Episode 193 - The Real Cost of Poor Nutrition

The Real Cost of Poor Nutrition

You're logging hours in the pool, on the bike, and pounding the pavement. Your training plan is dialled in, your gear is sorted, yet something's still not clicking. If your nutrition is off, you might be flushing months of hard work down the drain without even realising it. Today, I want to expose the real – and often hidden – costs of poor nutrition that go far beyond a disappointing race result or mid-run gut disaster.

We're talking about wasted time, money, and energy that quietly sabotages your performance, recovery, and progress. These hidden costs accumulate faster than you think, which is why getting your nutrition sorted is the smartest  performance investments you can make as a triathlete.

I see so many triathletes fall into the trap of trying to figure out their nutrition on their own. Unfortunately, without proper planning and strategy, nutrition becomes an expensive mistake rather than a performance investment.

Links:

Check how well you’re doing when it comes to your nutrition with our 50 Step Checklist to Triathlon Nutrition Mastery

Start working on your nutrition now with my Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course 

It’s for you if you’re a triathlete and you feel like you’ve got your training under control and you’re ready to layer in your nutrition. It's your warmup on the path to becoming a SUPERCHARGED triathlete – woohoo!

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Episode Transcription

Episode 193:  The Real Cost of Poor Nutrition

Welcome to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. The show designed to serve you up evidence-based sports nutrition advice from the experts. Hi, I'm your host Taryn, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Advanced Sports Dietitian and founder of Dietitian Approved. Listen as I break down the latest evidence to give you practical, easy-to-digest strategies to train hard, recover faster and perform at your best. You have so much potential, and I want to help you unlock that with the power of nutrition. Let's get into it.

[00:00:00] Taryn: Ever feel like you're doing all the right things with your training, but your results just don't stack up. You're ticking the right boxes, swim, bike, run, hopefully doing some strength training, but if your nutrition is off, you could be pouring. All that hard work down the drain without even realizing.

[00:00:19] Today, I wanna lift the lid on the real cost of poor nutrition. I'm very excited about this episode because it's not just about a bad race day or a gut explosion halfway through your run, I'm talking about some of the hidden costs, the wasted time, the wasted money and energy that are just quietly.

[00:00:41] Underlyingly sabotaging your performance, your recovery, and your progress. Because when you add them up, they're costing you way more than you think. So if you've been wondering if nutrition is really worth focusing on, then this episode will show you exactly why it is one of the smartest performance investments you can make as a triathlete.

[00:01:06] And I'm very excited to dive into these hidden costs with you today because they are some like smack you in the face. Hard truths, let's be honest.

[00:01:36] So firstly, let's go through some of the obvious costs that people would know about. A big one definitely would be nutrition issues. in a race that lead to A DNF. Okay? All of those months of training and boom, you're doubled over on the side of the course because you didn't test or train your gut properly, or you are so far in a dehydration [00:02:00] hole that you can't get out of it or the other end of the spectrum, you are suffering life, endangering, hyponatremia, and end up in the medical tent.

[00:02:10] So many dollars get pour into getting you to the start line. Think about how much it costs to enter your race, all of the travel costs, your accommodation, food, time away from work, all those sorts of things. Plus, it's a big emotional investment and it's a real shame not to make it to a finish line.

[00:02:31] If you've ever experienced that, it's horrible. It's heartbreaking, and the most gutting part is it's probably most often preventable. another big one that most people would be aware of is injury, right? Could be stress, fractures, tendinopathies, whatever it is that your body is not handling or couldn't handle the load that you are asking of it.

[00:02:55] If you're not fueling it properly to support the training, Think of the cost of the physio, sports doctors scans, time off training, potentially time off work. It is way more expensive than getting your nutrition sorted in the first place and sorting out your fueling. Now, those are big costs that I would think most triathletes know about.

[00:03:18] They hurt, they're frustrating, they're devastating, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of hidden and sneaky costs. So let's dig a bit deeper into some of the sneaky, maybe often overlooked costs, the ones that you know fly under the radar but are quietly sabotaging your performance and your wallet.

[00:03:40] The first one is time wasted overthinking, nutrition, scrolling the internet for answers, listening to your maybe well-meaning, but misaligned Training buddies advice, buying the latest trendy sports products because someone on Instagram sold it to you and it's the next secret [00:04:00] weapon, and all the pros are using it so you feel like you need it too.

[00:04:03] but you end up just spinning in circles trying to piece this all together into something that works for you and you have no idea whether it's working for you or not.

[00:04:14] There are so many shiny objects you can get distracted by. You think about how many things you've bought and not even used or opened, or you tried it once and it didn't work, and so you ended up throwing it in the bin or giving it away.

[00:04:28] Then there's the mental load and decision fatigue. nutrition can become an extra layer of stress on top of an already busy and stressful life. As a triathlete, you know you've got work, you've got family, you've got training, You could be spending precious brainpower every day thinking, what should I eat? Is this enough? Is this right? Is this actually doing the right things for me? All of that energy could go into your training and recovery or, you know, spend some time resting, but instead it's wasted on food stress. That's not great.

[00:05:05] Then there's poor recovery. You finish your session and think, yep, job done. I've eaten something. but if you're not backing that up with the right nutrition, your body doesn't recover. It doesn't rebuild and repair and adapt properly from the training stimulus, Which means you head into the next session carrying that fatigue, soreness, or worse, you are flirting with that overtraining and injury red line that we don't really wanna dance with.

[00:05:32] Most triathletes when they join the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program and I teach 'em how to recover properly for them, they thought they were doing it right and so often they are so far off the mark that they're embarrassed by how poor they were doing with recovery. It is a really simple and easy fix though.

[00:05:50] You just need to know how to do it right for yourself. Now, let's talk about money. How much have you spent on supplements? That [00:06:00] you didn't need or don't need, and you currently still spend it, but you dunno whether you need it or not.

[00:06:06] I have a fantastic example to share with you of Jo who has saved a crap ton of money

[00:06:15] by not buying a long list of supplements that she doesn't need. Thank you so much for popping into the podcast. Jo, can I ask you, before you joined the Triathlon Nutrition Academy, what was your approach to supplements Like? Like were you taking a lot of things and just hoping that they would help your performance?

[00:06:34] Jo: I was taking a lot of things, but it It wasn't really about performance. I think this started like way, way, way before, I started triathlons. So, I think I came into triathlon, like with these habits already that I had accumulated over the course of my life. So yeah, my mum of four, and I think just over the years I've been told, you know, you should take this or you should take that.

[00:06:57] Or, you know, I've had friends. that have been selling certain products, and I thought they sounded good, and I wanted to support them as well. And it's surprising how expensive some of those things can be when you add it all up. Yeah. So some of them were just like, at some point for a short period, I've had some deficiency identified by a doctor and they've said to take something and I've just never talked to them about it again.

[00:07:21] I just kept taking it.

[00:07:23] Taryn: I know for a lot of triathlete supplements can feel like a shortcut to better performance or even a bit of a safety blanket. Did you have any idea how much you were spending and how much that was adding up for you?

[00:07:37] Jo: I do track my spending and I have like spreadsheets all over the place, as you know. but I wasn't specifically adding up supplements. just by themselves. I was probably like, especially getting into sport, I was looking at things like what was I spending on equipment and bikes and coaching and my kit gear, all that kind of stuff.

[00:07:57] But I didn't have anywhere in there that was related to [00:08:00] supplements. And I think in some ways I wasn't really, putting two and two together, so I wasn't really looking at spend on food or. Nutrition or supplements as being part of the cost of doing the sport? Because I would say that the specific sports products I was attaching to being a triathlete, you know, so your, gels and um, Sports drinks and those kinds of things.

[00:08:25] Yes. but the everyday things that I was taking, not so much. So and I think I just started to also get to the point of overload, like it was a combination of I'm starting to become more aware. We are talking about it in our catch ups every week and then I'm starting to like struggle to take them because I'm starting to question why am I doing this? 

[00:08:46] Taryn: Now that you've actually got clarity around like what you actually need versus what you didn't and was potentially a waste of money, how much money are you now saving?

[00:08:58] Jo: it was pretty shocking to me. So I think I avoided adding it up for a little while. 'cause my gut feel was, it was probably pretty high, but it ended up being over six and half thousand dollars. Of things that I've removed out of my daily routine, which is just crazy.

[00:09:16] Like, it just feels so wasteful in a way. and for what? You know, like I think that I had a fear. That, I start getting sick, so it wasn't so much, oh, I think these are the magic formula for like, oh, I'm doing so amazing because I'm a rookie. I'm a, like, it's not like I'm taking these things for an extra 1% or anything like that.

[00:09:37] I thought they were my foundations. I thought this was like The bottom layer of my cake, and that if I took anything out, like a Jen puzzle would just fall apart. You know, like I'd get really sick and I'd miss a heap of training and I'd miss a race, and that hasn't happened. I've had a really good track record of being able to race and train and consistently show up without [00:10:00] illness.

[00:10:00] but when I added up and say six and a half thousand dollars is a lot of money on these vitamins and supplements, basically thinking that that's how I'm avoiding getting a cold or something. 

[00:10:12] Taryn: is that an annual cost or a monthly cost?

[00:10:15] Jo: No, it's an annual cost there's something there that are really expensive and others that are, you know, you get a big jar and they, and they don't one jar lasts you a, a year kind of thing. but it all adds up. 

[00:10:27] Taryn: yeah, that is a lot of money. It's actually two TNA programs, so you could do the TNA program twice for that

[00:10:34] money. 

[00:10:34] Jo: yeah. I know. It's so good. it has been a very nice, Way of recovering the cost of actually going through the process to be able to sit there and go, hang on. Like, these are all the things that I've cut off you know, it's not a one off save. That's every 

[00:10:50] year. 

[00:10:51] Taryn: What a good investment

[00:10:54] Jo: Yeah. very good return, honestly. it's not just the money, It is actually the waste of time and energy as well. Like I don't actually enjoy taking all that stuff. I don't enjoy what it tastes like, you know, it's filling me up because I'm like drinking water, trying to get all these different tablets down throughout the day and feeling like that's my crutch, and that wasn't particularly healthy. 

[00:11:20] Taryn: No, your story is honestly a perfect example of where so many triathlete end up though, like spending thousands of dollars on supplements that promise performance gains, or you think you need it to get the competitive edge, but they don't actually help you move the needle, and that's just one area of saving.

[00:11:38] Also, it's the same with race nutrition products too, like. You could be buying every different type of gel or bar or drink on the market hoping that they'll work for you or will be the right thing for you, but then potentially get gut issues because you didn't test them properly, or they just aren't going to be the the right product for you.

[00:11:57] All the wrong body composition scans is [00:12:00] another good example where people waste money because they're not accurate. But unless you have the knowledge and understanding to know where to go and the type of things to look for, and then also how to front up to that scan properly, you're just chasing like fads, trying to change your body in a way that's not even right for our sport anyway.

[00:12:17] without the right data behind you all of it adds up. Money, time, mental energy, and most of it completely avoidable. When you have the right plan, the right strategy, and you stop the guesswork. When you don't have a clear plan, nutrition isn't an investment. It's an expensive guessing game.

[00:12:39] And then there's the hidden health costs under fueling can completely mess with your hormones, your immune system, your gut health, and a long list of other things. Things that don't always show up immediately, but compound kind of silently over time. And finally think about the impact on your family and your lifestyle.

[00:13:02] Maybe you are short tempered because you are hangry all the time. Been there, done that. Maybe you are skipping social events and family occasions because. You can't eat that or you need to get to bed early because you have a massive race sim tomorrow, so you can't go. Nutrition isn't just about fueling your training, it's fueling your entire life.

[00:13:28] These are some of the sneaky costs that triathletes never add up, but when you do, they are eye watering.

[00:13:36] All of this adds up to one huge cost lost performance. When you're under fueled or fueling wrong, your body doesn't adapt to training the way you want it to on the way it's meant to. You can feel tired, you can feel flat, sluggish, fatigued, in sessions where you should be building speed or endurance.

[00:13:56] Instead, you miss sessions. Or turn them into junk [00:14:00] miles because you don't have the energy and you're not adapting and recovering from the session to get the most out of it. You might even lose confidence going into your races because you know deep down that your nutrition isn't dialed in for you, and that's a huge mental weight to carry into the start line.

[00:14:20] And here's the kicker, the gut wrencher, you might be leaving minutes on the table without even realizing it. Not because your training program is wrong, but because your fueling isn't supporting that training to give you the return on your investment.

[00:14:38] You've done the hard work, but you are sabotaging yourself before you even tow the start line. the most expensive nutrition mistake, wasting months of training because you didn't fuel right.

[00:14:53] So why do triathletes keep falling into these traps? Why? Can I say these things with confidence? After working with triathletes for two decades, number one, I think it's overwhelm. There is just so much conflicting information out there. Every coach, every athlete, every influencer has an opinion on what to eat, when to eat, products to use, and it drives me nuts.

[00:15:20] because the majority of them don't have a science degree in nutrition. Number two is this DIY mentality that we have triathletes. We're a determined bunch, and we love to take things into our own hands, do some research, figure it out, hack it out because we're intelligent people, but.

[00:15:41] Have you DIYed your bike fit? Would you d iy your training program from scratch unless you're qualified to do so? Of course not.

[00:15:51] Or maybe you start there, but you figure out quickly that it's not ideal or it's not serving you. Then you [00:16:00] go and seek expert support and advice.

[00:16:03] But when it comes to nutrition, most triathletes think that they can just figure it out for themselves, and it ends up costing you more in the long run by going down that path.

[00:16:15] my third point is. you don't prioritize it or you don't think it's that important, you think I'll get to it later when I have more time. You'll never have more time. As a triathlete, let me tell you, I'm not good enough to warrant it is Another message I hear often is that I, I just wanna go and, and race.

[00:16:37] I'm not aiming for a podium. I don't wanna win. I don't even wanna go fast. I just wanna do this for fun. Doesn't matter what kind of level of athlete you are. Nutrition is so important to get you to the start line and to get you to the finish line with a smile on your face no matter where you are on that race course or you know, I'm only just starting out.

[00:16:58] So it's something that I will do later on down the track when I've done X, Y, and Z, But later never comes until it's too late and you're already dealing with injuries or burnout or poor race performances or gut issues that are wreaking havoc on your training sessions. And it's generally not till you get smacked in the face with something big like that, that you prioritize nutrition and think of it as more important when really it's something we should be layering into our training as soon as we are swim, bike, and running.

[00:17:30] But the good news is you don't have to keep guessing. When you get your nutrition right, everything else gets easier. Training feels better, recovery is faster. Your sessions can start stacking on top of each other, building fitness and strength as you go in the fastest way possible.

[00:17:49] You stop stressing and second guessing yourself constantly. And importantly, you stop wasting money on products that don't work for you or aren't right for you. [00:18:00] And you show up on race day with a plan one that you are confident in, that you can execute it and you have the ability to. Adjust it if you need to on the fly.

[00:18:12] And that is why I created the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program because I saw so many triathletes wasting years trying to figure it out the hard way. You're not spending on nutrition education, you're investing in faster racing, better training returns, and. Importantly, which we seem to forget, your long-term health.

[00:18:34] So inside the program, I show you exactly what to do, when to do it, how to make it fit into your life, not someone else's cookie cutter plan. It is custom and bespoke to you so you can stop the guesswork, stop the stress, and finally. Unlock or level up those results that you deserve from all of the effort you put into your training.

[00:18:57] so if you are ready to fuel smarter, recover faster, and perform at your best the next round of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy. Starting soon. You can register your interests now at dietitianapproved.com/academy, and I'll show you how to turn nutrition into your secret weapon.

[00:19:17] If you think nutrition education is too expensive, wait until you add up the cost of getting it wrong. 

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or want to share with me what you've learned, email me at [email protected]. You can also spread the word by leaving me a review and taking a screenshot of you listening to the show. Don't forget to tag me on social media, @dietitian.approved, so I can give you a shout out, too. If you want to learn more about what we do, head to dietitianapproved.com. And if you want to learn more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program, head to dietitianapproved.com/academy. Thanks for joining me and I look forward to helping you smashed in the fourth leg - nutrition!