http://www.nutritionforenergy.co.uk/

Nutrition for Energy, Borehamwood (2025)

31/08/2025

Balance is hard atm.

We have just got back from a beautiful week in Bude with the family, with some surf, sand, walks and LOTS of yummy food!

But something I have been struggling with is guilt that I’m not “working”. I’m very fortunate that I’m in a very exciting place with the business where I have so many plans and lots of things to do. So on holiday, when I take time off coaching, my brain thinks, now is the time to catch up on those other areas of the business to allow for growth.

I know how privileged I am to be in a position where I want to work on holiday, but the downside of that is less quality time with the family.

How did I manage this? Had a chat with Verity, well, more listened to Verity and worked to strike the balance.

It’s always a juggle, and my goal is to ensure I am present with family when I can, whilst still progressing with the business. I must accept that I have other responsibilities, I am not just a business owner, I am a dad, a husband, a brother, a son and a friend too!

How do you find the balance, I know I can’t be alone in this?

07/09/2024

Good luck to Performance Accelerator client

After 10 weeks of nutrition coaching she is off on her first 60km ultra marathon.

The Performance Accelerator helps those who train gain confidence that their nutrition is best supporting their training and events.

We build personalised plans and create lasting nutritional habits that are specific to each individual.

Enjoy the race Martina, all the hard work has been done 🙌

04/07/2024

Q - How to expand your dietary range?

A - get some recipes ideas that excite you.

Are you bored with your lunch sandwich fillers? Give this one a go for a high-protein, nutrient-rich tasty filler.

Recipe:

Serves 1

1 small salmon fillet (100g), cut in cubes
¼ avocado, cut in cubes
¼ cup (30g) mango, cut in cubes
1 tbsp. lime juice
⅓ tsp. honey
chili pepper, to taste
handful coriander, chopped

What you need to do

1.Wash and dry the salmon, then cut it into small cubes. Next cut the avocado and mango into cubes and add to the salmon.
2.Mix in the lime juice, chili pepper, and coriander. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix well.
3.Set aside to chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes, then serve with toast (not included in nutrition info).

Prep 10 mins
Cook 0 mins
Kcal 282
Fats 17g
Carbs 9g
Protein 26g

Get this recipe saved and let me know what you think in the comments!

01/07/2024

Newest member of the team 😍

24/06/2024

Malik started his coaching with NFE back in December 2023 and out goal was to get him ready for fights this year.

Our goal was to reduce body fat, without compromising training quality and to maintain and even build muscle.

Malik had been part of the diet culture in boxing for his whole career, which I liken to any dieter who feels like they are constantly on and off a diet. He wanted to escape the Yo-Yo, and build nutritional habits that allowed him to come down and stay down.

Through the process, Maliks relationship with food changed. Instead of nutrition being all about restriction and that number on the scale, it changed to how a new focus on:

Fuelling for training

Eating for energy

Eating for health

Eating for body comp goals

This had the result Malik wanted in terms of body fat loss, but also and possible more importantly in his relationship with food. Malik now has the tools to maintain his lower body weight and doesn’t feel the desire to cheat on his diet because it is NOT A DIET, it is just a new way of eating.

Well done Malik, I can’t wait to follow your fights this year.

if you want long-term change then drop me a DM

19/06/2024

It’s salad season. 🥗

Here is a good one for a lower energy day. (e.g. a rest day lunch or dinner, when you don’t need as much carb). Feel free to swap out chicken for Quorn fillets to make this meat-free.

Recipe:

Serves 2

9 oz. (250g) chicken breast or 1 pack of roasted Quorn mini fillets (138g)
1⁄4 tsp. sea salt
1⁄4 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 1⁄2 cups (220g) green beans, trimmed
1 grapefruit
1 head green lettuce

What you need to do

Season the chicken/Quorn with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium-high heat and fry the chicken until cooked through and browned; about 5-6 minutes on each side. If using the Quorn fillets these are cooked so you don’t need to fry.

Cook the green beans in slightly salted water until they are crisp- tender. Remove from heat, drain and rinse with cold water.

Cut off the skin of the grapefruit and divide it into segments. Do this over a bowl, so you keep all the juice for dressing.

To serve, divide the lettuce leaves between plates, then top them with green beans, grapefruit, and chicken/Quorn. Drizzle with the grapefruit juice and season with salt and pepper to serve.

Prep 10 mins
Cook 12 mins
Kcal 344
Fats 17g
Carbs 18g
Protein 31g

Get this recipe saved and let me know what you think in the comments! 😎

17/06/2024

Last chance to fix your nutrition for Summer.

Last week I had a few questions if there was space on the performance accelerator. There have been a couple of clients recently finish their coaching, so I am opening up a couple of spaces.

However, this will be to start coaching next week. What’s more, this will be the last group of clients I coach this summer!

So, if you want to start on a path towards better nutrition, to fuel your training optimally, and improve your energy then the time is NOW.

You need to book a call this week or (early next week) or this opportunity will be gone.

Consider the long-term you. Invest in yourself. Fuel your future.

Drop me a DM or comment “high-energy” on this post.

I will be in touch.

Energetically - James

13/06/2024

The main difference between running and riding nutrition is…

The practicality of eating the food on the move. When running you have 2 hands to unwrap products when feeding and although you can go no-handed on a bike for a bike, you still need to control a bike! So it is definitely easier to eat (practically speaking) when running.

This sounds ridiculously obvious, however the practicality of feeding should be factored in when you plan your sports nutrition. Little things like opening that Hairbo packet before you leave, which you wouldn’t bother with when running will help a lot when on a bike.

After considering the practicality you then want to look at carb totals.

Now triathletes will often say it is easier to fuel on the bike compared with the run, and this is true when you look at the numbers of carbs consumed on an ironman bike (grams/hour) compared with the run section. This may be because it is easier to transport food with you on the ride, e.g. more pockets and space on your bike to make it into a moving aid station. Or it may also be because the run is at the end of the race and athletes intake drops off a little. Or that when riding there is less risk of GI distress so athletes take advantage.

My advice is to know what quantity of grams of carb per hour works for you (factoring in the distance and intensity of your run or ride), and then plan in food or sports nutrition products that you find easy to eat on the move.

Then practise this plan ahead of your race.

My personal favourite is a hot crossed bun with jam.

How does your nutrition strategy differ when riding and running?

11/06/2024

Have you heard? Getting in some vegetables 🍅 to your diet is a good idea. 💡

But the question is, how?

Sometimes it is easiest to not reinvent the wheel. I like to coach habits and when coaching habits it is best to start with the good habits you have. So if you currently have a good range of dinners, why not try, adding to it. Get this colourful tasty tomato side dish served up and you will not regret it.

Enjoy!

Recipe:

Serves 6

2 lbs. (900g) cherry tomatoes, halved
1⁄4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1 tbsp. honey
1⁄2 tsp. sea salt
1 small cucumber, peeled, diced
1⁄2 cup (70g) feta cheese, crumbled
1 small red onion, chopped 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. basil, chopped pepper

What you need to do

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Place half of the tomatoes in a bowl and, set aside.
Gently mix the other half of tomatoes in a separate bowl with the olive oil, honey, and salt.
Place the seasoned tomatoes on a baking tray on the top rack of the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes until they start to shrink and caramelize. Once cooked set aside to cool.
Once cooled, mix the roasted tomatoes with the fresh tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, onion, vinegar and basil in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Prep 15 mins
Cook 45 mins
Kcal 163
Fats 12g
Carbs 12g
Protein 3g

Get this recipe saved and let me know what you think in the comments!

10/06/2024

From cramp on long runs to Full IronMan!

On our discovery call Rhys explained every marathon he had ever ran he suffered with cramp.

He didn’t have long before his Ironman so we needed to get to work.

To this day there is still a lot of discussion about what actually causes cramp, however there are som known strategies for reducing the risk.

After a few questions, I was able to estimate Rhys sweat sodium concentrate which we used to inform his sodium intake.

I was keen for him not to get too low in carbohydrates (difficult when exercising for 12 hours) so we build a custom plan using sports nutrition products he has used before to hit some high carb numbers. (High - but not excessive, as I didn’t want to risk GI upset).

We also looked at fluid intake as dehydration would be another factor that could influence cramp. This would be somewhat dependant on weather and intensity, but we had a plan!

This review from Rhys shows the power of sports nutrition when applied properly. 😊

“ Could not speak more highly about James’ service. Great to have an initial intro session to confirm sport nutrition goals beforehand, and James customised the entire plan to my usual food/fuel patterns! Worked amazing and helped me complete my first Ironman without even the slightest sniff of cramp (where previously I’ve cramped every marathon I’ve done). Can’t thank James enough, race day would not have gone as smoothly without his support”

Well done Rhys!

05/06/2024

Recipes are back on the feed, remember to give them a save for when you need that hit of inspiration. We are restarting with something green and nutrient dense. Green Shakshuka!

Recipe

Serves 2
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
2-4 handfuls spinach
a handful parsley
2-4 tbsp. almond milk
1 tbsp. harissa paste
1 green bell pepper, sliced 1 cup (150g) green peas, frozen
4 eggs

What you need to do
Heat half of the coconut oil in a large frying pan, over medium heat, and sauté the onion and garlic for about 10 minutes, until soft.
Season with cumin and salt to taste, then cook for another 2 minutes. Next, transfer the onion into a food processor along with the spinach, parsley, almond milk and harissa paste. Season with freshly ground black pepper, and blend until smooth.
Using the same pan as earlier, heat the remaining oil and fry the pepper for about 5 minutes, until charred. Next, pour in the spinach sauce and add the peas. Cook for about 5 minutes until peas are defrosted.
Make 4 pockets in the sauce and break an egg in each one. Cook for another 10 minutes, or until the eggs are set. Cover with a lid to speed up the process.
Serve seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Prep - 5 mins
Cook - 35 mins
Kcal - 338
Fats(g) - 19
Carbs(g) - 23
Protein(g) - 18

Let me know what you think in the comments. And tag me if you make it 😎✅

04/06/2024

Let me set the scene for you.

I was in sunny Nice in the South of France. I was a young sports nutritionist eager to test out the sports nutrition advice I had been giving to clients and practising in training.

It was my first ever triathlon. I had rather naively jumping right into the deep-end with the full distance on the first go, but I was confident that proper fuelling was the answer. And spoiler alert, it worked, I had my nutrition planned, practised and it worked like a charm on the day.

I even have a very vivid memory running down the Promenade des Anglais on the 4th, 10km lap seeing other athletes struggling and looking blank behind their eyes. Whereas I was chatting to my sister, feeling good, planning what we were going to do the next day (this energy and clarity come down to carb intake).

So, what was my biggest learning?

Well, I may risk this being TMI… (but here goes).

With just 20 minutes before my wave was set to plunge into the sea, I thought “Yes, a final trip to the porter toilet would be a good idea”.

There was a cue. I waited. Time was ticking.

I made it in, but - “NO PAPER!”

I now didn’t have time to cue again, so my only option, “I’ll just hold it”.

This was a big mistake, as obviously you can’t hold a 💩 for 12 hours (while exercising).

I’ll spare you the details of what happened in the porter toilet I luckily found at the top of the mountains in the glamorous French riviera! But it was .. explosive. 🧨

So - learn from my mistake and have a good sit before your next endurance event.

Energetically - James

Nutrition for Energy

31/08/2025

07/09/2024

04/07/2024

01/07/2024

24/06/2024

19/06/2024

17/06/2024

13/06/2024

11/06/2024

10/06/2024

05/06/2024

04/06/2024

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