Nutrition For Female Equestrians; 3-2-1 Formula

When it comes to nutrition, most riders I speak to feel one of two things:

1; Either completely overwhelmed “I don’t even know where to start”or

2; Like they’re constantly second-guessing what they should be eating. "I have no idea what to eat."

The battle of good nutrition can be a hard one & much of the way we approach our diet & food comes down to mindsets that have been ingrained in us over the years. 

So many of us view certain foods as “good” or “bad” when in reality there’s no such thing.

You can’t survive off salad alone & nor can you survive off 10 chocolate bars a day. 

It’s about understanding what your body needs for fuel so you can mentally & physically have the energy & focus to perform on & off horse but also give your body & brain everything it needs to recover as best as possible.

Between long days on the yard, competing, and fitting in everything else life throws at you, the last thing you need is another complicated food plan to attempt to follow. I’m not a fan of meal plans because they don’t teach you anything. My clients don’t receive them & I want you to understand the fundamentals so that long term you can build out a diet that works for you day in & day out. That's the end goal here.

The truth is, nutrition doesn’t have to be restrictive, confusing, or about tracking every single calorie. It comes down to a few simple principles that will make your life easier, make making healthy choices more simple not harder & allows you to fit food into your life easily whilst still enjoying it! Because without a doubt food is something to enjoy too.

What we eat as riders is essential & food also has a huge impact on our gut health, energy, recovery, mood and performance in and out of the saddle & as women I think we should all be aware of what our bodies need in terms of fuel but also how to keep our gut happy & handle issues like bloating especially understanding how our female hormones can affect things. There's a lot to understand & it's important because let’s be honest, having bloat in your breeches or 3pm slumps is never fun!

Bloating is something so many female riders struggle with and it’s not always about the food eaten itself. You might think how on earth do hormones & gut health go together but they aboslutely go hand in hand.

Your gut isn’t just about digesting food, it’s a whole system that is constantly working in your body. The same as our sleep system. We have bacteria that live in our digestive tract known as the gut microbiome which help to break down our food, absorb nutrients, regulate the immune system & produce vitamins. When your gut is in balance, you digest food well, experience less bloating & energy stays far more consistent. But if your gut bacteria get disrupted from lack of sleep, high stress, low fibre intake or dehydration digestion can slow down & issues like bloating become more common.

As women, I know so many of us can struggle with bloating. It may be around eating certain foods or specific times when you notice yourself being bloated & there’s alot that can cause it! It’s not fun, trust me, I know, but the more we know about it the easier we can handle it.

Science has shown that women do struggle with bloating more because we have a slower gut transition time than men which is interesting!

During the menstrual cycle our hormones change levels at certain times. such as during the second half of your cycle your progesterone levels become higher. This mean that gut contractions slow down & food moves more slowly through the intestines so the body holds more water from that food which can cause symptoms like constipation and more bloating as well as stools becoming harder. Changes in our estrogen & progesterone hormones affect how our body retains water, which means at certain times of the month like in the luteal phase we hold more water retention & therefore bloating can be worse.

Equally during this period we can struggle with more feelings of fullness. Our progesterone hormone tends to be at it's highest from day 14-28 of our cycle so it’s worth being aware of that! Especially if you know towards the end of your cycle, you struggle with these symptoms. Eating smaller meals & portion sizes here could help to avoid overeating & work with the slower speed of the gut.

During menopause, lower estrogen levels can alter the gut bacteria, which can affect our digestion & sometimes you can find yourself suddenly becoming sensitive to certain foods. 

So bloating isn’t simply a case of eating the wrong thing, there’s a lot more going on here!

Our hormones are messages that the brain sends to tell the body what to do & digestion is one of the systems they regulate. Our estrogen hormone helps to keep the gut moving & produces bile acid to help digest fat & absorb vitamins. So when estrogen drops such as in menopause or just before your period & during the first few days of your cycle that can mean your gut movements naturally slow down which can cause things like bloating & constipation.

Unfortunately, when we get to the stage of menopause both our estrogen & progesterone hormones drop. Perimenopause is when estrogen can become unpredictable, you have times where it may spike high & then times it drops very low so your gut symptoms & energy can be up & down due to the fluctuations of hormones.

Once you reach menopause, both oestrogen and progesterone consistently stay low. With less progesterone, you lose some of that natural relaxing effect on the gut muscles, which means digestion can feel different. Some women experience faster gut movements, while others notice more constipation or discomfort. At the same time, lower oestrogen levels change the balance of gut bacteria and bile acids, which can increase bloating or make certain foods feel harder to tolerate. This is why it’s so important to be aware of your hormones in menopause: they directly affect how your gut processes food, the speed it works, and how sensitive you may feel to stress, dehydration, and food triggers.

While we can’t control hormonal changes, we can support our gut through them. Staying hydrated, eating enough fibre, balancing meals with protein, and managing stress all help the gut adapt. If you notice certain foods trigger bloating more at different times of the month (or during menopause), keeping a food log for a couple of weeks can help you spot patterns without needing to cut out everything.

Some foods naturally produce more gas as the gut breaks them down which can lead to bloat in the gut, it’s simply the gut bacteria doing it's job to digest these foods. Veg like broccoli & cabbage can cause more gas as well as foods like beans, lentil, high fibre & carbonated drinks. So sometimes it might just be the type of food you’ve eaten.

If you feel discomfort around eating certain foods, you might start to notice you feel more sensitive to some food types more than others & I’d always suggest keeping a food log as above so you can see if 1 food is triggering you & you can see that pattern forming & if it’s a repetitive pattern around a particular food you then know to avoid it. 

Sometimes food intolerances can come into play & if you’re body is struggling to digest a component of food say like gluten for example that can lead to more bloat, constipation & discomfort when the food is consumed in certain amounts. 

Hormones, high stress & hydration can all influence bloating even if you’ve not eaten foods that cause it like the above! So it’ a tricky one & lots to be aware of! But as we often hear, a happy gut is the first step to a happy body!

Not drinking enough water can affect digestion hugely & lead to bloating too. If you restrict your body of water & dehydrate yourself it can lead to constipation & then bloating as a result. Dehydration is one of the biggest reasons people suffer from constipation so staying hydrated is so important!

I hear so many riders openly saying I don’t drink enough & not doing anything to change it but it’s imperative for gut health & so many other things! Being hydrated properly keeps your bowel working as it should, you have regular bowel movements, your stools stay soft & it helps your digestive system to break down food as it should. 

Electrolytes help your muscles contract properly which includes the relaxing muscles of the gut so without your body being adequately hydrated these contractions can slow. For us riders around training, riding, long hours on our feet & likely sweating alot we ned to focus on hydration. I know so many of you rely on caffeine to get through your day but that in itself will push you towards dehydration which just makes bloating & fatigue worse!

Stress is another factor that can influence how our body works & processes food hugely. Stress is a hormone known as cortisol, a little stress is a good thing but too much stress can be detrimental. High cortisol diverts energy away from the “rest and digest” processes, think if you’ve ever been chronically stressed this is why sleep can be so poor. Blood flow is pulled from your digestive system toward muscles when our stress is elevated which slows digestion and can lead to cramps, bloating, or irregular bowel movements.

In some cases high cortisol triggers what we know as “leaky gut” which can make food sensitivities worse, contributes to more bloating & discomfort & it can alter our gut bacteria balance too which means it harder to keep the gut happy. It can also dysregulate our appetite, which means some people will overeat while others won’t eat at all in times of high stress.

I often hear women say “I think my metabolism is broken.” Particularly if they’re working towards weight loss goals. This comes up a lot, but here’s the truth: your metabolism isn’t broken or slow, it’s working 24/7 & it’s responsive.

Stress, lack of sleep, inconsistent eating patterns, dehydration and overtraining all influence how your body uses energy. When cortisol stays too high for too long, you’ll feel more ups and downs in energy, which can make it harder to recover & keep consistent energy through the day. Your body is working to keep a happy equilibrium so if you’re chronically stressed you will struggle to lose weight because your body’s in survival mode trying to handle this stress already. So it’s crucial if you want to recover well from training & riding, get results with your fitness & strength & have physique goals that you manage your stress effectively particularly with the long days & horse stress we already have!

Simple, balanced meals and better stress management go a long way to supporting a healthy metabolism. I know it's not fun or fancy but it goes a very long way. Insulin is also something that needs to be considered & it’s our hormone that regulates our blood sugar. So basically how stable our energy feels day to day. Fluctuations in our insulin sensitivity happen during menopause & at certain times of the cycle & this again can affect how our gut works at certain times. It also responds differently to different food types so it's important to be aware of this so we can handle energy dips better ter!

What you eat around riding and training can make a huge difference in how you feel as well as how the gut functions. And equally when you eat. Eating too close to a riding or training session means that your body is trying to process the food & use the digestive system whilst also competing with creating physical movement so when two sysrtems are trying to work at once things become slow!

We’ve all been there, eaten too close to riding or training & felt sick & heavy so aim to eat 60-90 mins before your training session starts & go for lighter snacks like bananas, oat bars & yogurt. Good bit of carbs & a little protein.

Eating really large, high fibre meals can also cause bloating. Especially if you’ve gone all day without food, then eat a big portion, the gut gets overloaded & it increases gas & bloating. This is why it’s so important to keep food intake throughout the day regular & balanced rather than eating nothing all day & then having a huge meal. Fibre is good for the gut but too much can go the other way so keep it balanced!

We ‘ve all been told that eating late at night causes you to gain weight which is bullshit.

So you can leave that one there but what it does affect is sleep. Remember each process the body works is a working process so we need to give it time to do 1 job. Eating late means your digestive system is still trying to process food whilst your recovery system is trying to switch you off & get you sleepy which can lead to poor sleep that night.

Keeping meal timings consistent will also help you to avoid that that 3pm crash where your brain feels foggy and your body just wants sugar or caffeine. It can happen when we’ve had too long a time without food & fuel becomes low or sometimes it can be down to food types like super sugary or processed foods that elevate our blood sugar too quickly & therefore spikes insulin.

So to support all of these areas you want to aim for nutrient-dense choices: fruit, lean protein, veg, and wholegrains that give you steadier energy throughout the day. The 80/20 approach works best, make good choices most of the time, but leave space for the 20% of foods you love.

Once you have a better understanding of what the gut is doing, how it works, how hormones come into play & stress & hydration affect things, too making good food choices become so much easier & the more you know your own body the better choices you can make. And making good food choices should be simple so that’s where the 3-2-1 formula comes in.

If you’re tired of overthinking food, the 3-2-1 formula is your go-to tool for building balanced meals without needing to track anything & here's how to use it;

• 3 parts Carbohydrates– for fuel, performance, vitamins, and steady energy

• 2 parts Protein – to support strength, recovery, and fullness

• 1 part Fats – for fuel, hormone health, and performance

This formula works at home, on the yard, or even grabbing food on the go. For example:

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (protein + fats), spinach & tomatoes (veg), slice of toast (carb).

• Lunch: Chicken Salad Wrap (protein), side salad + roasted peppers (veg), wrap (carb), avocado (fats)

• Dinner: Salmon (protein + fats), broccoli, carrots & courgette (veg), roast potatoes (carb).

• Snack: Oat bars, Protein Yogurts, Babybels, Nuts, Fruit. Get a combo of your carbs, fats & protein in as snacks through the day! If you struggle to eat enough protein then add in 1-2 high protein snacks through the day to hit your target!

  
  

Nutrition doesn’t need to be overwhelming but you do need to understand what is happening inside your gut & how your body is processing food so you can perform at your best while feeling good & avoiding gut discomfort as much as possible. Focus on hydration consider your stress levels & meal timing, and choosing foods that give you steady energy around training & riding sessions. Then let the 3-2-1 formula do the heavy lifting when it comes to putting meals together to keep things simple & easy!

Try using it for a week and notice how your energy, comfort, and recovery improve both in your riding and in everyday life.

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into nutrition, gut health & hormones & hopefully now you can start finding what works for you to support your training & riding.

Katie