored to your individual circumstances.
You deserve to eat without having to earn it, rest without feeling guilty and move your body without fear.
If you would like support with your relationship with food, exercise or body image, we would love to help.
Book an appointment with The Nourish Club
Visit The Nourish Club to learn more about our services and book an appointment, with clinic appointments in Newcastle and telehealth appointments available Australia-wide.
You do not have to navigate recovery alone.