Season 1: Health, Performance & Longevity: Building a High-Performance Life with Claire Fudge

In this episode of Progress in Practice, Charlie Reading is joined by Claire Fudge, founder of Fourth Discipline, clinical dietitian, performance nutritionist, and elite athlete.

Claire shares how she helps business professionals, founders, and executives who are also athletes optimise their health, nutrition, and performance - not just to feel better, but to compete and thrive for decades to come.

This is a conversation about far more than food. Claire opens up about growing up in a family bakery, the work ethic that shaped her, the life-changing accident that forced her to rethink her direction, and how that ultimately led her to build a business helping high performers accelerate both health and results.

It is a powerful episode on resilience, asking for help, building a fulfilling life, and staying deeply human in an AI-driven world.

 Key Talking Points

·        Who Claire helps: business owners, executives, and professionals who are also serious athletes

·        Why Claire’s blend of clinical dietetics and sports performance nutrition makes her approach different

·        The role of food-first nutrition, with supplements used strategically rather than blindly

·        Growing up in a three-generation family bakery and how that shaped Claire’s work ethic and love of quality food

·        The moment a serious accident became the catalyst for a new direction

·        How nutrition became central to Claire’s own recovery and triathlon journey

·        Combining clinical and sports nutrition to help people unlock performance in both life and sport

·        Claire’s journey to racing 20 Ironman events and qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona

·        The advice she would give her younger self: ask for help more often

·        Her legacy lesson: seek adventure, fun, and the right people

·        The challenge of demonstrating value in an AI-powered world

·        Why the answer is not to resist AI, but to use it well while staying deeply human

·        The power of frameworks in building a clearer, stronger business

·        Why “Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?” remains such a useful lens for decision-making

 About the Guest

Claire Fudge is the founder of Fourth Discipline, where she helps ambitious professionals and athletes optimise their health, nutrition, and performance.

With a unique background as both a clinical dietitian and high-performance sports nutritionist, Claire combines medical expertise with elite-level performance insight. She has worked with Olympic and elite athletes, as well as high-performing business professionals competing in disciplines such as Ironman and ultra-running.

Claire’s work is focused on helping people perform at their best now while building the health and capability to keep doing what they love for decades.

 Find Out More

Website: https://www.4thdiscipline.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-fudge-dietitian

Resources & Links Mentioned

Claire’s free presentation, available via her website and LinkedIn

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?

The Trusted Team’s AI Advance course: https://trusted-team.mykajabi.com/offers/FTCFcWzK  

Transcript

Speaker 0:05

Welcome to Progress in Practice, where we explore what it really takes to build and sustain a professional service business. The hard lessons, the smart moves, the uncomfortable truths. Because success leaves clues if you're willing to look for them. I'm Charlie Reading. Let's dive in. So Claire, welcome to the Progress in Practice podcast, the podcast where we dive deeper into how professionals are making progress in their practice. So welcome.

Speaker 1 0:38

Thank you. I'm excited to join you in a very crazy January, and what a great start.

Speaker 0:44

Yeah, absolutely. And this is going to make for a great start. So um, so let's kick things off. Who do you serve? How do you help them? And what makes you different?

Speaker 1 0:52

Well, very good question. A lot to cram in there. So I work with business professionals, business owners, partners in business, CFOs, who are also athletes. So I help them to accelerate their health, optimize their nutrition in life, but also in sports so that they can podium, you know, well into their 40s and keep racing basically until they're 80 plus.

Speaker 1:17

Fantastic. We obviously hear lots about different nutritionists and dietitians and things like that. So what makes you different?

Speaker 1 1:24

Well, one of the main differences, I'm not AI generated. I promise you, I'm here as myself. So I am the real deal. Ultimately, there are differences between all the new nutrition professionals out there, as you as you rightly say. And my qualifications and experience as a clinical dietitian. So I've been trained in a medical environment clinically to be able to work with people with lots of medical problems. So think things like a kidney disease, liver disease, or intensive care unit, diabetes, and then also in sports medicine in hospitals as well. So working in my area of sport. So I combine that clinical work as a dietitian with my work as a sports or high performance sports nutritionist. So I've also got qualifications working in elite and professional sport. And those two things are really kind of welded or merged together, which makes me quite different compared to a nutritionist in sports or a dietitian. And I'm I'm different from a nutritional therapist. So I don't talk a lot about certain types of supplements. So it's always looking at kind of food first, and then how can supplements potentially accelerate health or improve performance and get that get that edge? And ultimately in my experience, so I'm also an athlete who's performed on on world-class stages as well. So all of my experience, I would say, is one of my real positives in terms of working with the clients that I do.

Speaker 2:50

Brilliant. And so what story best explains why you do what you do?

Speaker 1 2:55

I think this is this is a difficult one because in life, and I'm sure you'll agree, there's so many stories, aren't there, that bring us to, you know, where where we are today. But for people who don't know me very well, I grew up in a family bakery. So in the deepest, darkest depths of Dorset in the countryside, and a three-generation like deep bakers. And so I was always brought up in this environment of amazing food, like really good quality. And I guess at the time I probably didn't realise how great that was. And we used to go to the country shows, you know, the big, big marquees, and it would be absolutely frantic. Like, you know, you'd see all these business owners with all these food stalls, and we'd be working like crazy. And I guess that's kind of where my work ethic probably really embedded. I remember we had this old, I don't know if you if you've ever seen this very old wooden tills and you used to pull the till out. And at the back there was a bell. And at that time, you know, this was this was I'm giving my age away, but this is way before we could tap to pay. And um, you pulled the drawer out. And basically, when as soon as them there was enough money in there, the bell would stop ringing, and that was always a joke that we could then go home. So this work ethic was very much like you don't stop until you're absolutely finished. And I think my experience of working around good quality food, probably I was always then going to be a foodie. So I had a real kind of enjoyment. But sort of fast forward to 2007, I was darting all around the country. So I was working in all different areas of the country, and by this time I qualified as a clinical dietitian because my interest in sport and in health had kind of progressed and in food. And that's really kind of where I put my feet down in terms of being or becoming a dietitian. And so I used to work in lots of different hospitals, had these amazing experiences working from, like I say, on ITU wards to working in hemodialysis units with kidney patients. And I guess I got to a point where I realized that I was really needed, like my skills were really needed. People wanted to see me. I was working like absolutely crazy, and then also trying to do a bit of running that I'd that I'd taken up a few years back. And it was really hard. And I probably didn't realize how low in energy probably I was myself. And there was a big frustration. And my frustration was that I was going to work every single day and I was seeing a lot of the similar types of people coming in. So people that had built, you know, businesses, they're busy working, they're trying to look after their health, but they're really unwell. And I could never give them the time and the energy working in the NHS, and I love the NHS, but working in the NHS, you know, to see somebody for 10 minutes, I couldn't give them the time and attention that they needed to really truly sort of make those changes. And there was one thing, I guess, that really hit me, I should say. And this time I was in North Yorkshire. And in North Yorkshire, I'm sure people have been there before, but beautiful rolling hills. And this morning was just an amazing morning. It was crisp, and there was the mist was sort of rising from the from the fields, and I could see all these, you know, the the walls all around the fields. And I was running along, it was absolutely beautiful, like the sun was like kind of lifting me. And suddenly I literally found myself on the floor, sat down, looking in the opposite direction from where I came. And I literally did not know what had happened. Turns out I'd been hit by an oil tanker. And it turns out also I could manage to get myself off the floor despite being rushed to AE. And in that time, my sister said a few things to me in terms of, you know, she said, you've got to start like looking after yourself and really do what you want to do. Like, you know, you've been talking about wanting to start out on your own. And, you know, what would you, what would you really love to do? And I think at that point in time, she brought up the idea of going to watch her her brother-in-law's brother do an Iron Man in Sherbourne. And Sherbourne is where we grew up. And I was like, God, I could do an Iron Man. And this is where the seed was sown. I was like, this is going to be the key to me getting back to recovery. So I taught myself through training as a performance nutritionist. I taught myself how to really get myself back from that position using the skills I had as a dietitian, but also starting to learn more about nutrition. And it made me realize that actually a lot of clinical and sports nutrition can be used in so many different ways, not only in recovery and in training and performing at a really high level, but actually in these business people. Like it gives it gave me like hours back in my day. I could work as a dietitian and go and train in the evening and then compete at the weekends in triathlon or go into an Iron Man in the summer. And that's really where my love was born of this amalgamation of sports and clinical and really helping people to achieve their highest possible level, like things that they didn't realise, you know, were possible. So for them to be able to have the skills and knowledge to be able to help themselves. And that's where I am today, helping and honored to help Olympic athletes and high performance elite athletes on circuits and business professionals who are racing at the highest level, at Iron Man World Championships, Ultra Running. And I'm I'm privileged to work with all of those people to help them.

Speaker 8:08

That's amazing. A lovely, lovely story. And where was the pinnacle of your own sporting journey in terms of your triathlons? Where did that take you to? What do you think is the pinnacle? So far, obviously it's not over yet.

Speaker 1 8:20

Sure, I had a lovely time racing what I call fish and chip races. As in like little local races that are really good fun, and this was before COVID. And I I I just really enjoyed winning and being on the podium. And it I'm so competitive in nature that this really grasped me. So I had raced, I I can't remember how many Iron Man's now. I think I'm up to 20. I can't remember actually how many now. But the pinnacle in my head at the time before Iron Man had changed all the qualifications was I want to qualify for the world championships. And that was such a driver for me that I was not going to stop until I got there. I knew that I could get there, but it was just how I was going to do it and when I was going to do it. So my pinnacle probably was in 2022 when I raced the Iron Man World Championships. And for somebody who's not particularly emotional, and all my friends will agree with this, I think I did shed a tear coming over the coming over the finish line. I don't know whether that was like I was really glad to finish or whether actually it was just such a moment that I've been training for for so many years. But I know, you know, you've experienced that those probably emotions before coming over a finish line. And I think that really showed me that if you put your mind to something, it might take you a long time to do it, but you've just got to find out how you're going to do it.

Speaker 9:34

That's amazing. And it is it's amazing to have worked that, you know, to do that many Iron Man's to get to do that race, but also to do it in Kona, the home of Iron Man. That's it's that's absolutely brilliant. So let's think about some of the sort of wisdom that you've built up over the years. So if you could send a memo to your younger self when you were starting out in your in fourth discipline in in your business, what would you say and why?

Speaker 1 10:00

I'll be thinking about this. It's a really good question, Charlie. It's a good one to have in here. I think the the biggest thing is never worry about asking a question or asking for help. What is honestly the worst thing that can happen? The worst thing that can happen is that they say no and you just move on. And I think as a dietitian, I never worried about asking for help or advice. That's how we were, you know, how we were trained. And yet in business, I have found myself in the past not being as free to ask for support. So that is the number one thing I would say is just ask for help, ask for support. What's the worst that can happen?

Speaker 10:37

Brilliant advice. And and I suppose that's sort of you could sum that up in that often when there's a problem you can't sell solve, it's the question you should ask yourself is who, not how. Because there's always you almost always know somebody that'll know the answer or be able to introduce you to somebody that will know the answer. So yeah, that's I think that's brilliant, brilliant advice. And if you could pass no money to your next generation, but instead you could just pass one piece of advice or wisdom, what would that be and and why?

Speaker 1 11:05

Always seek out adventure and fun so that your life is fulfilling. And that means business, it means your your, you know, your world and your life outside your business. Be around the people that lift you, that give you something that you can give back because that's when you feel at your best. And essentially it's being around those types of people, you know, that that tribe of people that are your people, they're gonna help you to get where you need to be, and that you can help them to also change in their lives and get them to where they need to be. So fun, adventure, living life, being around the people that help you and you can help them.

Speaker 11:41

Brilliant. Well, you know full well that we're singing from the same hymn sheet here because I'm all about merging business with fun. I think anything that, you know, as they say, the old adage goes, if you if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. Well, you know, ultimately, you know, that's that's the aim, isn't it? If you can merge what you love with what you do to get paid, then that's amazing. So I think that's that's brilliant advice. And and if you think about business at the moment, what's the biggest obstacle that's blocking you from achieving your goals at the moment?

Speaker 1 12:09

Well, you're gonna love this one, Charlie, because I was thinking of a word to put on this, and it is value. Value of what I do, especially in a world of fast-paced AI. So I think there are some advantages, and there are certainly big advantages to working in my space of nutrition in the world of AI and how that can help you. But I think there is a question around my value over the value of just searching out online.

Speaker 12:37

Oh, interesting. And and how do you think you're gonna tackle that challenge of delivering value over and above what people can get through AI?

Speaker 1 12:45

So, one, embracing AI where I need to use it in my business. So, number one, I belie I certainly believe the people who think, well, AI is taking over our role and give up, they're never gonna get to where they need to be. I think it's finding the AI that's gonna help you. So maybe on those the kind of back-end tasks, I'm already using certain things to help me free up time so I can help more people, but also finding the right type of clients who actually may read, they may use AI, they may, you know, have read books or listened to coaches or or whatever. But ultimately, people always need people, whether that's interpretation and really putting the pieces of the puzzle together. So AI is is can be good at looking at data, but what does it actually mean for you? It's only as good as the person putting that data into a piece of software. So I think my I think you know, where where kind of my area of looking at this comes from is the people that have maybe used AI and had problems using AI and still haven't solved the you know their problem.

Speaker 13:50

I I think this is this is interesting, isn't it? So so the your solution to fighting the AI problem is to utilize AI yourself. But I but I absolutely agree with what you're saying because what you're saying is you're not saying I'm going to get AI to do all of the work for me. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna use AI to help me accelerate what I can do as a as an expert, as a specialist. And essentially, the the way I've heard it said is you digitalise the repetitive and humanize the exceptional, and that's what you're doing, you're freeing yourself up to do what you do best through the power of AI. And I think that's I think that's fantastic. In fact, as you probably know, we have a the trusted team has a course called the the AI Advance. And I'm gonna I'm gonna as a thank you for coming on the podcast, I'm gonna give you free access to to that course. So we'll we'll we'll we'll give it we'll send that to you as a thank you for coming on the podcast. For any listeners that want access to it, I'll also put in a 50% discount code in the in the show notes so you can so you can download that at 50% off. Um, and you know, Claire, that I love books and coaching and frameworks and documentaries and all that sort of stuff. But what you know resource like a book or anything like that have you found has helped you on your journey and how is it visible in your business today?

Speaker 1 15:11

I think so. Thanks actually to to you and some of the coaching that I've had through you, is actually I've become okay with not necessarily reading a book. So when it comes to business books, I'm okay with listening and I crack through a couple of books, whether I'm listening when I'm on my turbo or or traveling somewhere. So whilst I like to listen to books and business books and books that kind of widen my knowledge and thinking, when you ask me this question, I'm thinking actually of the people. So I like to have that kind of human experience, like listening to and working with people, but almost backing up some of that with books and learning. So my first experience actually of frameworks was with one of my first business coaches. So Jason Langford Brown was my first business business coach. And it was almost like I didn't realize, like, why did I not do this before? So when we were speaking, he said, but you do have a framework. I was like, oh my god, like I've been working in this way for years. So I could then start to put a framework together. And then I started working with you, and a framework became a lot more clear as well. And then I've I've really kind of you know worked on creating my own frameworks, which has helped me in in my business. Um, so definitely the the people that I've had in in my life, so Jason Lang from Brown, yourself, Charlie, and Andy Harrington has helped me, certainly, from a speaking point of view, and and having a fantastic mentor in Carol Fossey. But some of the books that really help me are actually the sporting ones that have a like almost like a business overlay to them. So Will It Make the Boat Go Faster is quite an old one. But I really like that because it really aligns with my sporting brain. So I think that had been a really helpful one for me.

Speaker 16:54

It's a it's a good book, and it's a really good book that I referred to, particularly when I was selling my financial planning business, efficient portfolio. It's a book that I referred back to in terms of with the team, because it all came about. Will this thing that we're talking about now, if the goal is to sell this business in in five years, as it was when we originally set that goal, will this thing make the boat go faster? I will it help us sell up that business more quickly or for more money? And it's just yeah, it gives you real clarity. I really like that, but it's a good recommendation, thank you. And so finally, for people that want to find out more about Claire Fudge or about Fourth Discipline or about how you help people, where's the best place for people to go find you?

Speaker 1 17:36

So I do have a website, so fourth discipline.com. Um, and I'm also active on Instagram, so it's the Fourth Discipline on Instagram. And on LinkedIn, there's our business page, Fourth Discipline, but also my page is Claire Fudge. So there's lots of lots of activity on certainly on LinkedIn. And there's also a link to a free presentation that you can watch anytime on online. So whenever you fancy watching, you can stop and start it. So there's links on my website and on LinkedIn to that as well.

Speaker 18:05

Amazing. Claire, thank you very much for joining us on the Progress in Practice podcast. It's brilliant to hear your story and and what you're doing, what you're doing. Just as a reminder, the Progress in Practice podcast is brought to you by the Trusted Team that helps people running professional services firms grow their business whilst working less and enjoying more. So if you want to find out more about them, go visit the trusted team or check out the show notes. But yes, thank you, Claire. It's amazing to hear the practice that you've made. Lovely to chat to you as always. And if anyone wants to find out more about Claire, go check out the show notes or the links that you've just shared. Thank you very much. If this conversation resonated, you'll find more support, structure, and community inside the trusted team, where ambitious service-based founders come to build businesses that are scalable, scalable, and sustainable. You can find out more at thetrusted.team. And if you're enjoying Progress in Practice, please make sure you follow the show and leave a rating and review. It really helps more founders find these conversations and to bring you better and better guests. So until the next time, keep progressing.