Calories are the most important in providing fuel to build your fitness but you also need adequate protein, carbohydrates and fats for a healthy recovery. It only takes a small deficit to start causing potentially long term problems.
Many people say that over-training would be better reframed as under-recovery and nutrition is fundamental to recovery. As you can see, if you under fuel, you under recover and hence run the risk of long term, chronic problems that in the worst case could completely compromise your participation in the sport you enjoy.
So doing spot checks on your diet or employing someone to help you now and again can be a very worthwhile investment of your time and money.
Will you train for performance or ill-health next season?
If you need a bit of help you can sign up for an in-depth consultation where we will help you analyze your training and nutrition data, and discuss plans for your upcoming goals.