Athlete profile: I am currently 17 years old, and I have been training in gymnastics since I was two! I train for 30 hours a week at South Essex Gymnastics Club and have competed both nationally and internationally for Great Britain.
Biggest achievement: I competed in European Youth Olympic Games in Slovakia, where I won a gold medal on the floor exercise and a silver medal in the high bar. We also won a team silver at the event!
Fun fact: I am hoping to become an aircraft engineer once my gymnastics career ends. I will be completing my A levels and gaining a degree, while training and competing in gymnastics!
As a gymnast, eating healthily is a very important part of my training. By ensuring I eat regularly and in proportion when my body is at its weakest point after a long training session, I can replace the nutrients and energy I need.
Every day I make sure to have a breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is important, as it ensures I maintain energy, and my body has the fuel required to complete my tough, daily training sessions. In between meals I will have a protein shake or fruit. I try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables during the week, but do like to have the odd sweet snack, too!
If I am cooking my own dinner, my go-to dish is sea bass, as it is easy and quick to cook. I pan fry the fish in a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle it with some garlic granules for extra flavour. I usually have this with broccoli and a small sweet potato. It might sound like a small dinner, but it really fills me up and is full of goodness.
Finding time to prepare and cook my own food can be a challenge as my training times vary each day and I am still in full time education. My parents batch cook a lot which really helps me as I can grab a readymade meal from the fridge or freezer and heat up while I’m at the gym.
I am lucky that my parents are always on hand to help if I am short on time or need to balance my coursework with my training. They will have my lunch ready for me to grab between college and going to the gym, and will have a dinner waiting for me when I get home at 8:30 each night.
Healthy sustainable food is a must when your body is pushed to the limit on a daily basis. My muscles are crying out for energy and nutrients to replace what I have used, so I need to ensure this is done every day by eating properly. I do have a sweet tooth though, but I feel that as long as it is in proportion, and I have eaten well that day, then a treat is fine to have!
Bananas, apples, broccoli, raisins, peppers and asparagus.
I try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables, but do like to have the odd sweet snack, too!
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I have been training in gymnastics since I was two years old and I currently train for 30 hours a week.
My go-to dish is pan fried sea bass with broccoli and sweet potato. It really fills me up and is full of goodness.
Bananas, apples, broccoli, raisins, peppers and asparagus.
I have a sweet tooth so I do factor in sweet treats to my balanced diet as a treat!
