Should an amateur runner see a sports dietitian? I was running more than 2,000 kilometres a year, doing supplementary exercise and trying to eat better. Yet my eating habits still felt out of step with my ambitions. While preparing for a sub-three-hour marathon, I decided to get professional help.
This is an account from December 2017, early in my Crushing3 project. The measurements and weight goal describe my situation at that time. Editorial updates and this English adaptation were prepared in October 2026.
Why I decided to see a sports dietitian
Why do I run? To test myself, improve my times and feel good in my own body. Appearance mattered to me too. When I started, I pictured the physique of a guy in a Calvin Klein advert. I assumed running and general strength work would get me there.
Years passed. April 2018 would mark five years since I started running. A healthier lifestyle had made a difference, but I still wanted that final polish. There was also a very specific sporting ambition: to break three hours convincingly in the marathon through #crushing3. Adding more kilometres no longer felt like the whole answer.
Healthy food was not the same as a consistent plan
I had already changed a lot: green smoothies, porridge and fewer fast-food meals. Consistency was the issue. A few days of eating well would be followed by a few days of letting things slide. Sweets, beer and the absence of an overall plan were part of the picture.
Sometimes I would wake at three in the morning and eat half a jar of Nutella or a bar of chocolate. I do not present that as a character flaw. It is simply an honest account of my habits at the time, and something worth bringing up during a consultation.
In some months I ran 200–300 kilometres alongside supplementary exercise. I wanted better results, but my meals were nowhere near as organised as my training. I needed something more useful than another burst of “I will eat healthily from tomorrow”.
My visit to High Level Center
I chose High Level Center and met Jagoda Podkowska, who worked with athletes on their nutrition. I wanted to look at my eating habits in the context of training and my marathon goal, rather than keep guessing on my own.
I had previously written about a gluten-free diet experiment (Polish article). I felt lighter and more energetic at the time. That was my subjective experience, rather than evidence that avoiding gluten improves every runner’s performance.
My measurements in December 2017
- Body weight: 69 kg.
- Height: 173 cm.
- Waist circumference: 89 cm.
- Body-composition assessment: 18.8% body fat, equivalent to roughly 13 kg at that body weight.
The last number surprised me most. Home scales I had used previously generally showed 10–14%. The difference gave me something to think about. I retain these numbers as a record of the visit, but they do not establish that one measurement was flawless or allow me to compare the accuracy of the devices.
My original account also mentioned a favourable assessment of muscle and hydration. Without the full report, the device details and the testing conditions, I am not turning those observations into a health or recovery assessment. A number on a printout cannot tell the whole story.
What I wanted to change after the consultation
During the appointment we discussed gradually losing around 5 kg, aiming for roughly 64 kg while protecting muscle. That was the direction discussed for my individual circumstances at the time. It is not an “ideal runner’s weight” or a formula for a faster marathon.
For me, the key was getting organised. Sometimes I ate too much, sometimes too little, and sometimes meals that simply did not suit me. I wanted a plan I could follow consistently, just as I followed a training plan.
When I wrote the first version, everything was ready for the following day. I was about to start and curious to see what would happen. This article records the starting point, rather than the outcome of the whole process.
What I would clarify today
I removed the opening slogan “70% diet, 30% training”. It sounded catchy but was not a meaningful measure of what determines performance. I also no longer want to describe body fat simply as an unnecessary “backpack”. My appearance and performance goals were personal; they should not become pressure on someone else’s weight.
The International Olympic Committee consensus on REDs explains that problematic low energy availability can harm health and performance in both women and men. That is a reason to consider weight loss alongside training needs, rather than pursue a lower scale reading at any cost.
Summary and what happened next
Was seeing a sports dietitian worthwhile? At this stage, it gave me a starting point and a clear direction for working on my eating habits. I wanted to stop relying on short-lived bursts of motivation and make nutrition a deliberate part of my preparation.
For the follow-up, read “A runner at the dietitian — conclusions” (Polish). For the wider story, visit the Crushing3 project page.
This is a personal account of a consultation, rather than an individual nutrition plan for the reader. The banners in this article contain affiliate links.