Client Success Spotlight: Kristin Myers
“The nutrition challenge really helped me focus on balancing my macros and focusing on my water intake. It's amazing what a little fine tune coaching from Mike was able to do for me in just 6 weeks!”
How Poor Nutrition Could Be Holding You Back (and What to Do About It)
Mike Ratnofsky • September 9, 2025
Are You Training Hard but Still Stuck?
Here’s How Poor Nutrition Could Be Holding You Back
(and What to Do About It)
You show up to the gym. You give your all. You lift, sweat, recover, and repeat. But something isn’t clicking — progress has stalled, energy levels fluctuate, and results feel flat. Sound familiar?
If you're putting in the work and not seeing the return, it’s time to stop blaming your training — and start looking at your nutrition.
In this article, we're diving into 3 major ways that neglecting your nutrition is limiting your potential — in strength, performance, and body composition — and giving you practical, science-backed fixes to unlock your next level.
1. You're Undereating (Especially Protein) — and It’s Killing Your Gains
Let’s get this out of the way: you cannot build lean muscle or recover efficiently without adequate protein. Period.
Your body doesn’t store protein the same way it does carbs or fats. It needs a steady supply of amino acids from high-quality sources to rebuild muscle tissue and support hormone function. When you’re chronically under-consuming protein, your body will literally start breaking down muscle to get what it needs.
Why this matters:
- Muscle is metabolically active tissue — it helps you burn fat, stabilize joints, improve insulin sensitivity, and look leaner even at the same body weight.
- Recovery is directly tied to amino acid availability. Low protein = high soreness, low performance.
- As we age (especially over 30), we experience anabolic resistance, meaning we need more protein, not less, to maintain and build muscle.
Fix it:
- Aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass as a daily baseline. If you’re doing CrossFit or strength training regularly, this number may increase.
- Use tools like Evolt scans (like we have here at CrossFit Cornelius) to determine your lean mass so you’re not just guessing.
- Spread your protein intake across 3–4 meals with ~25–35g per meal to optimize muscle protein synthesis.
2. You’re Relying on Intuition Instead of Strategy (and It’s Costing You Consistency)
There’s a big difference between “eating healthy” and eating to support performance, fat loss, or body composition change.
Even clean eaters can struggle when they don’t have a structured plan. Maybe you skip breakfast. Maybe you’re low-carb during the day and binge sugar at night. Maybe you under-eat during the week and overdo it on weekends. Without strategy, even good choices can sabotage your goals.
Let’s talk science:
- Blood sugar regulation: Skipping meals or eating erratically can cause fluctuations in energy, cravings, and fat storage (especially around the midsection).
- Cortisol and stress: Inconsistent eating spikes cortisol, which impairs muscle recovery and promotes fat storage (especially if you’re also training hard).
- Adaptation energy: Your body needs predictable fuel to know it’s safe to burn fat, build muscle, and recover. Sporadic nutrition feels like a famine signal.
Fix it:
- Build a simple structure: 3 main meals, 1–2 protein-forward snacks, and a hydration plan. Done.
- Add nutrient timing around your workouts — protein + carbs within 90 minutes post-training significantly improves recovery and muscle repair.
- Use a tool like MyFitnessPal for a week to track, observe, and learn. You don’t need to track forever, but you do need data to build awareness.
3. You’re Treating Nutrition as Optional — and It’s Your Missing Link
We’ve seen it over and over again: athletes (and everyday gym-goers) think they can outwork a bad diet — or worse, that nutrition is something they’ll “figure out later.”
The truth? Your body adapts to what you consistently give it, not just how hard you train. Even elite athletes see their biggest breakthroughs when they dial in the kitchen, not just the gym.
Why this matters:
- Nutrition drives body composition change, period. If your goal is fat loss, you must be in a caloric deficit with adequate protein — training alone won’t do it.
- If you're trying to build muscle, you need to be in a slight surplus, with intentional recovery nutrition.
- Micronutrient deficiencies (vitamin D, magnesium, B-complex, omega-3s) blunt energy, performance, and metabolism — and they’re common even in active populations.
Fix it:
- Treat nutrition like you treat your training — with intention, discipline, and support.
- Get a personalized plan built around your goals, schedule, and preferences (not a one-size-fits-all template).
- Supplement where needed — quality protein, fish oil, electrolytes, and magnesium can go a long way in supporting high output and recovery.
The Bottom Line:
If you’re serious about results — whether it’s performance, fat loss, or muscle gain — your training is only half the equation. The other half? What, when, and how you're fueling your body.
We know how confusing it can feel to get started. That’s why every nutrition client at CrossFit Cornelius:
✅ A custom nutrition plan built around YOUR goals
✅ Weekly check-ins and body composition tracking using E-Volt 360
✅ Education to help you understand your macros, metabolism, and mindset
✅ Access to proven, lab-tested supplements to support recovery and results
✅ Full support from coaches who walk the walk and hold you accountable
Ready to Stop Guessing and Start Seeing Results?
Your next level starts in the kitchen.
Let’s build your roadmap.
Most adults don’t struggle because of a lack of effort. They struggle because their training, lifestyle, and recovery needs were never designed for their body. Traditional group classes treat every athlete the same. Same movements, same frequency, same expectations. But people adapt differently. Bodies respond differently. Stress levels, recovery capacity, hormone profiles, and sleep quality all vary. When the plan ignores that, results suffer. This is why C2 was built around a different idea. Your training should fit you, not the other way around. You train in a group environment, but the intention behind your plan is personalized. Your physiology, your schedule, your goals, your current season of life. The group provides the energy, accountability, and support. The personalization creates the actual progress. Why individualization matters The American College of Sports Medicine states that training must follow the principle of individual variability. Two athletes can complete the same workout and experience completely different adaptations. Research from the Journal of Applied Physiology shows that muscle protein synthesis and recovery can vary by more than 50 percent between individuals. Strength, work capacity, and movement quality improve at different rates for different people. Your training needs to match your body’s response, not someone else’s. How often you train matters Most adults make real progress on two to four strength-based sessions per week. But the right number depends on stress levels, sleep patterns, recovery capacity, and training history. Someone in a high-stress season may progress better with fewer focused sessions. Someone with years of training may thrive on a higher frequency. At C2, we help each athlete find an exact weekly rhythm that supports adaptation rather than fights against it. Accountability is personal Behavioral research from the American Psychological Association highlights that people respond to accountability in different ways. Some athletes stay consistent because they have structured sessions to complete. Others stay consistent because a coach is expecting them. Many thrive because the environment around them reinforces effort. This is why our hybrid accountability model works. We match the structure to the person so consistency becomes natural, not a constant battle. Where wellness fits into personalization Training is only one piece of the progress equation. Some athletes need deeper wellness support to optimize sleep, stress management, digestion, recovery, or hormone balance. Others do not. That is the point. It is individualized. Some people benefit from labs or targeted supplementation. A small percentage benefit from peptides or medical interventions under supervision. Many athletes need none of these tools. We recognize both realities. Our job is not to push wellness tools. Our job is to understand the whole picture and help each athlete find the right combination of training, recovery, nutrition, and, when appropriate, medically supervised support. This also includes knowing when to refer someone to a trusted professional outside the gym based on true need, not trends. Group training doesn’t have to mean generic training A well-designed group setting creates energy and consistency, but the progression inside it must be individualized. You may be training alongside others, but your plan is your own. Training volume, tempo, loading, progressions, wellness considerations, and accountability strategies are matched to the individual, not the room. This is what makes progress sustainable. Research from the University of New England shows that people training in supportive group environments stay more consistent and enjoy their training more. When that environment includes individualized progression, improvements in strength, body composition, and overall well-being increase significantly. This is the model we run at C2. Individual plans. Individual accountability. Individual pathways. A supportive room around you that elevates your effort. Real training designed for real people who want results that actually last.
GLP one medications are powerful, but the real magic happens when they are paired with a healthy lifestyle GLP one medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide have taken over every conversation in health and wellness. More people than ever are turning to medical support to finally break through years of weight struggles, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysfunction. These medications work by slowing gastric emptying, improving blood sugar control, reducing cravings, and increasing satiety. All of this contributes to steady, reliable weight loss for people who have previously felt stuck. But here is the truth that most people misunderstand. GLP one medications are not a magic fix on their own. They become truly life changing when combined with strength training, protein centered nutrition, proper hydration, structured sleep, and lifestyle support. In other words, the medication is the accelerator but the habits you build are the engine.
If you’re a woman in your 40s or 50s navigating perimenopause or menopause, you’ve likely experienced the frustrating truth of midlife metabolism: the “eat less, move more” advice doesn’t seem to work anymore. The real issue? Your hormones — especially cortisol and leptin — may be working against you when it comes to weight loss, energy, and performance. And if you’re doing high-intensity workouts without adjusting your recovery and nutrition strategies, you might be doing more harm than good. Let’s break it down.
