Real Nutrition & Fitness, LLC

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Real Nutrition & Fitness, LLC

Real Nutrition & Fitness, LLC founded by Heidi M. Williams, MPH, RD, CSSD, LD, NSCA-CPT, CPPC, CSMC Louis, Missouri founded by Heidi M. I received a B.S.

Real Nutrition & Fitness, LLC is a small nutrition & fitness consulting business in St. Williams, MPH, RD, LD, NSCA-CPT, CPPC. As a dietitian, I focus on using balanced whole foods to help people meet their optimal health states. I am a firm believer in food's natural ability to prevent and manage many disease states, and I am passionate about educating people on the raw powers of food. I take a holistic approach to nutrition and I consider food our best medicine and an important source of enjoyment for the mind, body, and soul. I focus on whole food menu planning, so I can help clients bring more colors into their diet, and transform how and what they eat. I also firmly believe that every individual is unique, so I tailor my nutritional approach to each client's personal goals and comfort level. While many experts in the nutrition field advise patients to cut out particular foods from their diet, I help clients say "yes" to foods instead of "no." I also have a personal passion for the environment so I can guide individuals to eat sustainably and local as well. I take a mindful and supportive approach to food, and I help create an environment where one can improve their health and relationship with food. degree in Nutrition and Fitness and a Master of Public Health from the University of Missouri. If you are interested in my nutrition services, please email me and I can send you along some more detailed information regarding my nutrition consulting sessions. If you do not live in St. Louis, I can do virtual sessions as well.

12/12/2025

In a world where there is so much focus on body shape & size, try not to be fixated on that one thing. I suggest you be the person that people look up to - especially your kids. Not because of how you look, but because of what you can do & the person you are.

I was going through photos for this post to emphasize the importance of being strong, and I stumbled across this one. It wasn’t really what I had in mind to use, but then I noticed all 3 of my kids were looking up at me as I was going through mile 40 at OT100. To be honest, I’m not sure if they understood what was going on, but all I know is they were happy to be there and cheer me on, and I think eventually they will realize how cool it is to have a badass ultra runner mom. :)

At the end of the day, I would not be able to run 50+ miles per week, lift 4 days per week, and ride my bike if I wasn’t fueling properly. There might come a time in your life where you question, do I want to be able to do hard things and have a strong body to get me through a particular race, long ride, or any other event, or do I want to just look a specific way.

Because I will tell you this, if I wasn’t eating enough to try to fit a size that my body doesn’t want to be, I certainly wouldn’t be running 100 mile races, deadlifting my body weight, and I definitely wouldn’t have the energy to spend time with my kids.

The obsession with thinness is back, but just because it’s here, you don’t have to give into to the pressure to look like everyone else. I am not a conformist and have no desire to get sucked into that because I know what matters the most to me, and you are looking at it. :)

11/26/2025

This week, someone told me that if they had arms that look like mine, they would want their money back if they were training with me. This person specifically said, “I want the long & lean look.” I could not help but laugh a little bit, but also be a little insulted. For one, a good trainer will say, regardless of what you do, you will never look like me because of genetics so there’s that.

I will say, usually I am fine with my body and body image but for some reason this really annoyed me. It’s not because I am insecure about my arms - I like having strong arms. But I am just frustrated with how much pressure there is out there to keep shrinking.

Please, do not comment on someone’s body, especially saying something negative! I still could not believe what I heard, but when we live in a world where some people think the most interesting or most important thing about someone is what they look like, then it’s bound to happen.

This is my advice to you. In a world where everyone is shrinking, don’t be afraid to take up space. Don’t be afraid to go against the grain and not give into the pressure to be thin. I don’t know about you, but I like having energy to be able to function - take care of my kids, run a business, teach classes, pick up heavy weights, and make it through a long run.

11/19/2025

Almost a month after completing the OT 100 and after having time to reflect on it, I have some thoughts. For those of you that know me, I am very competitive. I was not very happy with my time & I am still working on accepting it. I trained hard & wanted to do well, and I didn’t meet my expectations.

I think the most important thing that I took away from my 4th 100 is you must respect the distance. You have to put in the work to get to the finish line. For those who have been running ultras for a while, we could probably half ass the training for a 50k or even a 50 miler and still get to the finish. But the 100 mile race is a different beast & completing 100 miles is a big deal, regardless of how long it takes! :)

I do think given my background in sports nutrition, that is what got me to the finish line. And my ability to not quit. :) I made mistakes and got too low on sodium, but I believe due to my experience as an ultra runner and a sports dietitian, I could trouble shoot fairly easily to get to the bottom of the issue and attempt to remedy it, or at least do my best to finish.

Regardless, we all know ultras are growing exponentially which is amazing. But you have to put in the work - including training and nutrition. I waited 3 1/2 years to run my first 100 after my initial 50 mile race. And now, I see people signing up for 100s after 1 year of racing. By all means, do what you want, but also ask yourself, “how long do I want to be doing this?” It does matter if you are looking for longevity in the sport.

I race because I like it and I want to do well. But I also want to be in this sport a little longer. I have no clue how long it will be but in February, I will go back to the first trail race I ever did in Costa Rica in 2012. I am grateful I have kept myself healthy and uninjured, racing for almost 14 years. I have changed since I first started racing - I have slowed down & had 3 kids, but I’m still finishing. The main thing is, I haven’t gotten burnt out, which I attribute to cross training and time off. Not sure the purpose of this post, except I’m just here to remind myself to be grateful I still get to do this. :)

11/17/2025

Sports Nutrition Product Review.

My first run back post 100 miler 3 weeks ago. I felt a bit sluggish but it was 75F so I just had to get outside and enjoy all the fall colors!

Anyway, I tried out a new fuel - for my first run back. For the entire package - 38g carbs, 300mg sodium, & 140 kcals. I try to aim for 1000-1200mg sodium & 90-100g carbs per hour on my 3+ hour runs so these high carb & sodium chews are great to help me get my nutrition needs. Plus the sour apple was delicious. There’s also a lemon and watermelon flavor I look forward to trying on one of my next long runs but I’m definitely adding these into my rotation.

Also, these chews were created by a fellow sports dietitian and endurance athlete! I love to support my colleagues, other runners, & fellow female entrepreneurs.

11/16/2025

I recently saw a celebrity quote “I’m taking back my health” and then proceeded to lose a significant amount of weight through the use of a GLP-1. If people want to lose weight, by all means, that’s their prerogative. The issue that I have with this statement is why are we assuming that becoming healthy always means losing weight? Let’s not confuse health and weight loss because they can be two different things. And quite honestly, I find that people disguise their fat phobia by making these comments.

You can be in a small body and be healthy, just as you can be in a big body and be healthy, and vice versa. Health is not just about weight - there’s a much bigger picture. What does our sleep look like? Our stress? Our labs? Our bone density? Our muscle mass? What’s our alcohol intake? Smoking? Wearing sunscreen? All of these things are related to health.

I am so sick and tired of people saying, “oh I got healthy and lost weight.” Losing weight is not always a “healthy” behavior. Our society is obsessed with being thin. Obsessed. I almost think now more than ever. As I said, if you want to lose weight by all means, but please don’t pretend it’s all about taking care of your health. :)

If you are someone who is constantly in a yo-yo diet cycle, it might be worth chatting because I can tell you, that’s not a fun way to live. Feel free to reach out to schedule a 1:1 nutrition session.

11/10/2025

While I went out for a hike Friday afternoon after work I started thinking about some of the reasons we DNF races.

Fall races are in full swing but will be winding down soon. Whether wanted to PR and did not, or you DNFd because of your nutrition or hydration plan, perhaps we need to talk before your next big race. Often times I see runners set big goals and come up short on race day - not because of their training, but because of their hydration and nutrition plan.

While I fully admit my plan fell apart at my last race, that’s really not normal for me. And usually I’m able to trouble shoot to get to the finish line. So if for some reason you continue to struggle with nausea, vomiting, GI distress, perhaps it has everything to do with your fueling plan and nothing to do with you not being capable of completing the task!

I cannot stress this enough - practice your fueling protocol during your training runs and not just winging it on race day! You will be happy you invested in a plan as you get your buckle as you cross the finish line! So before you throw in the towel, I suggest you reach out to me so we can make a game plan to have a successful spring race!

11/04/2025

On 10.25.25, I ran my 4th 100 mile race - Ozark Trail 100. I was excited to actually see what I was capable of at this race because I properly trained for it. I did the runs, and had my nutrition and hydration down solid. I actually felt good until mile 50 and then I fell apart and had to walk the entire 2nd half.

I was practicing my nutrition & hydration perfectly leading up to the race. On all my training runs I was getting about 90g carbs per hour, 1000-1200mg sodium per hour, and 30-40oz fluids per hour. I had my plan down. Well on race day I guess I wasn’t prioritizing it for some reason. I had been training all summer long so it was easy to get in my fluids and my sodium and then the week of the race was the first week it was cold.

As I was going through what went wrong, I realized I definitely was consuming half of my fluids per hours which affected my sodium intake. My fluids were closer to 20oz and sodium was closer to 500-600. I was able to get by for the first half of the race and then it caught up. As mentioned I thought maybe I had hypernatremia - too much salt. So I had tried to remedy it by drinking more water and that didn’t improve so I figure I must have hyponatremia and added sodium back in. At this point my race was affected quite a bit and it was hard to come back. I was feeling weak and out of it. My hands, legs, feet, ankles and face were swollen from retaining water - causing me to p*e a lot every 3-5 minutes for at least 30-40 miles. My kidneys were retaining more water to compensate for my low sodium levels causing me to have to urinate often.

At the end of the day hyponatremia and hypernatremia can be avoided with proper planning but I was being lazy and just going off on thirst to get fluids in and that backfired. Also they both have very similar side effects so it can be hard to tell which one it is. It was poor planning on my part, and even as a sports dietitian I am embarrassed I made this mistake. As I said a lot can happen in a 100 mile race and if you make mistakes early on it will catch up to you. Learn from my mistakes and get your nutrition and hydration plan in order before your next big race.

10/30/2025

There was a time in my life where I felt like the only purpose of running races was to hit my time goal and to podium finish. Of course, I’m talking about local ultra races, that usually have a fairly small field compared to bigger out of state races that have hundreds of people.

Anyway, I went into the OT 100 with this very lofty time goal. 24-26 hours. I truly thought I could do it because I was training well. I literally did everything that my coach told me to. I didn’t skip one workout, I strength trained and I took rest days. So naturally of course I was disappointed when I was not remotely close to my time goal because for some reason I get so hung up on that! Only 5 women even had the courage to show up to the start & the fact I was one of them is something to be proud of.

But I just get so caught up in doing well sometimes and forget to enjoy it. Truly, I had the best time training with my friends leading up to my race. I rallied a lot of friends every Saturday & they showed up! It was honestly some of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. As Rachel said, the training was the main event where I learned so much about myself and the race is just the encore. Anyway, this is just a shout out to my crew who joined me for my long runs during this entire process - I am so grateful for you all!

At the end of the day just getting to the finish line should be the win & I will continue to work on that. I will say, once I put my time goals aside at OT100 I actually enjoyed the race - and isn’t that what it’s all about. The community really came together and that was amazing. So long story short, don’t be so hard on yourself. :) Enjoy the journey and try not to get so caught up in performing your best because it’s not just about that. I have been racing ultras for 14 years and I’m still in it because I keep showing up and doing the work. I’ve taken care of my body and I have run through 3 pregnancies - and I’m still here. Not everyone can say this. So basically I’m reminding myself and you, it’s not always about winning, it’s just about showing up and doing the best work you can in the moment & that’s all we can do. :)

10/27/2025

OT 100. 10.25.25. Ozark Trail. Mark Twain National Forest. 1st Place Female. 28hr15min.

For 10 years I had wanted to do this race and this was the year I finally signed up! It also was 10 years since my mom passed away and 10 years since I ran my first 100 mile race.

I hired coach .coachrunner to help me get in the best shape I could for the race. I started out strong and was on track to hit 24-26 hours which was my goal. I took a big spill and hurt my back and my quads and that slowed me way down. I kept moving though. I noticed my hands got very swollen and I started to p*e every few minutes. I quit drinking electrolytes because I thought it was hypernatremia. I also had a very distended stomach that never improved. From mile 50 on I slowed down since that’s when it got dark and started raining. I was losing sight of my goal and then I pivoted to just try to finish. At the end of the day, you can do all the training but you never know what’s going to happen on race day!

I would have preferred a faster time but I wasn’t willing to hurt to get it so I settled in and tried to maintain first place female and forgot about my goal time.

I fueled with water, skratch, ginger ale, coffee, huma gels, bonk breakers, noogs, noka smoothies, skratch chews, honey stinger waffles, grilled cheese, quesadillas, veggie burritos, veggie soup, potatoes, chips, oranges, bananas, & pancakes.

I cannot thank my crew team enough. I could not have gotten to the finish line without Rachel, Lauren, Anna & Lisa! Also, Kristian showed up with the girls at mile 40 before I fell apart so it was great to see them! And my dad surprised me at mile 80. It was so amazing to see so many friends along the way too, whether crewing, pacing, running or volunteering.

I spent a weekend in the woods with my friends and an incredible ultra running community. I have been running ultras for almost 15 years and I have met some really amazing people along the way! Oh and how cool is this. The girl I passed who was in first dropped at mile 40 and she came to the finish line just to congratulate me and tell me I’m in inspiration. That truly made my entire race. 💜

10/14/2025

Last spring, my brothers remodeled my basement and created an awesome mudroom full of so many cabinets! So of course I needed to have an entire cabinet dedicated to my sports nutrition products, being an ultrarunner & sports dietitian. 🙂

Some of my go to products are hydration mix, recovery mix, energy bars, & chews, gels, chews, .second gels, smoothies, peanut butter, waffles & chews. These items have been in my rotation during my entire 100 mile training.

My suggestion to you is to include variety, different flavors, textures, and products. I use other products for fueling but these are my main sports nutrition products! I like to have it organized so it’s easy to grab something on my Friday nights as I prep for my Saturday morning long runs. This is my attempt at organization but some of my bins are over flowing. 😉

10/13/2025

On Friday I finished my last long run before OT 100 - 3 Hours solo @ Greensfelder. I signed up for OT 100 - Ozark Trail 100 - back in May. This is the 100 mile race I have wanted to do since I began running ultras but I was always too scared to sign up - not worried if I could finish, but more worried how I would do in the dark on single track. In 2015 my mom passed away and I wanted to run 100 miles in honor of her but I was too scared of Ozark Trail 100 so I signed up for Tunnel Hill 100 - a much less technical race. Regardless, 10 years later, I decided I’m going to do it so here I am.

I figured I would just coach myself and wing it, like I have been doing since 2011, but for some reason after Western States 100 this year I saw all those athletes cross the finish line and I thought, I wonder if I have more potential and could benefit from a coach. So the beginning of July I reached out to and got paired with .coachrunner. I didn’t have time to search around to be honest because my race was 3 1/2 months away. I asked her if she felt comfortable training me in that little time and she said yes so there you have it. 😉

So far I have gotten way out of my comfort zone, doing meaningful sp*edwork and attempting to slow down my easy runs. I have forced myself to get off the treadmill and get outside for most of my runs, and I make myself go to the trail every single weekend, sometimes multiple times in a weekend, something I would have never done in the past.

I will be honest, it has been a lot of work. More work than I have ever imagined - as a mom of 3, a wife, an entrepreneur, working at multiple gyms - I am a very busy person. I am not saying this is for everyone, because I very well know my privilege - I only work 30 hours per week, I own my own business so I have a flexible job, and Kristian is very supportive.

Regardless, I’m going to see how this all plays out - hopefully well because I have Hellbender 100 & Angeles Crest 100 next year! But, 2 weeks from today, I hope to have crossed the finish line of OT 100. I know I have put in as much work as I could, so for now I need to trust process.

09/28/2025

I ran 65 Miles this weekend in preparation for my 100 Mile race in 4 Weeks. It brought me to 90 Miles for the week. Something I have not done in well over a decade. Surprisingly I feel ok. A little tired but not exhausted. I made sure to try and prioritize rest, food and nutrition all weekend.

I made sure to fuel with a high carb breakfast every day - usually a bagel with cream cheese plus a smoothie and fruit. I tried to hit at least 70g carbs every morning because I am the person that wakes up with 1 hour or less to get to the trail.

My go to foods during the run included skratch hydration (strawberry lemonade & apple cider), bonk breakers, honey stinger waffles, huma gels, peanut butter and jelly (uncrustables), watermelon, mango, ginger ale, Noka smoothies, chips, pretzels, and water. I had about 24-36oz fluids per hour, including 1000-1200mg sodium, 5g protein, and 90-95g carbs. All these days it was similar temperature, starting in the mid 50s and finishing the run in the 80s, so all very hot days.

Post run I would have a skratch recovery chocolate smoothie in the car on my way home. Friday was an 8 hour run so I got home in time to have pizza and salad for dinner. Saturday was 4 hours and I tried my best to refuel what I missed the day before and Saturday. I had rice, veggies and tofu plus an ice cream cone and dinner was veggie burger on a bun with salad, fries, and more veggies. I tried to prioritize carbs and protein the best I could but at the end of the day, getting in food was the most important. Today was only 2 1/2 hours thankfully & have been trying to catch up on nutrition all day.

Of course this is just what I did this weekend to give you and idea but I’m absolutely not saying you have to follow exactly what I did. Regardless rest, fueling and hydration are always the key to recovery for me.

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