The UK has finally decided to have a summer and your training is suffering for it. Your pace feels awful, your gym sessions feel like cardio classes, you're not sleeping and you can't figure out if your fitness has just completely fallen off a cliff.

It hasn't. You're just not adjusting for the conditions.

In this episode I break down exactly what's happening in your body when you train in the heat, why your heart rate is elevated before you've even done anything hard, why chasing pace this week is actively working against you, and why the sleep disruption from hot nights is compounding everything else in a way that makes the whole week feel harder than it should.

Covers: the cardiovascular dual demand that makes heat training so much harder, why heart rate zones matter more than pace right now, how to adjust gym sessions when the aircon is doing absolutely nothing, why plain water isn't enough when sweat losses are this high, the sleep piece nobody talks about and what it does to recovery, and how to keep fuelling when your appetite has disappeared.

This one applies whether you're in the UK heatwave or you live somewhere hot year round, UAE and Australia girls, this is for you too.

📩 DM @poppy.nfc on Instagram with any questions.

Training's consistent. Food's on point. Nothing's changed. And yet the scale jumps a kilo, sometimes two — and the panic sets in instantly. Have I gained fat?

In the vast majority of cases, no. What you're actually seeing is your menstrual cycle influencing water retention, glycogen storage and inflammation in your body. That's it.

In this episode Poppy breaks down exactly why this happens — the luteal phase hormone shifts, why hunger gets louder before your period (and why that's biology, not a lack of discipline), and why restricting harder during this phase makes things worse, not better. Including a real-time personal story from this exact weekend, where the scale jumped 2.5kg after a hen do — and why she didn't panic, restrict, or change a single thing.

This episode covers the luteal phase and why progesterone increases fluid and glycogen storage, why fat loss and water weight move on completely different timelines but show up on the same number, what to track instead of obsessing over a single day's reading, and how to start recognising your own personal cycle pattern across training and the scale.

If you've ever felt like you've undone weeks of progress over a weekend, or panicked at a scale number during your period — this one's for you.

📩 Questions? DM Poppy on Instagram @poppy.nfc

At what point do you accept that you train hard enough to need proper support?

In a world full of supplement stacks, diet trends and quick fixes — sometimes the answer is simpler than you think. And for a lot of the women I work with, that answer is iron.

This episode is for the everyday athlete. The woman training four, five, six times a week who is doing everything right on paper and still running on empty. The woman whose GP told her her bloods were fine — but nobody ever checked her ferritin.

In this episode we cover exactly why active women are at disproportionately higher risk of iron deficiency, the ferritin grey zone that your standard NHS blood test won't flag, and four specific reasons your iron demand as a training woman is higher than general population advice accounts for, including one that will genuinely surprise you.

We also cover what food first actually looks like in practice, when supplementation makes sense and when it doesn't, and why buying iron tablets off Amazon without a blood test is not the move.

This is part two of the micronutrients series, The Layer Beneath the Macros. If you haven't listened to episode one yet, start there.

📩 Questions about your blood results or fuelling? DM me on Instagram @poppy.nfc

The Layer Beneath the Macros: Micronutrients for Active Women

You're training consistently, hitting your protein, and carbs are dialled around your sessions. So why are you still tired, still not recovering, and still feeling flat? This episode is for the woman doing everything right on the surface — and the answer is almost always the layer underneath. Micronutrients.

In this episode Poppy breaks down exactly why active women are at disproportionately higher risk of running low on key vitamins and minerals, what a genuine food first approach actually looks like in practice, and — most importantly — what the supplement conversation should look like versus what social media is selling you.

Because here's the truth: 30–40% of supplements on the market are fake, contaminated or ineffective. You do not need a 1,000mg electrolyte sachet every morning. And stacking five supplements without a blood test to back it up is not performance nutrition — it's expensive guesswork.

This episode covers why training increases micronutrient demand, the six key deficiencies Poppy sees most in hard training women (iron, vitamin D, magnesium, calcium, zinc and B vitamins), and the evidence-informed shortlist of what's actually worth considering — and when.

Food first. Always. But let's be honest about what that really means.

🎙️ Part one of the Micronutrients Series — subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.

📩 DM supplements on Instagram @poppy.nfc for Poppy's practical shortlist for active women.

That Bank Holiday run wasn't punishment. It wasn't earning anything. It was regulation — and knowing the difference might be the most important thing you do for your long-term health as an athlete.

In this episode, Poppy breaks down something the fitness industry rarely talks about honestly: the difference between discipline and fear. Because from the outside, they look completely identical. But they feel entirely different — and one of them is quietly exhausting you.

In this episode 👇

🧠 Why chosen movement genuinely regulates the nervous system — and why compulsive exercise does the opposite (the HPA axis, cortisol, endorphins — proper physiology, not a vibe)

🧠 The hormonal cost of chronic compulsive training for women — irregular periods, worsening PMS, persistent puffiness despite training hard

🧠 The Push vs Pull framework — how to read what your body is actually telling you and stop overriding it with a schedule

🧠 What the research actually says about time off — VO2 max, muscle memory, and why the puffiness after a social weekend is not what you think it is

🧠 The five-step protocol for coming back after a rest period without punishing yourself for taking it

🧠 The honest check-in questions every hard-training woman needs to be asking herself — and why the answer matters more than any training plan

This episode is for the woman who can't switch off training. And for the woman who uses rest as an exit. Both of them needed this conversation.

Join the free WhatsApp community at the link in bio on my instagram @poppy.nfc

Fuelled Female is hosted by Poppy Hawe — Sports Nutritionist MSc, SENr Registered Performance Coach and hybrid athlete.

If your long run is wiping you out for the rest of the day — sofa, nauseous, can't function — this episode is for you. Because that feeling isn't normal, and it isn't your fitness.

In this episode I'm breaking down exactly why long runs destroy so many women, the science of what's actually happening in your body when glycogen runs low, and the three practical changes you can make this weekend to completely transform how your long runs feel and how you recover from them.

I also share a real client story — a woman who could smash a 90-minute HYROX conditioning class but fell apart on a zone two long run every single week. Same fitness. Different fuelling. Completely different outcome.

If you're training for a half marathon, marathon, or just want your Sundays back — listen to this one.

Message me or follow me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/poppy.nfc/ for more tips and answers to your questions!

⛽️ Comment FUEL under my latest Instagram post for the Run Guide that breaks down fuelling for running!

44% of you said balancing performance and physique is the hardest thing. This episode is for you.

This week I walk through a real client case study that perfectly illustrates a pattern she's seeing everywhere right now, women who are fuelling hard, training consistently, and still not seeing the results they expected. Not because they're doing everything wrong. Because the type of fuel, the timing, and whether it matches the actual demand of the day is off.

In this episode:⛽️ Why carbohydrates aren't the villain - but there is a threshold🚦 The traffic light system for matching fuel to your session💪 Why protein is still the most underused tool for female athletes🧠 The difference between restriction and awareness🔄 What to do when the session doesn't go to plan

If you're training hard and still feeling stuck this one's for you.

Instagram: @poppy.nfc

Your cycle is the most underrated performance tool you own — and most women are fighting it instead of using it.

In this episode, Poppy breaks down exactly why you feel like a different athlete in week 2 versus week 4, why your hunger in the luteal phase is not a willpower problem, and how fuelling with your cycle rather than against it changes everything — from your training consistency to your body composition to your hormonal health.

You'll learn the physiology behind each phase of your cycle, why the same 10km run feels completely different depending on where you are hormonally, and how to fuel every phase practically, including what to eat more of in the luteal phase when progesterone raises your resting metabolic rate by up to 300 calories.

I also shares real client stories, women who got their periods back after years without one, and women whose severe PMS reduced significantly, all through cycle-aware fuelling and training.

If you've ever blamed yourself for having an off week, felt like you'd lost your fitness overnight, or wondered why fat loss feels impossible in week 4, this episode is for you.

You'll leave knowing:↳ What actually changes in your body across each phase↳ Why week 4 is harder — and what to do about it↳ How to fuel menstruation, follicular, ovulation and luteal differently↳ Why hunger in the luteal phase is physiology, not weakness↳ The practical framework I uses with every coaching client

Need help? Reach out on instagram @poppy.nfc and chat!

Most women think calorie banking is smart.
Eat less now, eat more later… balance it out, right?

Wrong.

In this episode, I break down why calorie banking is actually just under-fuelling in disguise — and how it’s quietly wrecking your performance, your body composition, and your hormonal health.

If you’re training hard, trying to lose fat, and constantly feel like your body isn’t responding… this is likely where you’re going wrong.

We cover:
– Why your body can’t “save” fuel for later
– How under-fuelling impacts performance, recovery, and fat loss
– The difference between calorie banking and periodised nutrition
– How to fuel properly and still enjoy social events without spiralling

Plus, the real-life side no one talks about — navigating weekends, social months, and scale fluctuations without losing control.

If you want to train hard, feel strong, and actually see results… this is a must-listen.

If you train hard, eat well, and still feel bloated, uncomfortable and like your body is working against you — this episode is the one you've been waiting for.

Poppy opens up about her own experience of a year of gut issues so severe that doctors were testing her for SIBO and Crohn's disease. She had a clean diet. She's a nutritionist. She was doing everything right. And it turned out the root cause had nothing to do with food at all.

In this episode she breaks down exactly why gut problems are so common in hard-training women, why cutting foods out almost always misses the point, and what is actually driving the symptoms that so many women are managing instead of fixing.

This is not a generic gut health episode. It's a female performance and physiology deep-dive for women who run, lift, train hard, and are completely fed up of being told to just cut more things out.

What's covered 👇

🔥 The full picture of what your gut is actually doing — and why 70% of your immune system lives there

🔥 How modern "healthy" convenient foods — protein bars, sugar-free snacks, diet drinks — are quietly degrading your gut microbiome

🔥 Why chronic background stress directly changes gut motility, permeability and tolerance — and why your gut is genuinely worse in stressful weeks

🔥 How oestrogen and progesterone shift gut function across your cycle — and why week three symptoms are physiology, not food intolerance

🔥 The IBS self-diagnosis epidemic — what IBS actually is, how it's being mismanaged, and what should be assessed before any elimination protocol

🔥 Why training at high volume can become a gut stressor — and what runner's gut is actually telling you

🔥 The four-step framework to actually reset gut health — in the right order, without restriction

If this resonates, send me a DM with the word GUT — @poppy.nfc on Instagram — and she'll take a proper look at what's going on for you.