Rachel White Nutrition

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Rachel White Nutrition

Rachel White is a registered dietitian passionate about health, nutrition, and happiness.

Rachel is here to help people improve their sporting performance, weight management, healthy eating and nutrition support for living well with and beyond cancer.

02/06/2026

WHAT DOES A SPORTS DIETITIAN EAT FOR 21 HOURS ON THE BIKE?
Spoiler alert: a lot of carbohydrates were consumed.

Carb loading is a challenge I enjoy. Admittedly 500g of gnocchi in one go with quite frankly a very plain sauce was actually a bit of a chore (will jazz up the sauce next time). But 2 tins of rice pudding - no problem! Fruit juice is also an absolute game changer for hitting those high numbers.

I prefer more real food during these longer events, I have listed my top options. I am still unsure if 5 bananas in one day is perhaps too many.....!

The early hours are always a tricky time to stay awake. Camping the night before was not ideal. Waking up to frost on the tent explained why I was so cold overnight and didn’t sleep so well!
A good trick in the endurance book to help keep you awake is to brush your teeth. Alternatively, a sachet worked beautifully here. I had been using them post each feed-station to freshen my mouth, but it was the minty hit to keep me awake at 3am which was a winner.

A great and very long day, an average of 55g carbs per hour wasn’t too bad, especially given the fact I didn’t eat for 3 hours of that!

As ever nutrition choices are always personal, but I hope this may give some inspiration for some other options to try. But practice, practice and practice some more to find the nutrition strategy that works for you!

Not sure where to start then get in touch and let me help (cheese sandwiches optional, plenty of carbs mandatory) 👌

20/05/2026

GRALLOCH ULTRA
323 km with 5800m elevation.
21 hours 25 minutes = BIG. DAY. OUT.
For a long while I wasn’t sure I would get it done, but mind over matter and pints of tea helped turn things around.

As ever I use my fuelling as a marker of success. Between feed station 3-4 (150-220km) I felt really nauseous only managing 1 cheese string and water. Probably due to consuming 2 cheese sandwiches, 1 slice of pizza, 5 salty potatoes and 4 shortbreads within about 5 minutes flat at the feed station…….
Every event is always an opportunity to learn…. lesson learnt: do not eat everything in sight all at once 🙄
Salty potatoes at feed stop 4 settled the stomach and usual service resumed. Full stats to come 📋

50km solo stint at the end through the night was tough as I was fighting not falling asleep…. Cue a 2 hour Olivia Dean solo sing-a-long with mints and caffeine to the rescue refreshing my mouth and soul!

4.30am finish, followed by only managing 90mins sleep in my tent left me wrecked in many ways.

A solid type 2 day out there. Exceptional scenery, too many wind turbines, champagne gravel, obviously I will be back for more 🤙

Nutrition debrief to come 🥪

📸

14/05/2026

LETS GO ROLL THE DICE
Distance: 323km of Scottish Gravel
Elevation: 4819m +
Start time: 7am Saturday
Time limit: 25 hours

A lot of luck, good mindset and a lot of carbohydrates needed for Saturday. It’s going to be a LONG day out on the bike. It will be my longest and most elevation in one go 🙃

As ever with these events, getting to the finish is the goal and to keep smiling.

I still struggle to fuel well on the bike, so going to try turn this around. I’ve been focusing on optimally carb loading so the battery will be topped up. Just got to get it right during the race, and work my way through the kids party food selection and gels I have prepped.

All the carbs and serious doses of caffeine incoming 🚀

📸 Rwanda

23/04/2026

FUELING ENDURANCE PODCAST
How Can I Maximise the Effectiveness of Support Crew?

If you have an event where you will have crew, perhaps crewing yourself, or simply fancy listening to me chatting away about some of my experiences and advice then give this episode a listen.

It was an absolute delight to be invited to speak on the podcast. A podcast I listen to myself as well as encourage clients to listen to as well. So if you are interested in anything endurance nutrition related then they have some excellent episodes.

Got an event coming up, give this episode a listen and if you would like any support get in touch!

🎙️ Episode 105: Fueling Endurance Podcast 🎙️

20/04/2026

CHALLENGE: 7 day distance cycling world record

ATHLETE: He already had his nutrition dialled in, so I needed to put that plan on paper for the crew.

MY ROLE: Create a guide for the crew to follow, tips and tricks on how to crew, nutrition guidleines e.g. carbs and caffeine targets but ways to flex this, troubleshooting, recipes, German supermarket guidance 🛒.

GOAL: Minimising the nutrition deficit and providing variety and as many carbs as possible.

OUTCOME: Alex cycled a mind blowing 3826.47km in 7 days, setting the world record. Burning up to 14,000kcal per day, spending up to 20 hours on the bike.
Refuelling opportunities every 150km meant regular opportunities for real food. Wraps, pesto pasta and brioche rolls were a firm favourite. .uk products for on the bike - gels, bars and carb drinks flowed throughout.

Massive congratulations to Alex, but also to his crew for getting him through the week!

Strawberry laces are a golden choice 👌

13/04/2026

10 YEARS AS A DIETITIAN

‘Don’t you just help people lose weight’ - nope, actually that is rarely what I do. From feeding via tubes, to supporting patients in their last days at life, adapting diets after surgery, to fuelling athletes. I have worked in intensive care, wards, outpatient clinics, alongside physios, in professional sport, and with online clients.

‘It depends’ - probably my most used phrase over the years - science isn’t black and white and nutrition is so personalised. We cannot label foods ‘good’ or ‘bad’, there is so much more nuance and context needed. So, I will remain sitting on that fence until we have the research to back it all up!

‘Oh no you’re going to tell me I can’t eat this aren’t you’ - the most common sentence I hear when I tell someone I am a dietitian. We are not the food police 🙄.

I have spent a disproportionately large amount of time talking to people about their bowel movements 💩. More indepth than I could ever have dreamed of doing.... But it is SO important and always needs to be considered.

Dietitians wear many hats: whilst food may be the obvious support I provide, I take lifestyle, job, mood, sleep, family situation into account. If you don’t consider everything else then your plan is unlikely to work.

🥳 Here’s to the next 10 years chatting about carbohydrates and cheese sandwiches!

10/04/2026

WHY DO I DO RACES?
Firstly, I run and cycle because I love it, and races are often a way for me to go explore new places and challenge myself. I am not an elite athlete in any capacity!

As a dietitian, I support athletes with practical fuelling plans, race-day schedule, optimal recovery strategies, and meal ideas to name a few. Having first-hand experience of this helps me to relate to some of the challenges you may face in these.

I know what a nightmare the queue for the toilet is pre marathon (remember: always take your own loo roll).

How hard it is to get any water in your mouth at race water stations from those silly little paper cups (top tip: fold into a V shape)

I’ve had to dash into the bushes for some very inconvenient toilet stops....

I’ve dehydrated myself on many bike rides due to the difficulty of finding toilets, or to avoid having to get totally naked to wee behind a bush in the freezing cold!

I’ve not eaten most of my food as I couldn’t open the packets with gloves on and didn’t want to take them off (hint: re-wrap things in tin foil, or decant into ziplock bags).

I’ve bonked so hard on the bike I have dived into the next supermarket to eat a family size packet of doughnuts, can of coke and whole share bag of sweets in 3 minutes flat (top tip: always eat before you need to eat...)

I’ve also tested most nutrition brands out there, found out which are easier to open with gloves on, worked out how best to pack your bag for convenience, perfect size zip lock bags for 2 scoops of carb drink so it doesn’t go everywhere, different gel textures and what alternatives to try.

These scenarios have made me a much better practitioner (and runner and cyclist for that matter). I translate the research into strategies to support you, and practice them to ensure they are practical.

No, I am not saying that you have to work with someone who does the same sports as you, I also work in football and American football and trust me I was not hired due to my sporting prowess in either of these sports... But I often find the best way to support clients is to put myself in their shoes, and sometimes that is on the start line of a race!

13/03/2026

SLEEP 💤

So important, yet often is not prioritised. Whilst these nutrition strategies aren’t going to override the basics (consistent sleep time, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, minimising screen time), they might just help improve that sleep quality and duration.

Better sleep = better recovery & reduced chance of injury. 👌

Don’t know about you, but I am off to buy some kiwis 🥝

P.S. Would recommend sleeping in a bivvy in a field for the experience and 10/10 views but probs not for the quality of sleep

10/03/2026

SOUND FAMILIAR?�
I hear it all the time as a sports dietitian.....

It is a BALANCE - event nutrition does need to be functional at times: just get it down and get on with it. But there is no reason why this can’t be combined with something jazzier to keep up your interest in fuelling.

This is going to look different for everyone, it depends on the race, availability of food, space in bag, logistics, taste preferences. As always, nutrition is individual.

This variety gets more important the longer the race is - anything longer than several hours or multi-day this is likely to be just as important as your gel choice. Just trust me that carb drink or gel you think tastes good for a long run is never going to be as dreamy by day 3....

I often pack Babybels on my long runs - they aren’t giving me any carbs, but they are a great palate cleanser, something to switch it up and give a break from back to back sweet options. Just find that one different option to start with and build up your menu from there. No, it doesn’t have to be a full picnic spread, but please consider something that is going to take your fancy when you are 10 hours up a mountain, as it is going to be a lot better value than those 10 gels still sat in your pocket…..

⚖️ See if you can balance your race nutrition better than I can balance on rocks to cross a river mid race.....

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http://www.rachelwhitenutrition.com/

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