I hope all of you enjoyed the Olympics as much as I did. Personally, my favorite was watching the USA women’s gymnastics team kick a**. Meanwhile, I watched and questioned what I have done with my life as I’m in my sweats on the couch, eating peanut butter out of the jar. So I figured if I try and eat like my favorite gymnast, Aly Raisman, I’ll look like her too right? So what does my favorite Olympian eat? Aly is definitely all about eating to fuel and take care of her body.
During training for the Olympics she has a strict diet plan each day that she does not falter from. Here is a sneak of her daily menus during her training days and rest days.
Aly’s Training Food Menu
Breakfast
Photo by Caroline Liu
Aly loves waking up and first having a cup of hot water with lemon, as she says she loves how it’s great for her metabolism. She even eats the lemon pulp too (not sure how I feel about that). After she finishes her water, she typically has 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with jelly. Sometimes, however, she will mix it up and have cereal with skim milk.
Lunch
GIF courtesy of Giphy.com
For lunch, Aly has a grilled chicken breast with brown rice, veggies, and ketchup. She and her teammates love ketchup and put it on pretty much anything. Luckily for me, I love ketchup too so I’m one step closer to copying Aly’s diet plan.
Snack
Photo by Sydney Segal
For a snack, she has Greek yogurt with cereal and a banana. Unfortunately, I am dairy-free so I’ll have to swap my snack out for something else, she is all about that protein, so another protein-packed snack will work too.
Dinner
Photo by Yanatan Solar
For dinner, she munches on grilled salmon with 1 cup of whole-wheat pasta and a side of veggies, such as broccoli, carrots, and parsnips. She has a cup a tea as well with her dinner.
Meanwhile, she switches it up a little bit for her rest days. Her daily menu changes during her low activity days (which is usually only on Sundays).
Aly’s Rest Day Menu
Breakfast
GIF courtesy of Tumblr.com
Instead of her hot lemon water, Aly enjoys a cup of coffee when she wakes up on rest days. Then, still focusing on her protein intake, she has an egg white omelet with spinach, cheese, tomato, and salmon.
Lunch
Photo by Joyce Zhan
For lunch, she has a piece of steak with brown rice and fruit. Interesting combo, I never thought to have steak and fruit together before, but it works for her.
Dinner
Photo by Armin Nayak
She treats herself a little bit and has something such as a homemade calzone. She does it right, as calzones are definitely superior to a slice of pizza.
Why She Inspires Me
GIF courtesy of Perezhilton.com
One of the reasons Aly Raisman is my favorite olympian is because she trains hard and stresses the importance of eating healthily, which is something I also try to do a lot. For her, she always eats to make sure she has a balance with her food to give herself enough energy for her workouts. If she eats carbs, it’s always whole wheat. Every once in a while she will splurge with some pasta but she still makes sure it’s whole wheat.
She loves fish, chicken, salmon, and even sushi. She loves eating healthily, and even imagines her parsnips are French fries. For her, it’s all about what she is putting into her body and the reason behind it. However, she knows it’s okay to have a cheat meal every once in a while. She isn’t afraid to have some pizza with her teammates after a meet, and she even gets protein from the cheese.
I think she shares a great message about how we should feel about the food we eat, and how even if it is healthy, it can still be enjoyable. She takes not only her workouts seriously, but also how the food she eats affects her body and her energy to complete her tough training sessions. She stresses that carbs are not the enemy, especially for athletes and those who workout.
A lot of people think carbs are bad, but she focuses on how they are important for energy and recovery. Food is fuel for our bodies, and I think she sets a great goal. Even if we aren’t Olympic athletes, we too should eat in a way that is tasty but also satisfies our bodies’ needs.