We see them play, lose, win and celebrate, but we rarely ever know what goes on behind the scenes in their kitchens. Ever wondered what leading sportspeople around the world eat before a big game or during the training season to stay in shape?
Sure, an intense training regime plays an important role in preparing their body, but a nourishing and healthy diet is what would help sustain the energy needed. That’s also my philosophy with what I eat before and after a workout.
Here’s a look at the diet and food diaries of three athletes from different sports:
What Andy Murray Eats
This Wimbledon champion shocked the world when he announced that he eats up to 50 pieces of sushi per day when training for a tennis game. He loves this high in carbohydrate and protein diet so much that he is known to keep an ice cooler filled with sushi for snacking during a game.
Murray’s trainer recently revealed at a press conference that the tennis champion also eats large quantities of lean red meat, pasta and rice spread over six meals in a day, which makes up for a total of 6,000 calories a day, teamed with six litres of water.
The Australian Institute of Sport recommends sushi for all its athletes because the body needs the carbohydrates and protein to replenish the muscles and the liver with glycogen, and the rice helps that process.
What Usain Bolt Eats
This man shocked the world with his record breaking 0.05 second sprint in the 100m race during the London Olympics last year, but wait till you read about his diet.
Bolt famously went on record to say that he fuels up his body prior to a race with a McDonald’s wrap.
“It had vegetables in it, so don’t judge me!’ he joked at a press conference post his Olympic win.
“I had some plaintains, some hash browns, fruit, then a wrap from McDonald’s. For lunch I had rice and pork and some apple juice. And then, I ran!” he said.
He also admitted that he had ‘had a few nuggets’ from McDonald’s during his stay in the Olympic village. As unhealthy this diet might sound, we have a champion in front of us proving that balance is the key to success.
What Libby Trickett Eats
3-time Olympian, 4-time Olympic Gold Medallist, Libby Trickett has made Australia proud with her contribution to sports. Despite her recent announcement of retirement from competitive swimming, Trickett has won a total of 17 gold medals during her career and acted as a role model to a lot of young girls in the country.
Dietitian Jessica Abbott assisted Trickett in losing the excess weight prior to London Olympics in 2012, and streamlined a strict diet for the swimmer. Her meals only consisted of huge amounts of protein, vegetables and loads of grapes (for their sugar content). To prepare her for a dive, Trickett was strictly kept away from processed carbohydrates, high G.I. food, alcohol and soft drinks, and she consumed a total of 4,000 calories per day, sometimes even going up to 5,500 calories.
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