In a bid to move away from restrictive diets, intuitive eating has gained popularity in recent years. Its premise is simple: eat what your body wants, when it wants it. By listening to your body’s cues, you end up fuelling better and freeing yourself from food guilt. But while intuitive eating may work for some, it’s not necessarily the best tool for runners. That’s because running can dampen our hunger signals.

As a long-time runner and fitness editor, you’d think that I’d have my fuelling regime nailed. But I almost always run during the week on an empty stomach, don’t consume anything when running distances up to 20km and can go hours after long runs without eating. I’m a pretty hungry person most of the time, but when I run, eating is the very last thing I want to do.