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Gaby Villa

I enable endurance athletes to overcome lack of energy and gut upset so that they can fuel their bodies with confidence and race to their full potential. Subscribe to my weekly 'Fuelling with Purpose' newsletter to receive endurance nutrition insights directly in your inbox.

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Fuelling With Purpose — 14 October 2025

💡 Fuel For Thought Eating big in a world obsessed with small Picture this: you’re sitting down with your well-earned bowl of pasta after a long run, and around you, everyone’s comparing notes on their latest diet: intermittent fasting, low-carb, pre-holiday "detox". You twirl your fork and quietly wonder: am I doing something wrong? Nutrition can feel overwhelming when you’re an endurance athlete living in a world that celebrates eating less. Your energy needs are significantly higher than...

💡 Fuel For Thought Fuelling Beyond the Nutrition Label A client recently told me they were struggling to find foods to eat before training. “I don't really like sweet things,” they said, “I thought about toast with Vegemite… but that's useless, right? Vegemite doesn't have any carbs.” It's true, Vegemite isn't a carb-dense source. But that doesn't make it useless. In this case, it's the bridge that makes fuelling possible. The Vegemite isn't there to fuel the session, the bread is. The...

💡 Fuel For Thought Gut Training: The Workout Most Runners Skip “Do not try anything new on race day” seems to be a well-known rule. However, when it comes to nutrition, many athletes interpret this too narrowly. They’ll test a gel once or twice in training, have no stomach upset, and assume they’re good to go. But tolerating one gel during an easy long run is not the same as fuelling with multiple gels per hour at race intensity. Your gut is trainable, just like your legs and lungs. Research...

📢 Upcoming In Person Event: Fuel To Thrive: How to make food your best ally in sport and life 🗓️ Saturday 4 October - 4:00 pm 📍 361 Degrees Running & Basketball - Subiaco This masterclass is all about showing you how to move past the confusion, myths, and one-size-fits-all advice around sports nutrition and learn simple, science-backed strategies to fuel with confidence. You’ll discover how to boost your energy, endurance, and recovery while making food a true ally, both in sport and in life....

💡 Fuel For Thought The Norwegian Fuelling Method Image source: Ironman If you watched the Ironman World Championship this weekend, you’ll know the Norwegians just pulled off something remarkable, a clean podium sweep, with all three top spots going to Norway and Casper Stornes crowned 2025 Ironman World Champion. Behind that performance isn’t just talent and training, but a willingness to push the boundaries of sports science, especially when it comes to nutrition. In a recent podcast...

💡 Fuel For Thought Why copy-paste nutrition doesn't work I often get asked: “What’s the best fueling plan for a 100k? Or for a 24-hour race?” The honest answer is: it depends. Without knowing your unique situation, your training history, your gut tolerance, your goals, it’s impossible to prescribe the “perfect” plan. Think about it: a 100 km mountain ultra, a backyard ultra, and a 24-hour track race all ask wildly different things of your body. In one, you’re climbing thousands of meters with...

💡 Fuel For Thought WA Running Podcast: Marathon prep myths, mistakes and must-dos In the lastest episode of the WA Running Podcast, I joined hosts Simon and Chris alongside Perth runners Nita Traeger and Matt “Smithie” Smith who are preparing for the upcoming Perth Running Festival. We dove into what really goes into race prep beyond the kilometers: how daily nutrition, training fuel, and recovery strategies shape performance on the big day. I shared practical insights on why fuelling is...

💡 Fuel For Thought The endurance athlete’s guide to carb-loading Last week, I sat down with my friend and Running YouTuber Sota Maehara for a deep dive into one of the most misunderstood topics in endurance sport: carb-loading. Most runners think they’ve carb-loaded… until they try doing it properly. We break down what carb-loading actually means, the science behind it, and why it’s about so much more than eating a big bowl of pasta the night before your race. From timing, portion sizes, and...

💡 Fuel For Thought The most overlooked nutrient in your diet When we think about nutrition, our minds usually go straight to carbohydrates, protein, or supplements and water is often overlooked. The truth is, water is a nutrient too. In fact, it’s the most biologically active molecule in the body and the one we lose in the greatest amounts every single day. Around 60–65% of your body weight is water, which shows just how vital it is for keeping everything running smoothly. Image source:...

💡 Fuel For Thought Why “clean eating” can wreck your ultra We’ve been taught to see food through a lens of “good” and “bad”, but when you’re 10, 12, or 20 hours into an ultra, that mindset can work against you. On the trail, food isn’t a moral choice, it’s a performance tool. What matters most is what keeps you moving forward, not whether it ticks every box on a “clean eating” checklist. The best race-day nutrition isn’t built on purity, it’s built on purpose. That means knowing what your...