The champion gymnast on how her whole family adjusted their diet to suit her needs
I started in the gym at seven years old – I enjoyed bouncing around. At 11 or 12 I was told by the coach that I needed to lose weight and stop eating school lunches, so Mum arranged all my food. I got classed in the elite and started doing 25 to 30 hours a week in the gym and it was a massive commitment that has stayed since. Healthy eating hadn’t been a family priority – I’d eaten a lot of junk food – but suddenly the whole family changed nutrition, skimmed milk instead of semi-skimmed, and everything else. Then my younger sister Ellie took up gymnastics and the family adjusted to the needs and schedules of both of us.
For my breakfast, Mum – or me – will usually have made scrambled egg whites or one of many varying omelettes with vegetables and tuna or fish. This morning I had an omelette with tuna, runner beans, corn and chia and caught up on the Kardashians. After a morning gym session of two and a half hours, we’ll have an hour and a half or two for a break for lunch – sometimes in the canteen but usually I’ll bring lots of salad, maybe with prawns, probably quinoa, some sweet potato, rice and Naked or Primal bars. I’ve never liked the taste of beetroot shots but I’ll have one. In the afternoon it’s another two and a half hour session, followed quickly by a protein yogurt or shake. Then home for dinner, getting recovery in early. My bones, at 24, are equivalent to a 40-year-old’s, apparently.
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