Rob Hobson Nutritionist, Cardiff (Caerdydd) (2026)

04/09/2026

September always feels like a bit of a reset. Back to work, back to school and, for many of us, back to something resembling a routine!
And that routine may matter for your gut health as well.

We talk a lot about what we eat for a healthy gut so things like fibre, plant variety and fermented foods but when we eat and sleep may also play a role. Emerging research suggests our gut microbiome has its own daily rhythms, influenced by things like when we eat and when we sleep.

Now, this doesn’t mean you need to eat breakfast at 8am and lunch at 12pm on the dot because your gut doesn’t need a military timetable! It’s really just about getting back to a bit more consistency after the slightly chaotic eating and sleeping that can come with summer.

So September is a good time to get back to the basics. Regular meals, plenty of fibre and plant variety, fermented foods, decent sleep and generally getting back into your usual routine.

A live bacteria supplement such as can also form part of that routine for some people.

Nothing extreme or perfect. Just getting back into a bit of a rhythm.

02/09/2026

So what actually makes a breakfast cereal healthy?

There probably isn’t one single “healthiest” cereal. Shredded Wheat, Weetabix and All-Bran are all solid choices, but there are plenty of others that can make a really nutritious breakfast too.

For me, fibre is one of the first things to look at. Around 6g or more per 100g is a good benchmark for a high-fibre cereal, and wholegrains are another big plus.

But don’t get too fixated on finding a cereal with absolutely no sugar. A little added sugar doesn’t automatically cancel out everything else the food has to offer. I’d rather you chose a cereal you actually enjoy that’s high in fibre than force yourself through a bowl of something resembling hamster bedding every morning.

It’s also worth checking whether your cereal is fortified. Many cereals provide useful amounts of nutrients such as iron, folic acid and B vitamins, which is one reason I wouldn’t dismiss something simply because it falls into the ultra-processed category.

And remember that the cereal is only part of the breakfast.

Adding milk or yoghurt gives you more protein and calcium. Fruit adds fibre and micronutrients. Nuts and seeds bring healthy fats, fibre and a bit more protein. Suddenly a fairly basic bowl of cereal becomes a much more substantial meal.

One final thing: compare cereals per 100g rather than per serving when you’re standing in the supermarket. Serving sizes on packets can vary considerably, so per 100g makes it much easier to compare like with like.

What cereal do you eat most often? Tell me in the comments and I’ll give you my verdict. 👇

01/09/2026

This is Part 3 of my HYROX nutrition series and we’re looking at what you actually need to eat and drink during a HYROX race.

It’s very easy to overcomplicate race-day nutrition with gels, electrolytes, caffeine and hydration strategies but for most people, the basics are much simpler.

If you’ve fuelled properly beforehand, you’re already starting with carbohydrate stored in your muscles and liver. From there, how much extra fuel you need during the race depends largely on how long you’re going to be out there.

For some competitors, water may be all they need. As race duration increases, taking on some carbohydrate can become more useful whether that’s a gel, a few mouthfuls of carbohydrate sports drink, or a combination that you know works for you.

Hydration is individual as well. Start the race well hydrated, drink according to your needs, and don’t assume you need an electrolyte supplement simply because you’re exercising (whatever other people tell you as there is a lot of promotion going on at these events!).

If you decide to take a supplement on race day then do not try anything new or untested!

And caffeine? It can absolutely have a place, but more isn’t necessarily better.

The biggest thing is to keep your HYROX fuelling strategy simple and practise it in training before race day.

Want my full HYROX during-race nutrition fact sheet? Comment DURING below and I’ll send it to you.

Need more individualised advice? I also work 1:1 to develop nutrition strategies tailored to your training, performance goals and lifestyle. Get in touch if you’d like to work with me.

Next week: Part 4 — HYROX recovery 💪

30/08/2026

These Cottage Cheese Flatbreads are such an easy high-protein recipe and you only need a few basic ingredients. Cottage cheese goes straight into the dough to make soft, protein-rich flatbreads without any yeast or waiting around for dough to rise.

I make these ALL the time!

I kept mine a little thicker, which makes them great for dipping or topping like an open sandwich. You can also roll them thinner and rounder if you want to use them more like a wrap. Fill them with hummus, salad, chicken, falafel, roasted veg… basically whatever you fancy.

They’re really simple to make too. Blend the cottage cheese, mix with the flour, roll them out and cook in a hot frying pan until golden. That’s basically it.

Comment FLATBREAD and I’ll send you the full recipe card.

Cottage Cheese Flatbreads
Makes 4
220 kcal | 13g protein | 2g fibre per flatbread

Ingredients

250g cottage cheese
200g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
Pinch of salt

Method

1. Blend the cottage cheese until relatively smooth.
2. Add the flour, salt and herbs, if using, and mix until just combined into a soft dough. Bring it together gently with your hands without overworking it.
3. Divide the dough into four balls.
4. Lightly flour your surface and roll each ball into a flatbread. Keep them a little thicker for dipping or topping, or roll them thinner and rounder to use more like wraps.
5. Heat a dry frying pan until hot. Cook each flatbread for around 1–2 minutes on each side, until cooked through and golden in places with a few bubbles.
6. Serve warm with your favourite fillings or toppings.

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29/08/2026

These Cheesy Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos are such a good one when you fancy something a bit more fun for dinner. Crispy roasted sweet potato topped with black beans, melted Cheddar and jalapeños, then loaded up with mashed avocado, salsa and Greek yoghurt. SO good.

They’re also packed with fibre from the sweet potato, black beans and avocado, with a decent hit of protein too. It’s basically comfort food that also happens to pack in plenty of good stuff.

They’re really easy to make. Roast the sweet potato until golden, pile everything on top, then pop it back in the oven until the cheese is bubbling and melted. Try serving with a bit of salad or healthy raw slaw on the side.

Comment NACHO and I’ll send you the full recipe card.

Cheesy Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos
Serves 2 generously!
600 kcal | 24g protein | 16g fibre per serving

Ingredients

2–3 sweet potatoes (about 700g) 1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp chilli powder ½ × 400g tin black beans, drained and rinsed 80g mature Cheddar, grated ½–1 jalapeño, finely sliced 1 avocado ½ lime, juiced
Sea salt and black pepper

To serve

Tomato salsa, to serve 0% fat Greek yoghurt, to serve Coriander, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
2. Scrub the sweet potatoes and slice them into rounds around 5mm thick, leaving the skin on.
3. Divide between two large baking trays. Drizzle with the olive oil, add the smoked paprika, cumin and chilli powder, season and toss well.
4. Arrange in as close to a single layer as possible and roast for 25–30 minutes, turning halfway, until tender and golden with slightly crisp edges.
5. Transfer to one ovenproof serving dish. Scatter over the black beans, Cheddar and jalapeño and return to the oven for 5–7 minutes until the cheese has melted.
6. Meanwhile, mash the avocado with the lime juice and a little seasoning.
7. Finish the nachos with the mashed avocado, salsa and Greek yoghurt, then scatter over the coriander.

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27/08/2026

Frozen yoghurt bark has to be one of the easiest things you can keep in the freezer when you fancy something sweet. I have always got some of this in mine. It’s really refreshing especially when it gets hot outside.

This Peanut Butter, Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Frozen Yoghurt Bark is creamy, crunchy and seriously tasty, with Greek yoghurt for protein, raspberries for fruit and fibre, and a combination of peanut butter, pistachios and dark chocolate that works SO well.

It takes about 10 minutes to make, then you just pop it in the freezer and break it into pieces once frozen.

Comment BARK and I’ll send you the full recipe card.

Peanut Butter, Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Frozen Yoghurt Bark
Makes 10
120 kcal | 6g protein | 2g fibre per piece

Ingredients

500g thick Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
150g raspberries
30g pistachios, roughly chopped
40g dark chocolate

Method

1. Line a small baking tray or dish with baking paper.
2. Mix the Greek yoghurt with the honey, then spread it over the tray in an even layer around 1–1.5cm thick.
3. Warm the peanut butter very slightly if it’s particularly thick, then drizzle it over the yoghurt and swirl it through the surface.
4. Scatter over the raspberries, gently pressing them into the yoghurt, followed by the chopped pistachios.
5. Melt the dark chocolate and drizzle it over the top.
6. Freeze for around 4 hours, or until firm.
7. Lift the bark from the tray and break it into pieces. Leave for around 5–10 minutes before eating so it softens slightly.

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26/08/2026

Is honey healthier than sugar? 🍯

I think we’ve made sugar far more complicated than it needs to be.

Somewhere along the way, white table sugar became the villain, while honey, maple syrup, agave, coconut sugar and date syrup were given a health halo because they sound more natural.

And to be fair, honey probably has the strongest claim to being a genuinely natural sweetener. It’s produced by bees from flower nectar, generally undergoes relatively little processing and contains small amounts of potentially beneficial plant compounds. But that doesn’t automatically make it significantly healthier.

I’m obviously not suggesting we should start spooning white sugar over everything 😅 What matters more is how much added sugar we’re eating overall.

In the UK, adults are advised to have no more than 30g of free sugars a day which includes sugar added to foods as well as honey and syrups.
Some sweeteners are marketed as being “better” for blood sugar, and there can be genuine differences in the blood glucose response. But for most people, a rise in blood sugar after eating carbohydrate is a normal response that the body is equipped to manage. A lower blood sugar response doesn’t automatically make one sweetener healthier.

And I think this matters when we talk about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) too.

Many UPFs are high in added sugar and often contain ordinary white sugar. But the problem with a diet high in these foods isn’t simply that the sugar is white. Depending on the food, they can also be easy to overeat, low in fibre and other nutrients, and high in calories, saturated fat and/or salt.

Context matters.

A teaspoon of sugar added to porridge or yoghurt is very different from a diet dominated by sugary drinks, confectionery, biscuits and desserts.
So my take? Stop trying to find the “healthiest” sugar.

Choose the one you enjoy, use it in sensible amounts and pay more attention to your overall added sugar intake.

And don’t let the word “natural” convince you that a sweetener gets a nutritional free pass.

25/08/2026

HYROX NUTRITION: What should you eat before a HYROX race? 🏃‍♂️💪

This is Part 2 of my 4-part HYROX nutrition series, and we’re looking at how to fuel before training and race day.

There isn’t currently a HYROX-specific nutrition consensus statement or position stand, so this series combines emerging HYROX research with established sports nutrition guidelines.

Carbohydrate is an important fuel for moderate-to-high intensity exercise. General sports nutrition guidelines recommend around 1–4 g carbohydrate/kg in the 1–4 hours before exercise, although how much you actually need will depend on the time available, what you’ve already eaten and what you can comfortably tolerate.

Your pre-HYROX nutrition doesn’t start with the meal you eat a couple of hours beforehand. What you’ve eaten earlier in the day, and for an early race, the day before, also contributes to how well fuelled you are.

If you’ve eaten well beforehand, you may just need a carbohydrate top-up rather than another large meal. There’s also no reason for everyone to automatically aim for the top end of that 1–4 g/kg range.

The closer you get to your session or race, the smaller and simpler your food choices will generally need to be. Foods like a banana, crumpet with jam, malt loaf, rice cakes or a small smoothie rather than forcing down a huge meal.

Don’t chase carbohydrate grams at the expense of comfort. Starting HYROX comfortably fuelled is more useful than starting stuffed because you’ve tried to hit a theoretical target.

Race nerves can affect appetite and your gut too, which is why practising your food, portions, fluids and timing during harder training sessions is so useful.

Need more individualised advice? I also work 1:1 to develop nutrition strategies tailored to your training, performance goals and lifestyle. Get in touch if you’d like to work with me.

Comment PRE and I’ll send you the Part 2 fact sheet.

Next Tuesday: Part 3 — How to fuel during HYROX.

23/08/2026

Turning butter beans into a creamy high-protein mac and cheese sauce might be my new favourite kitchen hack 🫘🧀

This Creamy Butter Bean Mac & Cheese is an easy vegetarian pasta recipe that’s comforting, cheesy and seriously tasty, with 33g protein and 12g fibre per serving. The butter beans make the sauce beautifully creamy while adding plant protein and fibre, and I’ve thrown in some peas for a bit of extra veg.

Comment MAC and I’ll send you the full recipe card.

Creamy Butter Bean Mac & Cheese Serves 4
650 kcal | 33g protein | 12g fibre per serving

Ingredients

300g macaroni 1 x 700g jar butter beans, drained 200ml semi-skimmed milk 2 garlic cloves 1 tsp Dijon mustard ½ tsp smoked paprika 100g mature or extra-mature Cheddar, grated 20g Parmesan, finely grated 150g frozen peas Squeeze of lemon juice Black pepper Salt, if needed

Crispy topping

40g panko breadcrumbs 15g Parmesan, finely grated 1 tsp olive oil

Method

1. Cook the macaroni in salted water until just al dente. Reserve a mugful of pasta water before draining.
2. Add the butter beans, milk, garlic, Dijon mustard and smoked paprika to a blender and blitz until completely smooth and creamy.
3. Pour into a large saucepan and warm gently. Add the Cheddar and 20g Parmesan, stirring until melted.
4. Add a good splash of pasta water to loosen the sauce. Keep it slightly looser than you want it as it will thicken under the grill.
5. Add the macaroni and frozen peas and stir until well coated. Add more pasta water if needed, then finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Taste before adding salt.
6. Transfer to a baking dish. Mix the panko with the remaining Parmesan and olive oil and scatter over the top.
7. Grill for 3–5 minutes until golden, crisp and bubbling.

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21/08/2026

What is the healthiest bread? Sourdough, wholemeal, seeded or white? 🍞

Bread is a really good example of why conversations around ultra-processed foods (UPFs) need some nuance.

Yes, I like a fresh wholemeal sourdough. I also like seeded wholegrain and rye breads. But I regularly recommend ordinary wholemeal sliced bread too.

Why? Because when I’m choosing bread, I’m thinking about more than whether it technically falls into the UPF category.

I’m looking at fibre, wholegrains, nutritional value, cost, convenience and whether someone is actually going to eat it.

A packaged wholemeal or seeded loaf may contain additives, but it can also be an affordable, practical source of fibre and wholegrains that lasts several days and works for the whole family.

And while white sliced bread wouldn’t be my first choice nutritionally because it’s lower in fibre, I don’t think it deserves to be demonised either. UK white flour is fortified with nutrients including iron, calcium and B vitamins, and half-and-half bread can be a useful middle ground.
If you want to reduce UPFs, I’d look at your diet as a whole rather than becoming overly focused on whether your everyday loaf contains an emulsifier.

Could you swap some highly processed snacks for whole foods? Cook from scratch a little more often? Eat more fruit, vegetables, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds?

For me, those changes are more useful than worrying about one staple food.
The best bread is one that gives you something nutritionally, fits your budget and lifestyle, and actually gets eaten.

Healthy eating has to work in the real world.

Follow me for more evidence-based, practical nutrition without the food fear — and share this with someone who’s confused about which bread to buy.

Rob Hobson Nutritionist

04/09/2026

02/09/2026

01/09/2026

30/08/2026

29/08/2026

27/08/2026

26/08/2026

25/08/2026

23/08/2026

21/08/2026

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