# Nutrition and Fueling

> The coach fuels each session by its purpose, writes fueling into your race strategy, plans weight changes around your race and reads the meals you log.

Source: https://youb.app/en/docs/nutrition-and-fueling/ · Last reviewed 2026-10-29

Nutrition in YOUB is part of coaching, not a separate calorie diary. The coach knows your plan, your sessions and your race, and talks about food the way a coach does: what to eat before a session so that it does its job, how to fuel a race, and how to lose weight without losing training.

## Fueling Each Session by Its Purpose

The coach prepares a session on the nutrition side according to what it is for:

- **Easy and base sessions** start with reduced carbohydrate stores: the two meals before are low in carbohydrate, with a low glycemic index, proteins and fats. Some base sessions are planned as a deliberate low-carb variant at the lower end of the easy zone.
- **Intense sessions** start with full stores: at least 1.2 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight in the two meals before the session.
- **During high-intensity sessions**, the coach recommends 60–90 g of carbohydrate per hour.

Timing matters most: the two meals before a session decide how well it is fueled. Because the coach writes your sessions, it knows which days are easy, intense or long, and its fueling advice follows your plan week by week: lower carbohydrate on easy days, full stores on hard and long days.

## Race Fueling in Your Race Strategy

When you work out a race with the coach, the race strategy it saves covers fueling, tactics, plan B and race execution, together with a pacing plan for the course. You find it on the race page under **Race strategy**. The coach also shows how to rehearse fueling and pacing in training under race-like conditions such as heat or altitude.

## Weight and Body Composition

When you want to lose weight, the coach plans it around your race:

- Weight loss and the calorie deficit take place as far away from the main race as possible.
- The deficit is a continuous 300–500 kcal per day, never larger.
- Energy availability stays at a minimum of 35 kcal per kilogram of fat-free mass plus the energy the session itself burns.
- The deficit sits in the meals farthest from the session, most of the energy is taken in around the session, and during a deficit phase every session is still fueled.

The same conversation works for gaining weight or eating better for your training: the coach asks about your starting point and your experience with tracking, then gives tips and, where it helps, a nutrition plan with example weeks and meals.

## Logging Meals

On accounts where nutrition tracking is enabled, the attachment menu in the chat offers **Log meal**. Describe what you ate or add a photo, and YOUB estimates calories, carbohydrate, protein and fat for the meal as served. The meal appears in the chat with its estimate, and the coach reads your logged days when you talk about fueling, recovery or weight.

## How to Start

Ask the coach in the chat, for example:

- "What should I eat before Thursday's intervals?"
- "Can I do tomorrow's long ride low-carb?"
- "I want to lose 3 kg before my marathon in May. How?"
- "How much should I eat during the race?"