Casey Thomas, RD

My name is Casey Thomas and I am a Performance Dietitian, which essentially means I tell people what to eat in order to perform better. My role is to translate training demands into specific, practical nutrition (what to eat, how much, and when) so that performance actually improves. On Project Unreasonable, I oversee John's full nutrition strategy, aligning his intake with his training, recovery needs, and race demands. The goal is to support the right body composition for race day while ensuring he can consistently train at the required intensity and frequency. I also work closely with the rest of the team so that nutrition is integrated with his broader plan.

What I'm working on right now

The first and highest-leverage focus right now is body composition. John needs to reduce overall mass to meet the demands of the marathon, and that includes both fat and some lean tissue. While losing muscle can sound counterproductive, in this context it's necessary. Each pound carried over 26.2 miles has a cost, and John's starting weight included excess lean mass relative to what is optimal for endurance performance. More importantly, his fat stores alone fall far short of the required raw weight loss. We are intentionally frontloading the weight loss so that as training volume peaks closer to race day, he can be at maintenance intake, which better supports recovery and performance. Progress so far has been meaningful, moving from 245 to 215 pounds, with some fluctuation that we've corrected. We're now positioned to push another significant reduction in this next phase.

The second priority is fueling his training appropriately while that weight loss is happening. This is where the balance becomes more complex. Recently, I adjusted his protein intake downward because he was losing fat too quickly relative to our target, and excessively low body fat can come with some health and performance detriments. The overall objective is to ensure he has enough energy to execute sessions and recover, while still progressing toward the body composition target. I'm monitoring biofeedback closely, including energy, recovery, and training quality, and making frequent adjustments to keep both sides of that equation moving in the right direction.

Looking ahead

The biggest near-term challenge is managing hunger and maintaining adherence while continuing to drive weight loss. There is a narrow window where we are asking the body to adapt to training while also intentionally reducing mass, and that requires balance. As with overtraining on the medical side, the risk here is pushing too far and compromising recovery or consistency.

The highest-leverage shift will come once we reach the target weight. At that point, the entire strategy changes. We move out of a deficit and into maintenance, which allows for more complete recovery, better training adaptations, and a sharper focus on performance. My role will evolve from managing trade-offs to optimizing inputs. I'll be ensuring he is fully fueled, recovering well, and arriving at the start line in a position where nutrition is no longer a constraint, but a performance advantage.