Rowena Visagie Dietitian

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Rowena Visagie Dietitian

Fuelling for sports performance. REDs awareness. Food and body peace.

11/02/2026

Only got 15 min before practice starts? Or in between back to back training sessions?

After my last post, many parents requested more tips for fuelling their teen athletes and dancers. So here you go! Although this isn’t just for teens.

If practice is straight after school, I usually recommend a quick pre-training snack, as lunch is usually not enough to get through. Teen athletes and performers also often have back to back training sessions, and a snack between these can be helpful (especially if there isn’t much opportunity to take on any fuel during those sessions). This is also a good chance to practice for competition day when gaps between events may be short.

The focus should be on ‘quick’ carbs for quick energy, and easily digestible to prevent gut distress.

A few ideas:
Dried fruit
Fruit roll or ruler or sticks
Apple purée pouch
Watermelon
Rice crispy bar
Fruit or sports gummies
Rice cakes or crackers
Dry cereal (lower fibre)
A few tbsp honey
Fruit juice
Date bar
Carb sports drink
Carb sports bar
Jelly

You can start with at least 15g carb if it is 15min before. But do a little experimenting to see what and how much works best for you and your type of sport or practice (or chat to a sports dietitian). If gut issues are not something you need to worry about, then including a bit more fibre and a little protein to this snack is an option. ❤️

05/02/2026

Teen athletes! Developing good fuelling habits can make a big difference to your sports (and brain!) performance.

These are just a few common themes that my teen athletes and I often chat about. ❤️

02/02/2026

Today felt like a good day to share this again.

Just another reminder that it is never okay to not have a period!!! Many female athletes that I see are still being told by people they trust that, “it is normal - it’s just because you are fit” or “it means you are training hard enough”.

And, alarmingly, 75% of healthcare professionals that participated in my MSc survey said that they thought that menstrual dysfunction is a normal consequence of heavy training. This is just not true!

In fact, a missing period is a signal that something isn’t okay.

The hormones produced during a normal menstrual cycle are essential for optimal bone health, heart function, and mood, as well as injury prevention, training adaptations, and sports performance.

One of the most common causes of missing periods, is insufficient fuelling to match training needs. If this is overlooked it can result in detrimental health and performance consequences.

❤️❤️❤️

27/01/2026

Symptoms of underfuelling and REDs aren’t always obvious, and can seem confusing and counterintuitive. Some of these signs may even feel normal to you as an athlete - but they aren’t. They are alarm signals.

Our bodies are always sending us messages to protect us. Trying to tell us what we need. That something is not okay. Are you listening to what your body is telling you or asking for? ❤️

07/01/2026

Hello 2026!! 💕 2025 felt like a whirlwind with so many awesome things and plenty of challenges. I am grateful for the little break over the festive season to rest and restore. Spending time with family and in nature is always the best way for me to refresh and recharge.

My sporting goals didn’t really go according to plan last year starting with a concussion (apparently trail running is a contact sport, and trees are not soft🌲), and not as many races as I hoped. 🚵‍♀️ was a big highlight, as was spending loads of time on the trails training for UTCT ex23 🏃🏼‍♀️(sadly but wisely not racing due to a last minute ni**le). Swimming with my masters squad is always epic (thank you coach! ). I have no idea what is in store this year yet….

I don’t always have a lot of time for social media, as I am usually too busy with my incredible clients, and living life. But I continue to get messages of appreciation for what I share, so I will carry on trying. Thank you for being here!

I am so excited to continue witnessing the beautiful changes I get to experience with the amazing humans I work with!

I hope it’s a wonderful year ❤️

📸 Southern Drakensburg

24/12/2025

Merry Christmas to all those that celebrate!🎄
Just a little reminder that you deserve to enjoy your celebrations and food without guilt, even if you haven’t trained or have done less than normal.

Food guilt shouldn’t steal your joy! ❤️

18/12/2025

Food is fuel, and its role is to nourish us. BUT the experience of eating provides us with something much deeper than that.

Meals connect us as humans. Celebrations, traditions, and even everyday meals are social acts, not just nutritional ones.

Sharing food builds relationships, strengthens families, and creates a sense of belonging.

Food is an important source of joy, pleasure and comfort. Food is supposed to be delicious and enjoyable!

Despite what diet culture (and even sports performance culture) makes us believe, reducing food to “just nutrients or fuel” (or numbers) can take away the pleasurable and social part of eating, and can have a detrimental effect on our mental health.

This holiday season (and always), You are allowed to give yourself permission to eat for all these reasons, beyond just fuel. They matter. ❤️🎄

10/12/2025

After practicing as a sports dietitian for 21 years, I eventually have a website! I never really felt the need for one, but so many people ask me, so I succumbed. It is also two years since I officially opened my own practice, after 12 incredible years with .meltzer_dietitians at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa
And before that at the awesome . So now was an opportune time!

If you want to get an idea of what I actually do, take a look.

https://rowenavisagiedietitian.co.za/

Thank you to for the site development and your wonderful creativity, and being so patient with me.

21/11/2025

Today is the global REDs awareness day! Relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs) is highly prevalent, yet awareness remains low. There are also so many misconceptions that prevent timeous detection and appropriate treatment.

Better awareness and understanding can save sporting careers, athlete health, and performance.

If you want to know more take a look at

13/11/2025

Struggling to meet carbohydrate targets during racing, due to gut tolerance? Gut training may help!

The good news is that our gut is a highly adaptable organ and can be “trained” in the similar way to a muscle.

Ensuring adequate daily carbohydrate intake, and gradually increasing carb intake during training, can help to increase carbohydrate absorption and oxidation.

Regular and increased exposure to carbohydrate ingestion during training enhances gastric emptying rates and intestinal transport capacity (by increasing the number and activity of SGLT1 and GLUT5 transporters). This helps to reduce gut distress and improves carbohydrate delivery to exercising muscles.

Making use of carb products with a mixture of different carbs is also useful because it enables the use of different types of transporters.

Key takeaways:
🥖Eat adequate daily carbs
🥖Gradually increase carb intake during training (don’t expect to suddenly increase your intake to 90g per hour if you have only been taking in 30g - you will most likely experience gut issues)
🥖Practice regularly
🥖Use the same types of products you plan to use on race day in targeted training sessions
🥖Use multiple transporter carbs

Eat carbs to absorb carbs!!! ❤️

Ref: Jeukendrup A. Training the gut for athletes. Sports Med 2017.

05/11/2025

Sports gels and bars are super convenient to help meet carb targets during training, but they can be heavy on the pocket. I often hear this as a barrier to taking in sufficient carbs during long sessions.

As an alternative, there are food sources that are just as suitable and that have a decent amount of carbohydrate to make them worthwhile (and are easy to carry). There are many options but these are a few that I enjoy and have experimented with during my long bike rides. When trail running I may use different options because of altered gut comfort.

However, I will still use targeted sessions to practice with the specific products (usually gels and sweets) that I plan to use during a race, to ensure gut tolerance on the day.

Safari fruit sticks (I find these super easy to chew, and 2 provide 40g carb)
Soft fruit gummies (I enjoy the Woolies ones - they are super soft and easy to chew)
Nougat (I love Damascus as it has the right flavour combo for me to tolerate while riding)
Hot cross buns (yum!)
Rice crispie bars (so easy to make - any decent South African kids cookbook has a recipe)

Please share any foods that you enjoy during training!

30/10/2025

It’s a common misconception that if a person is not underweight, it’s not possible for them be underfuelling.

However, with sustained energy restriction our bodies will naturally try to protect us from a perceived threat of starvation. This may result in metabolic adaptations and an increased stress response. So it is actually common to experience REDs (relative energy deficiency in sport) and its consequences, without any weight loss, and in ANY body size.

Although weight loss can be a red flag, it’s not always a reliable indicator.

Ref: McCall LM et al. Endocrine & metabolic repercussions of relative energy deficiency in sport. 2019.

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15 Cowrie Crescent, Sunset Beach
Cape Town

Website

https://rowenavisagiedietitian.co.za/

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