Sweat Elite Podcast

Matt breaks down how to safely lose 5kg+ during a marathon block — using calorie deficits on easy days and big carb windows around hard sessions — so you can train hard and run faster.
Matt Fox / Sweat Elite
Nutrition Coaching: https://sweatelite.co/coaching/nutrition/
Run + Nutrition Coaching: https://sweatelite.co/coaching/run-nutrition/
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Coaching: https://www.sweatelitecoaching.com/matt-fox/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/
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Sweat Elite: https://www.sweatelite.co/
Matt talks about how to lose five kilograms or more in the ten weeks leading into a marathon — while still training hard and aiming to run faster. He pushes back on the old idea that you should finish all weight loss before the marathon-specific block, and shares how he's used this approach five times himself, including a recent stretch where he dropped nearly fifteen kilos.
Matt walks through the method in plain terms: stay in a calorie deficit most of the week, track burn with a watch or rough math, log food with AI photo counting, and then flip into big carbohydrate windows around your two hardest sessions so quality workouts don't suffer. He lands on roughly an eight-hundred-calorie deficit on easy days — enough, on paper, to lose about half a kilo a week and five kilos over ten weeks.
Matt is clear this is not for everyone. If you've dealt with an eating disorder, RED-S, or low energy availability — or you're already below a healthy weight — he says turn the episode off. For listeners who can safely lose the weight, he also covers strength work, bone-health basics, and where coaching or a meal plan fits if you want more accountability.
Timestamps
00:01 Content warning & who should skip
00:36 The goal
02:20 The only rule that matters
03:43 How to track burn
05:33 How to track intake
06:11 Weekly structure: deficit + carb windows
08:00 Hard-session fueling
11:03 Easy-day eating
13:19 GLP-1 note (personal, not recommended)
14:55 The math (why ~800/day)
16:16 Injury-risk buffers
17:45 Risk framing
19:10 Coaching / meal plans
Content warning & who should skip
Eating disorders, RED-S, LEA, and already-lean athletes should not follow this advice. Aimed at people who can safely lose ~5kg+ and want to run faster.
The goal
Lose 5kg+ in the ~10-week marathon-specific block; Matt's personal and coaching experience; pushback on "never diet in the marathon block."
The only rule that matters
Calorie deficit = burn more than you eat. Tracking makes it workable; perfection isn't required.
How to track burn
Garmin (or similar) preferred. Rough guide: ~2,000 kcal/day for many men (5–7k steps); ~1,700 for many women; easy running ~700 kcal/hour; hard running closer to ~1,100 kcal/hour.
How to track intake
Photo-log every meal/drink in ChatGPT (or similar AI); build one daily log; close enough beats exact.
Weekly structure: deficit + carb windows
Most of the week (~5.5 days): solid deficit (~800 kcal/day as a working target).
Around 2 hard sessions (e.g. Wed + Sun): stop deficit counting ~12 hours before; load carbs heavily before, during, and a few hours after.
Hard-session fueling
Example carb load ~400g in the pre-session window; in-session carbs often 70–100g/hour for men (women slightly lower); prioritize white rice, potatoes, bread, pasta in those windows.
Easy-day eating
High-volume, low-calorie foods (fruit, veg, lean protein); flavored soda water as a hunger/dopamine hack; ask AI for satiating low-cal meal ideas.
The math (why ~800/day)
~7,700 kcal deficit ≈ 1kg fat; ~3,800/week ≈ 0.5kg/week ≈ 5kg in 10 weeks. Surpluses in carb windows are expected; the weekly total still lands if easy days stay consistent.
Injury-risk buffers
Start strength (esp. squats) ~1 month before dieting; Vitamin K2 + calcium; prefer food calcium (eggs, milk, cheese). Don't stack diet + big training jump + new gym all at once.
GLP-1 note (personal, not recommended)
Matt mentions microdosing; does not recommend listeners do the same; notes possible GI issues with late-run carbs and plans to stop near race day.
Risk framing
Acknowledges risk; argues high volume is often riskier than a controlled 5kg loss in a block, based on his experience and listener feedback.
Coaching / meal plans
Nutrition coaching (daily accountability) and one-off marathon meal plans available via the link in the episode description.
Key takeaways
Deficit most days; carb-load hard sessions hard
Track burn + intake closely enough to hit ~0.5kg/week
Protect bones and quality sessions; don't copy medical shortcuts casually
Skip this entirely if ED / RED-S / LEA history or already underweight

Matt recaps his 2:33 Sydney Marathon in jeans, then dives into recovery, weight loss, fueling, strength training, Melbourne Marathon goals and what comes next.
Matt Fox / Sweat Elite
Coaching: https://www.sweatelitecoaching.com/matt-fox/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/6248359
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SweatElite
Sweat Elite: https://www.sweatelite.co/
Sweat Elite Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweatelite/
Three days after the Sydney Marathon, Matt breaks down his 2:33:38 run in jeans and what he is currently calling the fastest known marathon in jeans. He talks through the pacing strategy, running with the 2:35 pacer through 30km, dealing with hamstring cramping late in the race, how much the jeans may have slowed him down and how Sydney compares with a flatter marathon course.
Matt also goes deep into marathon recovery, including the roughly 310g of carbohydrates and 50g of protein he consumed in the first 90 minutes after finishing. He discusses sleep, returning to training after a marathon, strength and mobility work, cramping, chafing, shoe choices and why he believes his recovery has been significantly better than after many previous marathons.
Weight loss remains a major topic as Matt explains how he has gone from around 86kg to roughly 73kg over the past four months while continuing to train at a high level. He discusses calorie deficits on easier days, carbohydrate cycling around workouts and long runs, strength training while losing weight, GLP-1 use, maintaining power while getting lighter and why he believes reaching approximately 69kg could put him back around PB shape for Melbourne.
Matt finishes by answering listener questions on Sydney's hills, marathon course conversions, how long runners can continue improving with age, shoe durability, recovering between Sydney and Melbourne, preventing marathon cramps and future costume marathon attempts. He also shares his plan to move to Lisbon later this year and spend more time racing and training in Europe.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 Welcome back
01:02 Sydney Marathon Jeans Run
04:33 Pacing, Cramp and Gym
06:55 Recovery Carbs and Sleep
10:43 Guinness Record Confusion
14:18 Chafing and Gear Tips
15:15 Melbourne Goals and Weight Math
19:07 Comeback After Time Off
23:24 Strength Training While Cutting
26:49 Fat Loss Method and GLP-1
30:01 Calorie Tracking and Carb Loading
32:12 Carb Cycling and Weight Loss
33:45 Garmin Calorie Burn Debate
35:33 Healthy Leanness and Caveats
36:23 Weight Targets for Faster Marathons
37:48 Sydney Course Time Conversion
40:02 Crowds and PB Potential
40:44 Marathon PBs With Age
42:10 Running a Marathon in Jeans
43:18 Low-Calorie Days and GLP-1s
45:00 Shoe Rotation and Durability
46:02 Recovering for Melbourne Marathon
48:42 Costume Records and Charity
51:08 Collaborations, Cramps and Shoe Picks
54:09 Fueling Rules for Hard Days
56:21 Moving to Lisbon
58:51 More Diet Content and Wrap Up

Jordan Sullivan, The Fight Dietitian, joins Matt to break down performance-focused weight loss, RED-S, marathon fueling and how endurance athletes can get lighter without sacrificing training quality.
Jordan Sullivan / The Fight Dietitian
Website: https://thefightdietitian.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_fightdietitian/
Matt Fox / Sweat Elite
Coaching: https://www.sweatelitecoaching.com/matt-fox/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/6248359
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SweatElite
Sweat Elite: https://www.sweatelite.co/
Sweat Elite Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweatelite/
Contact: matt@sweatelite.co
In this episode, Jordan and Matt dive into one of the most debated topics in endurance sport - losing weight while training hard. Jordan has spent more than a decade working with elite athletes across combat sports, endurance events and other high-performance environments, helping athletes manipulate body composition while maintaining performance.
They discuss RED-S, low energy availability and why the intensity and duration of a calorie deficit matter. Jordan explains why training status is an important part of the equation, how quickly athletes can realistically lose weight, and why Garmin, WHOOP and other wearable calorie estimates should not be treated as exact measurements.
They also explore what happens to muscle during a calorie deficit, the roles of protein and resistance training, and what changes when an already-lean athlete tries to become even lighter. Jordan and Matt discuss Matt's own progression from around 74 kg toward 69 kg, and the longer-term possibility of experimenting closer to 65 kg while trying to determine where further weight loss stops improving marathon performance.
A major part of the conversation focuses on fueling marathon training while losing weight. They discuss periodizing calorie and carbohydrate intake around important sessions, why harder running dramatically increases carbohydrate requirements, fueling long runs, post-workout glycogen restoration and why an athlete's fitness remains more important than simply consuming more fuel.
Jordan also explains why blanket recommendations such as 60-90 g or 120 g of carbohydrate per hour may not be optimal for everyone. Individual carbohydrate oxidation rates, gut tolerance and training history can all influence how much carbohydrate an athlete can actually use. They finish with bone health, practical carbohydrate choices including white rice, bread, fruit and honey, and why developing good whole-food habits remains important for long-term health.
Timestamps
00:00 Meet Jordan Sullivan
00:05 Weight Loss During Training
00:40 Why Calories In Out Fails
04:28 RED-S Risk And Nuance
06:12 Diagnosing RED-S Limits
07:13 Intensity Versus Duration
08:04 Fight Camp Case Study
12:53 Performance Versus Health
14:17 Setting A Marathon Cut
16:20 Power To Weight Explained
20:24 Fueling And Periodization
24:46 Estimating Calorie Burn
27:06 Safe Weekly Loss Targets
33:32 Muscle Loss In A Deficit
38:15 Going Leaner 69 To 65
43:22 When To Cut In Marathon Block
44:11 Race Prep Weight Loss
45:25 Training Status Matters
53:11 Fueling Long Runs
54:31 Carbs Versus Fitness
01:02:56 Intensity Drives Carb Use
01:08:10 Personal Carb Oxidation
01:14:24 Bone Health Basics
01:16:39 Best Carb Food Choices
01:20:15 Whole Foods For Longevity
01:23:35 Wrap Up And Contacts

Matt dives into the results of his recent super shoe testing at Griffith University, comparing 12 of the best Chinese racing shoes before putting the leading models up against some of the biggest Western brands. Using laboratory running economy testing at 17 km/h, the results produced some major surprises - including a sub-US$100 Chinese shoe outperforming several of the world's most established super shoes.
Matt Fox Links
Coaching: https://sweatelitecoaching.com/matt-fox/
Supporters Club: https://sweatelite.co/supporters-club/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/6248359
Email: matt@sweatelite.co
The Anta C202 G9 Edition 2 emerged as the best-performing Chinese shoe, ahead of the Li-Ning Feidian 6 Elite and Qiaodan Feiying Plaid 3.0. Matt breaks down the rankings, the impact price and expectations can have on perceived shoe performance, and just how much difference the right racing shoe could potentially make across a marathon.
Matt also looks ahead to the Sydney Marathon, where he plans to attempt the world record for the fastest marathon run in jeans. He discusses the Australian Championships uniform rules, the maths behind breaking the 2:34:45 record, Sydney's challenging course, and why the record may be considerably harder than he initially expected.
The episode finishes with Melbourne Marathon goals, the Fat Fox Method for managing body weight around marathon training, strength training, HYROX, longevity, an upcoming 5K attempt, and a preview of several upcoming podcast episodes.
Episode Chapters
00:00 Podcast cold open
00:35 Why test super shoes
02:52 Lab testing setup
04:14 Chinese shoe rankings
04:49 Dragonfly hype check
06:19 Price and placebo
08:22 Third place surprise
10:14 Western shoe clues
11:59 Anta wins overall
12:54 Name confusion explained
14:49 Who this applies to
16:40 How big the gains
19:04 Cost and who should test
21:33 My marathon shoe history
23:22 Next race Sydney plans
24:20 Jeans Champs rules
25:57 Record maths reality
27:55 Sydney trip logistics
30:12 Melbourne dreams and Kipchoge
31:09 Fat Fox Method
34:23 Getting leaner safely
36:22 Gym, HYROX and longevity
40:57 Early mornings and wrap-up
42:07 Jeans and 5K prediction
44:14 Next content teasers

Matt is joined by Dr David Lipman to discuss one of the newest and most talked-about supplements emerging in elite endurance sport: lactate gels.
Train with Matt Fox:
https://sweatelitecoaching.com/matt-fox/
Sweat Elite Supporters Club:
https://sweatelite.co/supporters-club/
Matt Fox on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/
Matt Fox on Strava:
https://www.strava.com/athletes/6248359
Contact Matt:
matt@sweatelite.co
Dr David Lipman on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/drdavidlipman/
Dr David Lipman's Website:
https://www.drdavidjlipman.com/
The conversation has gained attention around the Tour de France, with companies including From Lab to Field, Enervit and Santa Madre developing lactate-based products. Unlike glucose and fructose, which rely primarily on SGLT1 and GLUT5 transporters in the gut, lactate uses monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). This potentially provides athletes with another pathway to absorb and utilise energy alongside traditional carbohydrate fueling.
The concept isn't completely new, but delivering meaningful amounts of lactate without creating gastrointestinal or taste problems has historically been difficult. From Lab to Field is developing a patented hydrogel designed to improve lactate delivery and tolerance while producing a less acidic product. Early prototypes have reportedly combined around 5 g of lactate with 40 g of carbohydrate.
There are also interesting possibilities beyond simply providing additional energy. Lactate can be used as fuel by the muscles, heart and brain and also acts as a signalling molecule. Researchers are investigating whether supplementation could influence glycogen replenishment, recovery and metabolic responses during exercise.
There are already some impressive performance claims circulating, including improvements in power output and reductions in fatigue, but the evidence remains preliminary. Much of the exciting data appears to come from research connected to the companies developing the products and still needs independent replication.
One particularly interesting possibility is that lactate supplementation may have different effects below versus above the first lactate threshold. Elite athletes reportedly using lactate alongside very high carbohydrate intakes of around 90-120+ g/h have described positive experiences, but exactly how much additional benefit lactate provides remains uncertain.
The discussion also compares lactate with exogenous ketones, another alternative fuel that has generated significant interest in endurance sport. Ketones have produced mixed performance results, although emerging research suggests potential benefits in areas such as heat tolerance, recovery, altitude exposure, sleep and resilience to heavy training.
Both lactate and ketones may eventually have applications outside sport because of their roles as fuels and signalling molecules, particularly in the brain. Overall, lactate gels represent an exciting new area of endurance nutrition, but they're still at the beginning of the research cycle. The potential is significant, but athletes should distinguish promising early findings from benefits that have been independently and consistently demonstrated.
Episode Chapters:
00:00 Lactate Gel Buzz
00:19 Who's Making Them
01:16 How Lactate Fuels
02:53 Hydrogel Delivery Breakthrough
03:58 Legality and Doping Questions
05:20 Performance Claims and Evidence
06:42 Real World Use and Cost
07:43 Beyond Sport Applications
08:56 Ketones Update and Research
11:25 Personal Ketone Use Cases
12:44 Conflicts and Wrap Up