Leanne Ward Nutrition

You train hard. You eat carefully. You are doing everything right. So why are you not recovering well, feeling flat by mid-afternoon, or not making the progress you expected?

The answer, more often than not, is underfuelling. And according to Brisbane sports dietitian Claire Bates, it is the single most common mistake she sees in women who exercise regularly, and most of them have no idea it is happening.

In this episode, Leanne sits down with Claire from Nutrition Foodition, an accredited practising dietitian and sports dietitian who works with everyone from recreational gym goers to half Ironman triathletes, for one of the most practical and genuinely useful conversations this podcast has had on exercise nutrition.

If you exercise and you want to feel better, recover faster, and actually see results, this one is worth your full attention.

In this episode:

Why underfuelling around training is the most common mistake Claire sees in women, including the difference between intentional underfuelling for weight loss and the accidental kind that quietly erodes your results

Walking, Pilates, and low-intensity sessions: do you actually need to eat beforehand, and when does it matter?

Runs under 10K on an empty stomach: when it is fine, when it is not, and the one question to ask yourself before deciding

What happens to your glycogen stores during runs over an hour, why hitting the wall is a purely nutritional event, and exactly how much carbohydrate to consume per hour during longer efforts

Why lollies, gels, and juice poppers are just as effective as a banana before training, and the science behind why your body genuinely does not care whether the carbohydrate came from a whole food

Gym sessions, FitStop, CrossFit, and HIIT: the pre-workout fuelling window, what 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate looks like in practice, and how to train your gut if early morning eating feels impossible right now

Body composition goals: how to drop body fat and build muscle without accidentally eating your own muscle mass, and why going too low too fast always backfires

The protein timing myth: why the post-workout window is not as tight as the fitness industry has told you, and what actually matters more

The red flags that signal your body is chronically underfuelled, including irregular periods, persistent injuries, slow recovery, afternoon energy crashes, and mood swings

How to stop the pattern of underfuelling all week and overeating on weekends without it feeling like a restriction

Claire's go-to supermarket meals for busy women who do not have time to meal prep, including her favourite quick salad kits, dressings, and protein combinations that take less than five minutes to pull together

Find Claire Bates:

Instagram and TikTok: @nutritionfoodition Website: nutritionfoodition.com.au

Brought to you by Garmin

Today’s episode is proudly supported by Garmin. The new Garmin Venu 4 helps you train smarter and recover better with advanced sleep coaching, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, on-wrist coaching, lifestyle logging for caffeine, alcohol and stress, over 80 sports apps, mindfulness tools, a built-in LED flashlight, and multi-day battery life. Learn more at garmin.com.au.

Work with Leanne or her team:

Lean Gut Mind Method, Leanne's premium 1:1 coaching program: fully personalised nutrition plans, daily support, and a dietitian matched specifically to your goals. Visit https://leangutmindmethod.com/

Leanne Ward Nutrition Virtual Clinic: single consults, review consults, and nutrition packs covering hormones, perimenopause, gut health, fat loss, body recomposition, busy mums and more. All consults are virtual, available worldwide. Visit: https://leannewardnutrition.com/virtual-clinic/ 

If this episode opened your eyes, please share it in your Instagram stories. Tag Leanne at @leannewardnutrition. This is exactly the kind of conversation that needs to reach more women.

Something is off. You can feel it. Your sleep has shifted, your mood is harder to manage, your body is changing in ways that diet and exercise alone do not explain. And maybe you have already seen a doctor and left feeling like you were not quite taken seriously.

This episode is for you.

Leanne sits down with Dr. Christine Greenwood, a GP who specialises in women's health, perimenopause, menopause and postmenopausal care, for one of the most honest and clinically grounded conversations this podcast has ever had on the topic. Dr. Christine sees upwards of 100 patients a week in this space and she is not holding back.

If you are a woman in your late 30s, 40s or 50s, this is the episode you need to share with every woman in your life.

In this episode:

The earliest signs of perimenopause that are almost always missed, including why it rarely starts with hot flushes and almost always starts somewhere else entirely

What is actually happening to your hormones, why they spike and crash unpredictably, and why that chaos drives so much more than just your mood

Why so many women in perimenopause are being prescribed antidepressants when what they actually need is a hormone conversation with the right doctor

The HRT and breast cancer myth, fully dismantled. What the old research actually said, why it no longer applies, and what the current evidence actually shows

Why body identical hormones are fundamentally different to the pill, and why transdermal estrogen does not increase your stroke or clot risk

How to actually get diagnosed when there is no single blood test that confirms perimenopause, and what to tell your doctor when you walk in

The supplement industry's dirty secret: why spending hundreds of dollars on menopause supplements will not do what body identical hormones can, and which supplements are actually worth considering

How to find a doctor who is genuinely educated and passionate in this space, including the exact resources Dr. Christine recommends

The one question Dr. Christine wants every woman to ask herself before deciding whether to act now or push through

Resources mentioned:

Dr. Christine Greenwood on Instagram: @drchristinegreenwood, consulting at Eden Health, John Flynn Hospital, Tugun from June/July

Australian Menopause Society find-a-doctor directory: menopause.org.au

Dr. Louise Newson's Balance website: balance-menopause.com

Dr. Mary-Claire Haver and Dr. Kelly Casperson podcasts, recommended by Dr. Christine for further education

Brought to you by Garmin

Today’s episode is proudly supported by Garmin. The new Garmin Venu 4 helps you train smarter and recover better with advanced sleep coaching, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, on-wrist coaching, lifestyle logging for caffeine, alcohol and stress, over 80 sports apps, mindfulness tools, a built-in LED flashlight, and multi-day battery life. Learn more at garmin.com.au.

Work with Leanne or her team:

Lean Gut Mind Method, Leanne's premium 1:1 coaching program: fully personalised nutrition plans, daily support, and a dietitian matched specifically to your goals. Visit https://leangutmindmethod.com/

Leanne Ward Nutrition Virtual Clinic: single consults, review consults, and nutrition packs covering hormones, perimenopause, gut health, fat loss, body recomposition, busy mums and more. All consults are virtual, available worldwide. Visit: https://leannewardnutrition.com/virtual-clinic/ 

 

If this episode opened your eyes, please share it in your Instagram stories. Tag Leanne at @leannewardnutrition. This is exactly the kind of conversation that needs to reach more women.

Most women are getting their protein targets wrong. Not by a little. By enough to quietly stall their fat loss, slow their muscle gains, and leave their energy flat by 3pm. In this solo Q&A episode, Leanne answers ten of your most-asked nutrition questions straight from her Instagram DMs, including the protein one that comes up almost every single week in clinic.

In this episode:

Why nutrition feels so much harder than exercise, and why that is completely normal

Are you genuinely not hungry in the morning, or have you just normalised skipping breakfast? The signs Leanne watches for, and what she actually recommends

How much protein women need for fat loss, muscle tone, and healthy ageing. The real clinical targets, why the Australian guidelines fall short for most women, and the exact ranges Leanne uses with her own clients

Magnesium: which foods actually contain it, why so many Australian women quietly fall short, and how to tell whether a supplement could genuinely help you. Leanne walks through the three clinical forms of magnesium in RESTORE by Designed by Dietitians, why each was specifically chosen, and who benefits most. Explore RESTORE here

Greek yogurt versus Greek-style yogurt: what the labelling actually means under Australian food standards, and the one thing to check before you put it in your trolley

Why Leanne drinks soy milk, what the phytoestrogen research actually says, and how she approaches plant-based milks with different clients

Building muscle without the scale becoming the enemy: what body recomposition actually looks like in practice, and better ways to measure real progress

The real difference between generic nutrition advice online and working with a dietitian one on one

What to do after an osteopenia diagnosis. The four non-negotiables Leanne gives every client in this situation, and why walking alone will not be enough

 

Brought to you by Garmin

Today’s episode is proudly supported by Garmin. The new Garmin Venu 4 helps you train smarter and recover better with advanced sleep coaching, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, on-wrist coaching, lifestyle logging for caffeine, alcohol and stress, over 80 sports apps, mindfulness tools, a built-in LED flashlight, and multi-day battery life. Learn more at garmin.com.au.

Work with Leanne or her team:

Lean Gut Mind Method, Leanne's premium 12 week 1:1 coaching program: personalised plans, daily support, and a dietitian matched to your specific goals. Apply here: https://leangutmindmethod.com/ 

Leanne Ward Nutrition Virtual Clinic: single consults, review consults, and targeted nutrition packs covering fat loss, body recomposition, gut health, hormones, PCOS, and perimenopause. All consults are virtual, available worldwide. Visit https://leannewardnutrition.com/virtual-clinic/leannewardnutrition.com

Got a burning question for Part 3? DM Leanne on Instagram @leannewardnutrition

In today’s Q&A episode, I’m answering your most common nutrition questions straight from my Instagram DMs, including one that has come up again and again lately:

What’s the difference between "GLP-1 supplements" and medications like Ozempic?

GLP-1 is everywhere right now, from prescription medications through to powders and supplements that claim to “support GLP-1 levels”. In this episode, I unpack what GLP-1 is, how prescription GLP-1 medications work, and what it actually means when a supplement is described as supporting GLP-1 in the body.

Alongside that, I’m answering nine other listener questions covering calorie deficits, hunger, pre-workout snacks, creatine for strength and cognition, fibre intake, alcohol risk, and how to talk to teens about the current “skinny” trend online.

Inside this episode:

Where to start when learning about calories without becoming obsessed with numbers

Managing hunger in a calorie deficit, even when protein is high

Is a protein coffee + banana an effective pre-workout snack?

Creatine basics, if you stop taking it, do you lose your gains?

Higher-dose creatine for sleep deprivation and cognitive stress

"GLP-1 supplements" vs medications, what’s the difference?

Talking to teens about body image and fuelling vs under-fuelling

The best types of nuts and nut butters for gut health

Alcohol as a Class 1 carcinogen, what that actually means for real-world risk

Low energy in a calorie deficit, why “moderate” on paper can feel aggressive in practice

How to increase your fibre intake without tracking

If you enjoy these Q&A style episodes, please share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @leannewardnutrition so I know to do more.

This episode provides general educational commentary on nutrition and GLP-1 pathways and does not assess the regulatory compliance or performance of any specific product.

 

Brought to you by Garmin

Today’s episode is proudly supported by Garmin. The new Garmin Venu 4 helps you train smarter and recover better with advanced sleep coaching, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, on-wrist coaching, lifestyle logging for caffeine, alcohol and stress, over 80 sports apps, mindfulness tools, a built-in LED flashlight, and multi-day battery life. Learn more at garmin.com.au.

Work with Leanne or her team:

Lean Gut Mind Method, Leanne's premium 12 week 1:1 coaching program: personalised plans, daily support, and a dietitian matched to your specific goals. Apply here: https://leangutmindmethod.com/ 

Leanne Ward Nutrition Virtual Clinic: single consults, review consults, and targeted nutrition packs covering fat loss, body recomposition, gut health, hormones, PCOS, and perimenopause. All consults are virtual, available worldwide. Visit https://leannewardnutrition.com/virtual-clinic/leannewardnutrition.com

Today we’re cutting through supermarket confusion, food marketing BS, and everyday label myths so you can shop confidently and without overwhelm.

In this episode you’ll learn:

🛒 Why food labels confuse us — decode what really matters on pack vs what is just hype

📊 The smart way to read labels — look at ingredients AND the nutrition panel together, not separately

🚫 Marketing traps explained — “natural,” “no added sugar,” “high protein” and other claims that don’t always mean what you think

⭐ Health Star Rating truth bomb — when it’s useful and when it misleads

📱 Why food scanner apps may mis-score products — and what to focus on instead

🧠 Seed oils and ultra-processed foods — what the evidence says and why context matters

💡 Budget-friendly shopping hacks — choose quality without spending more

🧘‍♀️ One mindset shift to cut overwhelm — a simple framework to make confident decisions every shop

Why this matters

Most of us have stood in the supermarket aisle feeling unsure which product is “healthy.” Products are marketed with health halos and buzzwords that can mislead even the savviest shopper. This episode gives you practical ways to interpret labels and make choices that align with your goals — quickly and without stress.

Guest bio

Jess Burvill is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and evidence-based nutrition educator behind @dailyservenutrition on Instagram, where she translates label logic and marketing messaging into simple, science-backed guidance.

Instagram: @dailyservenutrition — evidence-based, myth-free nutrition and food comparisons.

Brought to you by Garmin

Today’s episode is proudly supported by Garmin. The new Garmin Venu 4 helps you train smarter and recover better with advanced sleep coaching, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, on-wrist coaching, lifestyle logging for caffeine, alcohol and stress, over 80 sports apps, mindfulness tools, a built-in LED flashlight, and multi-day battery life. Learn more at garmin.com.au.