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.

01/29/2026

Winter running is my nemesis. Basically winter as a whole is. :) I despise it for some reason, and I think the main reason it’s because I can’t wear shorts! :) Truly though, I prefer the heat over the cold any day. It’s so much easier to head out the front door with shorts and a tank instead of layers and layers of clothes!

Today I had a 3 hour run on the calendar. I normally do long runs on the weekend but my husband is out of town so I had to move it to today to get it done. Last night I was thinking of every possible way to avoid doing this run, but also knowing myself that I wouldn’t just blatantly skip it. :)

I have another 100 mile race in about 3 months and I know I have to put in the work. I sucked it up, got all my layers on and went out the front door. I told myself I would turn around if I got miserable. Well I knew I would regret it if I didn’t complete the run though so I tried to stay in it. After about 30-45 minutes I warmed up and just did the dang thing. The sun came out and it put me in a way better mood! I had to improvise and do a lot of hill repeats to get a little very since I couldn’t access the trails on a weekday due to my schedule.

Some days the hardest part is getting all bundled up and getting out the front door and today was one of those days. I don’t always have the motivation but at the end of the day it’s almost always worth it. Just keep showing up as best you can because right now that’s about all we can do.

01/27/2026

Nutrition, Fitness, and Public Health are all political whether you want to believe it or not. And if you don’t believe it, it’s most likely that you do not understand why because it has never affected you, and you should be grateful. Unfortunately not everyone is so lucky to not have to think about when their next meal will be or if they will have enough money to feed their family for the week.

Just to name a few - not everyone has access to healthy food, the ability to take off work to go to doctors appointments, to meal prep, drive to the grocery store, and even live in an area with accessible sidewalks, a gym or trails for movement. And please don’t get me started on we have all the same 24 hours in one day, because we absolutely do not.

The world feels very heavy right now, as it has been feeling for some years, but particularly the past year. I don’t know how to show up on this platform anymore. It seems ridiculous to come here and talk about nutrition and exercise when there are so many horrible things happening. People are being denied access to basic human rights because of the color of their skin, and are afraid to leave their homes and get the care they need. This is a problem, and at this point silence is complacency. Even though I have a very small platform I will speak up and will continue to do so.

All I know is I am so grateful that I have empathy and went into a field to help others and I’m going to continue to do so as best I can. Because I know that being a nutrition & exercise support for others can improve stress and physical wellbeing. And for those of you who continue to support me year after year, I appreciate you. 💜

01/15/2026

The draw to take GLP-1s was a hot topic in my office this week. I believe in body autonomy and will never tell someone what they can and cannot do. You do what you want to do and what is best for you, but I can absolutely see that the pressure is real to be in a smaller body for many reasons. We live in a society that glorifies thinness and people still tend to believe that they are better than others because of the size of their body, and that’s very unfortunate because it’s absolutely not true!

The biggest takeaway that my clients had this week is yes, they want to be thinner, but they also don’t want to give up their ability to get stronger and faster. They know that eating less will affect their performance whether in the gym or on their runs. And yes, that is a deal breaker for many. I am happy to see that people continue to choose strength over thinness. I know it can be hard, but having no energy, being foggy, and not able to focus/concentrate, or be able to workout seem to be deal breakers for clients and this makes me happy.

I know I talk about this often but the pressure is real and no one is immune to it. I’m calling it now though - the rates of osteoporosis will be up in a decade because of the inadequate energy intake people are consuming. To me, losing my muscle mass, my bone mass and my endurance would never be worth it just to be thin. :) At the end of the day, I want my legacy to be about the person I am, not the body I am in.

01/08/2026

The new dietary guidelines are out and they are all over my social media feed so I am not going to say the same thing that every other RD is posting about. I am just going to tell you what I have been telling my clients to do for the last 15+ years. 🙂

Eat fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, & healthy fats. Limit your added sugars, ultra-processed food, and focus on fiber.

Nutrition does not have to be difficult. The basics are great and I encourage you to start here because at the end of the day, most people are not hitting the bare minimum. So instead of inundating yourself with an overload of information just start with the simple things.

Also, don’t be afraid to allow yourself to have fun foods and enjoy food that you love. Food is for fuel, nourishment, and enjoyment.

01/01/2026

Happy New Year. Make 2026 the year you fuel for your activity and not give into the pressure to shrink yourself. I promise you, life is so much better when you have energy to do hard things. If you find that every December 31st you are making a goal to lose weight or get smaller, I highly encourage you to find a new goal, or at least ask yourself why, especially if it’s something you cannot stick to every single year.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I made a goal to change my body, probably at least 15 years, or longer. Just know, there is more to life than how you look.

Perhaps this is the year you focus on improving how you feel instead of how you look. I highly encourage you to make 2026 the year you don’t give into diet and wellness culture. Regardless, have a happy & healthy new year!

12/28/2025

Another year where I am grateful that I am confident enough to not give into the pull to be be super skinny and emaciated. If you haven’t noticed, the skinny trend is everywhere. If that’s your goal, by all means, I am not here to stop you - but I’m also not going to help you get there. 😉

I spent a year running thousands of miles and lifting thousands of pounds of weights and I know I couldn’t do that if I was trying to fit the mold that society has for women right now. I have energy to do all the things I want to and to me that matters. There’s a huge focus on aesthetic when it comes to fitness right now, but just because you have a certain look, it doesn’t mean you are healthy or fit.

I am grateful I am confident enough in my body to not feel the pressure to give into unrealistic expectations of myself to fit the thin ideal, but it has taken years to get here - and I was not even raised in the age of social media, so I cannot even begin to imagine what these younger generations feel.

Keep taking up space, and keep trying to fight the patriarchy, because you certainly can’t do it when you are starving yourself trying to fit into an unrealistic mold of what you think you should look like. I’m about to hit the most mileage I have run in a year in probably over a decade and the only way I have been able to do it is by fueling right and taking care of my body. You have to think about what is your priority, because it’s truly difficult to have both thinness and fitness.

12/17/2025

I just came here to say, Nutrition is a science, not an opinion. There are a lot of facts around nutrition but many people seem to believe that their opinion matters when it comes to their personal experience. In a time where people are posting very harmful and incorrect content, just remember this - nutrition is a science, backed by evidence, not anecdotal experiences.

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.

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St. Louis, MO

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+13146802145

Website

http://www.realnutritionandfitness.com/

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