Usually before matches I eat plain pasta with a little bit olive oil, salt, pepper and chicken.
I don't eat as much as an athlete should. I just don't like it.
I usually eat a pretty big steak the night before I compete.
I review all the riders for my music clients and make sure there's healthy food and snack options, like strained yogurt, fresh berries, and lean protein.
What Olympians eat can vary tremendously depending not only on the events they're competing in, but also their body type and lifestyle outside the Olympic arena. Their diets are affected not only by the demands of their sports, but by everything else in their lives, things that are almost impossible to accurately measure and factor in.
You don't really want to load up a whole lot, probably anything more than four hours before the race. I needed something to make me feel full, but I certainly didn't want it to make me feel stuffed.
When I stopped looking at food as a reward or a celebration and began looking at food as energy to fuel my athletic ambitions, that really kind of changed the whole world for me. That was the real 'aha!' moment.
I need to eat a large meal before I play, and the one thing that was kind of consistent in every single clubhouse at least in the minors was a roast beef sandwich. So that kind of stuck there, and it just kind of stuck in the big leagues as well.
When I began running at the age of 10, I didn't have the diet athletes need. It was just rice and vegetables. Every day.
As a rookie, I worked with my agent and the training staff to figure out what diet works for my body naturally.
Eating well was something I learned as I started to be successful and had to travel and perform concerts, which are an intense cardio workout.
At the 2012 Olympics, there was a nutritionist in the food hall telling us, 'Eat that. And eat that.' After winning my gold, I went to McDonald's for chicken nuggets and a strawberry milkshake, but that was just for the hell of it. I don't feel hungry after a match, to be honest.
Because I don't like to play on a full stomach, I try to eat a bigger meal in the morning and less throughout the day leading up to the game.
There are some days where I'll eat 8,000 calories per day, on a day before a 12, 14, 18 hour swim. For a 61-year-old woman, that's a lot! And I try not to eat too much refined sugar - cookies, desserts, those sorts of things.
Each project you do demands a different diet in a way. Because there's so much tension in 'Betrayal,' so much holding of breath and emotion, I can't get too happy in my food choices or I can't get alert enough.
When you're training for jiu-jitsu, particularly if you're training for a competition, you have to be pretty prescribed in the variety of what you eat.
Most people are like, 'Oh, you shouldn't eat steak. It's so heavy.' But I love steak the day before a meet. Or the day of. I try to get that red meat in, some extra energy.
Some guys like to eat two or three different times a day before the game. I eat once, and that's it.
When I was training for the Olympics, I didn't eat the way I should have. I missed out on much-needed protein and opted for every easy carb.
Obviously, diet is important for an athlete, but I don't have anyone telling me, 'You can eat this, but don't try that.'
In typical sailing races a long time ago, you'd come in and go out, and the first thing you'd do is probably have a cold beer. The first thing we do now is have a protein shake and our recovery drink.
I usually eat a salad for lunch and before a game since it keeps me feeling healthy and energized on the field. I love piling on the toppings: the more colorful the better! I usually do nuts, fruit and avocado, but I also mix up my creations with different toppings and lettuces.
I run like an electric golf cart. Now I look at eating as a way to feed my body and keep me younger. It's not about starving your body, but treating your body like a Ferrari. You don't put in the crappiest gas you can find. You use supreme. In the long term, you'll run clean.
My favourite meal is penne carbonara - that's good for an athlete, right?
At the most elite level, your nutrition becomes a lifestyle: it's not something you have to do when you're preparing for Olympic games or World Cup games - you just do it. You're more inclined to eat healthier because it's better for your muscles.
