This article is written by Amy from The Running Dietitian.
Day-to-day nutrition plays a vital role in how you feel both during your runs and when you're recovering. Consistent, balanced meals and snacks support energy levels, recovery, and overall health, while overly rigid or restrictive approaches to food often lead to fatigue, low motivation, or injuries.
A sustainable nutrition approach prioritizes balance, flexibility, and enjoyment, allowing food to support running rather than compete with it. Here's our advice.
Energy Intake & Calories
Simply put, calories are a measure of energy. They fuel everything from your basic bodily functions like breathing and digestion to daily movement, training, and recovery. For runners, energy needs are higher than for sedentary individuals, and eating enough is essential for training.
As running volume and intensity increase, energy intake needs to increase alongside it to support performance and recovery. A runner’s total energy needs are often calculated as Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
TDEE includes:
Energy required for basic physiological functions (basal metabolic rate)
Energy required for daily movement and exercise
Energy needed to digest and process food
This number varies based on body size, training load, job demands, stress, sleep, and genetics. Because of this, calorie needs differ from runner to runner and can change across a training cycle.
Calories don’t need to be viewed as something to limit or control. Instead, view calories as fuel that supports both performance and health. Chronic under-fueling, both intentional and unintentional, can lead to low energy, decreased performance, frequent illness, and injuries.
We like to use the analogy between our bodies and a car; when you drive further, you'll burn more petrol and need to fill up the tank more. The same can be said for running. As you build up your mileage, or enter a bigger training day/week, you're going to need to put more in your 'tank'.
Building Balanced Daily Meals To Support Your Training
Balanced meals provide a mix of macronutrients and micronutrients that work together to support training, recovery, and overall health. Instead of focusing on individual nutrients in isolation, start by building meals that include carbohydrates, protein, fats, and fiber-rich foods. From there, adjustments can be made based on training demands and personal preferences.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred energy source for running. They help replenish muscle glycogen, support training intensity, and reduce feelings of fatigue. Including carbohydrate-rich foods at meals and snacks helps maintain steady energy throughout the day.
Common carbohydrate sources include grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, dairy, and legumes. The amount needed will vary depending on training load. Training for 1 hour daily requires 5-7 grams per kilogram of body weight, while 1-3 hours of endurance training requires 6-10 grams per kilogram of body weight.
Protein
Protein plays a very important role in muscle repair and recovery.
Spreading protein intake across meals and snacks supports these processes more effectively than concentrating most protein in one sitting.
Protein needs increase slightly with regular running, especially during periods of higher mileage or intensity. After a run, aiming for 20-40 grams of protein can support recovery and muscle repair.
On a daily basis, most runners benefit from consuming approximately 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, with needs trending higher during heavier training phases.
Fats
Dietary fats are important for hormone production, nutrient absorption, and overall energy intake. Fats also help make meals more satisfying and enjoyable, which supports consistency over time.
Healthy fat sources include nuts, seeds, oils, avocado, and fatty fish.
Fat intake does not need to be avoided for runners and can be a valuable part of balanced daily meals.
Fiber
Fiber is a key part of a balanced diet, supporting digestion, gut health, and steady energy levels throughout the day by helping you feel full between meals. Adequate amounts of fiber may benefit your digestion and reduce your risk of chronic disease.
Getting fiber from a mix of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds can help you meet your needs.
Because fiber can cause gastrointestinal issues for some runners when consumed before a run, it’s important to pay attention to how your body responds to this nutrient.
Micronutrients
Micronutrients, including vitamins and minerals, support bone health, oxygen transport, muscle contraction, and immune function.
Runners may have increased needs for certain nutrients such as iron, calcium, and vitamin D.
Iron
Iron is an essential nutrient that carries oxygen to muscles, playing a key role in aerobic capacity and endurance. When iron levels are low, runners may experience fatigue, shortness of breath, and a noticeable drop in performance.
Runners are at higher risk for iron deficiency due to increased losses through sweat, foot strike hemolysis from repetitive impact, and, for some, menstruation. Regularly including iron-rich foods such as red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, beans, lentils, spinach, and fortified cereals can help offset these losses and support healthy energy levels and endurance.
Calcium
Calcium plays an important role in bone health for runners. Running places repeated impact on the bones, and adequate calcium intake helps maintain bone density and reduce the risk of stress fractures.
Pairing calcium with overall energy intake and other nutrients like vitamin D further supports bone remodeling and long-term skeletal health, especially during periods of higher training volume. Including calcium-rich foods such as dairy products, fortified alternatives, leafy greens, and certain fish can help you meet your needs.
For more on micronutrients and supplements, check out our guide here.
Snacking: Supporting Energy Between Meals
Snacks can play an important role in maintaining energy levels, especially for runners with higher training volumes. Snacking may have a bad reputation, but for most runners, it's necessary to meet increased energy needs.
Thoughtful snacking helps prevent large gaps between meals and supports consistent fueling throughout the day. Snacks should often combine carbohydrates with protein and or fat to support energy and recovery.
Hydration as a Daily Habit
Hydration supports circulation, temperature regulation, digestion, and overall performance.
While hydration is often emphasized around workouts, daily fluid intake matters just as much on non-training days.
Water is sufficient for most daily needs, but electrolytes can be helpful in certain situations such when running in hot weather, for those that have high sweat rates, or during longer training sessions.
Electrolytes help replace sodium and other minerals lost through sweat and can support fluid balance when conditions or training demands are higher.
Key Takeaways
Day-to-day nutrition sets the stage for how runners feel, train, and recover. Eating enough, building balanced meals, staying hydrated, and including snacks all contribute to a foundation that supports consistent training and long-term health.
Check out How to Fuel Your Training Week for more guidance on how to flex your nutrition around your training week to feel your best.
To read more about how to fuel, pre, post and during your running sessions, head to our Nutrition Hub.