How to Overcome Gluttony and Still Fuel for Peak Performance

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Welcome to One Day Out, a weekly newsletter to help deepen your faith, enhance your health, and guide you in pursuing a purpose-filled life.

🙏 OPENING PRAYER

Lord, help me crave Your Word more than anything this world can offer. Teach me to find my comfort in You—not in food, distraction, or control. Keep my eyes fixed on eternity and my heart anchored in Your truth. Amen.

👋 NOTE FROM ME + SNAPSHOT

This week’s theme has been a gut-check—literally and spiritually.

I’ve realized how often I’ve run to food for comfort instead of running to God. Even while training hard, it’s been easy to justify overeating or using food as a way to avoid hard moments. The Lord’s been showing me that my appetite for Him should outweigh every other craving.

This week’s snapshot:

• 🙌 FAITH: Confronting gluttony in all forms

• 🏃‍♂️ FITNESS: Balancing running + lifting without burnout

• 🍽️ NUTRITION: Eating for performance, not just pleasure

• 💬 RELATIONSHIPS: Learning to truly listen

• 🧠 PERSONAL GROWTH: Following the Good Shepherd

🙌 FAITH

For years, I told myself I was honoring God with my body—training daily, eating clean… until 8 p.m. hit. Then it was open season in the pantry.

Cereal. Cookies. Chocolate. Fruit. Repeat.

Sometimes it was after a big training day. Other times it was when I didn’t want to face a decision or task. I’d go to the fridge looking for peace when the Prince of Peace was waiting for me.

Cutting for my wedding made me think about food even more—measuring, tracking, and trying to fit “just a little more” into my macros. And it hit me: Why don’t I think this much about fitting in more Scripture? More prayer?

Gluttony isn’t just about excess food—it’s about running to anything other than God for comfort, peace, or purpose.

📖 “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” – Matthew 4:4

3 steps I’m practicing to fight gluttony:

1. Pause & pray before eating outside my planned meals.

2. Redirect my hands—open my Bible before opening the pantry.

3. Eat with gratitude and stop before full, remembering my body is a temple.

4. Don’t keep sweets in the house — if they aren’t there, you won’t eat them. Nothing wrong with a sweet treat, but too much of it starts to become a problem.

→ Food for thought: What if we obsessed over God’s Word like we do over our next meal?

🏃‍♂️ FITNESS

If you want to run and lift in the same week without feeling like roadkill, here’s the truth:

You can’t train like a marathoner, lift like a bodybuilder, and eat like a physique competitor all at once.

Strength training should be your base if aesthetics matter—but running (done right) can make you fitter, more resilient, and better conditioned for life.

Here’s an example of how I’d structure it for most people:

• 3 full-body strength sessions (45–60 min) → Compound lifts hit multiple muscle groups, giving you more stimulus in less time and allowing enough recovery for your runs.

• 4 runs (long run, speed work, tempo, recovery) → Each run targets a different energy system—helping you build endurance, increase lactate threshold, and recover faster between efforts.

• Back-to-back sessions on 2 days → Stacking a lift and a run on the same day frees up more rest days and keeps training frequency high without increasing weekly fatigue.

• Nutrition matched to output (not appetite) → Your body’s caloric needs are dictated by total training volume and intensity, not just how hungry you feel after a workout.

The science is simple: too much training without adequate recovery equals burnout. Too little fuel and you lose performance. Too much “reward” eating and you stall progress.

→ The goal isn’t to do the most—it’s to train just enough to get better, and recover enough to keep doing it.

I work with a lot of clients who came in overtrained, under-fueled, or stuck in “do more” mode—shocked to find that less but smarter training actually made them stronger, faster, and leaner.

→ If you want a custom plan that balances your running and lifting without burning you out, let’s build it together. Book a free 15-minute strategy call with me here.

🍽️ NUTRITION

If you want to perform at your best and avoid slipping into gluttony, you can’t just “eat when you’re hungry” and hope for the best. Hunger cues can be skewed by stress, poor sleep, or simply habit. That’s why performance nutrition starts with a plan.

Here’s how I approach it with clients:

1. Know your baseline (TDEE) → Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the sum of your resting metabolic rate plus all your activity. This number is your starting point for maintenance. If you want to gain muscle, add ~500 calories/day; if you want to lose fat, subtract ~500. Without this anchor, you’re just guessing.

2. Distribute macros with intention →

   • Protein: 0.7–1g per pound of bodyweight to maintain muscle, support recovery, and keep you satiated.

   • Carbs: Prioritize around training to replenish glycogen and fuel high-intensity work.

   • Fats: Support hormone function and joint health—don’t drop too low or performance suffers.

3. Front-load fuel for training → Eating balanced meals earlier in the day helps stabilize blood sugar, gives you steady energy, and reduces late-night cravings. When you backload calories into one massive dinner, you risk spiking insulin before bed, impairing sleep, and encouraging overeating.

4. Match intake to output—not appetite → A long run or heavy lift can suppress appetite for hours, tricking you into under-eating. The next day, your body may “catch up” with huge cravings, leading to overcompensation. Planning portions based on your training schedule keeps you consistent and prevents this rollercoaster.

The science behind it:

• Carbs are your body’s preferred energy source for endurance work—low-carb diets can impair glycogen storage and slow recovery.

• Protein distribution throughout the day (20–40g every 3–4 hours) is more effective for muscle repair than cramming it into one meal.

• Consistent fueling supports hormonal balance, stable mood, and better decision-making—making it easier to resist the temptation to “reward” yourself with unnecessary food.

→ Fuel like an athlete with a mission, not a bystander chasing cravings.

💬 RELATIONSHIPS

My fiancée is patient. Like, Jesus-level patient sometimes.

But lately, I’ve realized that hearing her words and actually listening to her are two different things. I can nod my head, say “uh-huh,” and still have my brain running a highlight reel of tomorrow’s to-do list.

That’s not connection. That’s proximity without presence.

And the truth is, when I’m half-present with her, I’m telling her—whether I mean to or not—that my thoughts, my work, or my phone are more important than her heart in that moment.

James 1:19 says, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” Quick to hear doesn’t just mean reacting fast—it means leaning in, making space, and giving someone the gift of your full attention.

Here’s what I’ve been working on to get better at this:

1. Put my phone down and face her when she speaks → Physical posture sets the tone for emotional presence.

2. Repeat back what I heard → Not to be robotic, but to make sure I actually understood her, not just assumed I did.

3. Ask follow-up questions → Curiosity says, I value what you’re saying and want to know more.

The more I practice this, the more I see that listening well isn’t just about improving communication—it’s about cultivating trust.

→ Listening is love in action.

🧠 PERSONAL GROWTH

I listened to a teaching from Johnny Ardavanis this week on Psalm 23—and it hit me in a way I didn’t expect.

We are sheep. And sheep without a shepherd aren’t just lost… they’re in danger. They’ll graze through the green pasture until they hit dirt and keep eating. They’ll wander straight into predators’ paths. They’ll follow another sheep right off a cliff.

That’s us without the Good Shepherd.

I don’t want to be my own shepherd, relying on my limited wisdom and perspective. My instinct is to sprint ahead, choose the easier path, or avoid discomfort altogether—but that’s not where real growth happens.

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” When we truly believe that, we stop striving to control every step and start trusting the One who already knows the destination.

Here’s what I’m learning:

1. The Shepherd knows better than the sheep—even when His path feels slower or harder.

2. Following requires humility—admitting I don’t have it all figured out.

3. The safest place is close to the Shepherd—not just near the pasture.

If you want to hear the message that sparked this, you can listen here.

→ Freedom comes when you stop leading yourself and start following Him.

🙏 CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, thank You for being my Shepherd. Teach me to run to You before I run to anything else. Guide my steps, my words, my training, and my eating—so all of it glorifies You. Amen.

Know others who want to grow in their faith, optimize their health, and live a biblically sound life according to God’s word? Share this and let’s grow His Kingdom!

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