Steeplechase champion Victoria Mitchell talks about how to eat like an Olympian

Victoria Mitchell says diet can be the difference between winning and losing, and she speaks exclusively with Swoop about what are her go-to foods, and what she avoids.

Victoria Mitchell puts her spin on eating like an Olympian.

My general rule of thumb, the more ingredients I can’t pronounce, or that are known sugars, chemicals, colours, preservatives, or flavours, the less likely I am to eat it.

Other than that, I have few rules, other than I don’t eat fast food such as McDonalds burgers or any of that highly processed foods; I don’t drink soft drink (but I do have a preference for sparkling water over still); and I rarely drink alcohol (although I never actually feel like drinking it and only consume it on special occasions).

At the Beijing Olympics on day 7, during the heats of the women's 3000m steeplechase.

At the end of the day, I don’t actually really pay close attention to what I eat, and I definitely don’t over-think it by counting calories or giving that Lindt Ball a second thought.

There isn’t one diet for everyone, it depends on you and your lifestyle.

If there was one guideline I’d suggest following it would simply be to simply to eat natural foods (less processed) and to eat everything in moderation.

I eat for my lifestyle — so I consume whatever I feel like, which could be a muffin from About Life or a green smoothie from Nelson Road Tuck Shop.

If there was one guideline I’d suggest following it would simply be to simply to eat natural foods (less processed) and to eat everything in moderation.

As long as I consume my key supplements and IsoWhey Sports recovery drinks then I know my body is getting what it needs with the right nutrients, the rest is gravy.

My eating plan (on a good day)!

• Breakfast: Eggs, avocado, tomatoes on sourdough toast and a piccolo coffee (full cream milk)

• Lunch: Salad sandwich usually from the German Bakery near my workplace

• Dinner: Chicken and vegetable curry with steamed rice

• Snacks throughout the day: IsoWhey Sports energy bar or snacks from the IsoWhey range

My eating plan on/around race day

• Night before: It all depends on the time of my race, but generally I will eat a meal high in complex carbohydrates (pasta/rice/root vegetables) the night before to ensure muscles are full with glycogen (the muscles energy)

• Breakfast: I will have only a light breakfast to sate hunger (white sourdough toast with peanut butter and jam) and coffee if the race is in the morning

• Fluids: Keep fluids up (water)

• Lunch: If the race is in the afternoon, I will have a normal light lunch (sandwich). If it’s at night I will have an IsoWhey Sports energy bar four hours before. Although I aim to eat as balanced a meal as possible, (for me) I find that taking IsoWhey Sports products to make sure that anything I might have missed in my diet is covered and my recovery after a hard training session or race is aided

I’m a firm believer that the biggest dieting myth going around is that one diet fits all.

I’d say forget about the word diet, as it is too polluted by so many models of thought.

Perhaps switch to the perspective of eating as fuelling, maintaining and repairing your body for your particular lifestyle.

There are many foods I enjoy that I would only give up if someone gave me a good reason to. I was ‘pescetarian’ recently for over a year but I don’t enjoy labels.

I tend to become a bit stricter with my food choices in the two weeks before a big event like the Olympics but that simply means not having that delicious cherry Danish in the morning and saying ‘how French’ I feel.

Originally published as Steeplechase champion Victoria Mitchell talks about how to eat like an Olympian