How to fuel around training when you're in recovery

One of the first questions I get on a discovery call is “do I have to stop exercising?” The honest answer is: it depends on where your body is, but for many women some movement can stay, as long as it is fully fuelled. Unfuelled training is what got the cycle switched off. Fuelled training, at the right dose, is compatible with switching it back on.

Principle one: no session goes unpaid

In recovery, the goal is to raise energy availability, not just maintain it. That means the energy cost of any session has to be covered on top of a day’s intake that was already enough. A 45-minute run doesn’t earn a snack; it requires one, plus a proper meal after, plus a normal day’s food around it.

If adding that food feels impossible, that’s useful information: the session is probably too much for now.

Principle two: carbohydrate is the recovery nutrient

Low energy availability and low carbohydrate availability both suppress the hormonal signals that drive your cycle. Carbohydrate also lowers the cortisol response to training. Practically, that means a carbohydrate-based meal or snack within the hour before training, and carbohydrate plus protein within the hour after. Bread, oats, rice, potatoes, fruit, cereal, milk: the normal stuff, in normal amounts, more often than you’re used to.

Principle three: three meals and three snacks is the floor

Long gaps without food are a stressor in themselves. In recovery I rarely let clients go more than three to four waking hours without eating. Six eating occasions a day sounds like a lot until you realise it’s breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, dinner and something before bed. Evening snacks matter: overnight is the longest fast of the day, and a carbohydrate and protein snack before bed supports both recovery and sleep.

A sample training day

Here’s the shape of a day I’d build with a client who is keeping one moderate session:

• Breakfast: porridge made with milk, banana, peanut butter, a glass of juice
• Mid-morning: toast with butter and jam, or a yoghurt and granola
• Pre-session (60 to 90 min before): a bagel with honey, or cereal and milk
• Session: 40 to 50 minutes, easy to moderate, nothing that leaves you wrecked
• Post-session (within an hour): chocolate milk and a flapjack, then lunch within two hours
• Lunch: rice or pasta base, protein, vegetables, olive oil, bread on the side
• Afternoon: fruit and a handful of nuts, or a cereal bar
• Dinner: potatoes, salmon, roasted veg, a dessert
• Before bed: cereal with milk, or toast and hot chocolate

Portions depend on your numbers, which is exactly what we calculate together. But notice the pattern: carbohydrate at every eating occasion, no “earning” food, no skipping the bits that feel indulgent.

What to drop, at least for now

High-intensity intervals, fasted sessions, two-a-days and anything you do purely because you feel you should. Walking, mobility, easy cycling, strength work with full fuelling and plenty of rest tend to sit well in recovery. Everything else is a conversation about dose.

The mindset piece

Eating more and training less feels like going backwards when you’ve built your identity on discipline. It is the most disciplined thing you’ll ever do. Your period coming back is the proof your body has been waiting for you to listen.

Want this built around your own training and numbers? That’s the heart of the 1-1 Period Comeback Pack, and the energy formula is module three of The Period Programme.

This article is general information and not a substitute for individual medical advice. If you've been missing periods, see your GP to rule out other causes.