Nutrition for Runners: 5 Core Eating Habits that Will Make You Faster

These core nutrition rules allow elite runners to fuel their training, achieve maximum performance, and even maintain a lean body. His book, The Endurance Diet, explains these habits and how to practice them in-depth.

Before I picked up a copy of The Endurance Diet, I read another Matt Fitzgerald book, Diet Cults, which broke down and debunked the effectiveness of all fad diets or supposed “healthy” ways of eating. After finishing Diet Cults, I was primed and ready for a way of eating and fueling my body that would be a true lifestyle change rather than just a temporary diet.

When I achieve my maximum fitness level and body composition, I want to be able to maintain it with relative ease. Thus, I’m not looking for a fad diet or “quick fix”. I want specific nutrition for runners that works and makes sense. Sustainable change takes time.

How did elite athletes from different parts of the world all converge on the same 5 core nutrition habits?

Quite simply, because they work.

Nutrition habits for runners evolve the same way different training methods evolve. Past generations of athletes experimented with all kinds of different methods to see what works. Eventually over the course of several decades, patterns emerge.

Elite runners train and eat a certain way, and then compete against each other. Then, the athletes that don’t win tend to look at the things they could tweak.

How did the winner eat and train for maximum performance?

Would that method help me?

So they try it. And when it works, the habits stick. Then when those athletes improve their performance by following winning habits, other athletes and coaches take notice and begin to emulate them.

This is how nutritional and training habits evolve in athletes.

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I’m not an elite athlete. Why should I eat the same way the pros do?

You’re probably thinking, “There is no way I would handle 100+ miles of training every week, so why should I eat the same way athletes eat if I can’t train like them?”

Volume can vary. You might not be able to run 100+ miles in a week, but you can probably adopt the same 80/20 Training Principle that elite runners use. You might not be able to eat as many calories or consume the sheer volume of food elite runners do, but you can adopt similar habits for maximum results.

Fitzgerald sums up the sentiment plainly:

“The science is clear: elite and recreational endurance athletes are similar enough physiologically that the training methods that work for the pros are also most effective for the rest of us.”

Matt Fitzgerald, The Endurance Diet

What matters is the method. The same methods are most effective for both elite and recreational athletes because we are all human and our bodies all digest and process food the same way.

With diet, elite athletes have the goal of maximum performance. They aren’t just working to look good naked. They don’t practice the habits of Fitzgerald’s Endurance Diet because they can, they eat like this because they must. Since their goal is to win major international competitions, they need to be significantly leaner and fitter than they would if their only goal was to look good.

They cannot afford to be truly relaxed with their diet.

Recreational endurance athletes coached by Matt Fitzgerald adopted these nutritional principles and were able to lose weight WITHOUT compromising their performance.

“It’s a simple fact: if you want to become as healthy and fit as you can be given the amount of time you’re able to invest in your training, you need to eat like an athlete.”

Matt Fitzgerald, The Endurance Diet

The Five Key Nutrition Habits of Endurance Runners

1. Eat Everything
2. Eat Quality
3. Eat Carb-Centered
4. Eat Enough
5. Eat Individually

These five habits are the result of generations of evolution among athletes. They represent the dietary conditions that are necessary for achieving the highest possible level of endurance fitness.

Next, I’m going to break down the tenants of each habit so you can incorporate them into your training plan. The Endurance Diet goes much more in depth on explaining each habit and providing numerous case studies on why each nutritional habit works.

Habit 1: Eat Everything

Eating everything doesn’t mean to eat everything in the grocery store.

Sorry—Oreo’s don’t fall into one of the categories!

Fitzgerald points out the six basic categories of high quality natural whole foods:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Nuts, seeds and healthy oils
• Unprocessed meat and seafood
• Whole grains
• Dairy

The great majority of elite endurance athletes consume all six of these high quality foods regular, and they don’t exclude any one type of food unless absolutely necessary. A diet that includes all six natural food groups is balanced, varied, and inclusive to supply necessary nutrients designed to support the stress of hard training.

He also outlines that there are four low quality food types:

• Refined grains
• Sweets
• Processed meats
• Fried foods

Endurance athletes don’t necessary exclude these food groups. They only indulge in a small treat here or there to minimize the impact on their diet. This flexibility allows them to keep the overall diet both enjoyable and SUSTAINABLE.