Athlete profile: I am a para-athlete, and my sport is athletics. I compete in discus and shot put. I train five times a week where practice my throws and do gym work, Olympic lifting and aerobic exercise.
Biggest achievement: I am a four-time England Athletic U15/U17 champion, and I won gold at the World Para Athletics Championships in Jesolo Italy in 2022.
Fun fact: I play piano and trumpet, and I love all sports, especially cricket and skiing!
Healthy eating is really important to me, to make sure my diet supports my sporting performance. To do this, I have to eat enough food to give me the energy that I need to train, and I also like to make sure I have lots of different fruit and veg.
To fuel my day, I make sure I have a good breakfast, like a nice bowl of porridge, followed by a wrap for lunch, with chicken for protein and salad to add nutrients. As I train in the evening, I mainly eat pasta for dinner, as the carbohydrates keep me full and give me energy. Wholegrain carbohydrates have lots of fibre, which helps me stay fuller for longer and avoid snacking more often than I need. If I do need an energy boost, I’ll have a protein bar or yoghurt.
A fresh, healthy dish I enjoy making is tomato and parmesan pasta. I make the sauce myself from fresh ingredients like onion, garlic, basil, oregano, plum tomatoes and parmesan. If I want to vary the dish, I’ll sometimes add roasted red peppers, too. It's quick and simple to make, I can easily control the amount of pasta that I have with it, and I can save the rest of the sauce to save time the next day, too!
The challenge to eating well for me is time. I have to be up and out of the house by 7:30am, so I love instant porridge (the chocolate ones are great!) to fill me up quickly and give me energy. Keeping things varied and having new ideas can also be a challenge.
When my day is busy, I can be more inclined to snack or have fast food. If I know I will be out all day, or if I know the choices at college are not the right ones for me, I will overcome this by taking my own packed lunch with me – usually a portion of pasta with my homemade sauce.
To me, healthy sustainable food means eating locally where I can, eating organic foods, and making sure I try my best to eat low environmental impact foods like mushrooms, wholegrain rice and potatoes.
Oranges, apples, strawberries, peppers, potatoes and carrots.
Wholegrain carbohydrates help me stay full for longer and avoid snacking more than I need.
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I train five times a week to practice my throws and do gym work, like Olympic lifting.
Tomato and parmesan pasta. I make the sauce myself from fresh ingredients like plum tomatoes, onion, garlic and basil.
Oranges, apples, strawberries, peppers, potatoes and carrots.
When I need an energy boost, I like to have a protein bar or yoghurt.
