Olympic Nutrition: Here’s What I Learned
Nutrition Assumptions about High-Performing Athletes
I, for one, assumed olympic nutrition and high-performing athletes was great, all the time. Many people assume this.
The first time I saw a high-performing athlete break down and cry in my office, it surprised me. A few weeks prior to the crying, this person took on too many nutrition changes at once (the cardinal sin in nutrition coaching). It happen because I saw their status as an athlete.
“Oh yeah,” I thought to myself, “they are human.”
For years, I’ve got to witness athletes struggle to eat to the elite level of their training, sleep routines, mastery rehearsal, recovery programs, video analysis, and so on.
My athletes are not the kind that can afford a private chef or living in an athlete compound.
Although, when I was interviewed by a professional team, the athletes asked me two questions. One was about avocados, the other was basically “how much booze can we drink?”
When you see a fit body on that podium, remember that it’s youth, great genetics, a ton of training, and maybe their nutrition is great.
So if you’re struggling with your nutrition, take solace that some world-ranked athlete, is struggling right now too.
That said, some athletes do eat really well. Here’s why:
Motivations of Super Athletes with Great Nutrition
(and what we can learn from them)
ATHLETES VS REGULAR FOLK
Identity
| Our identity and core values are extremely strong, and sometimes unconscious. Elite athletes usually have no life outside of sports and either school or a job. If they eat well, it comes from this drive to be a better athlete. Maybe a fear of losing everything they know to be. This is also why we see lots of disordered eating in athletes.
Most would give 15 years of their life to win a medal (this is from a study about 20 years ago). |
Workaholics skip meals and are proud of it. Polite folks finish their plates despite trying to lose weight and being full. Sailors drink a lot and laugh at things like supplements and drinking water. Science nerds try the latest bio hacks and fads.
Identity is so strong, that few behaviour changes are made without it changing.
And if you’re planning on changing your identity, give this a minute would ya? This is kinda a big thing to tackle. |
Environment
| High profile athletes have chefs so eating healthy is very easy. They have gyms in their homes and at work. | Us regular folk eat better when our food systems are organized, either with batch cooking, or a meal service. And we have gyms close to either home or work. |
Pain, Comfort, Bliss
| Athletes love the high from exercise (who doesn’t?). They are incredibly mindful, know their appetite well, know the difference between being sore and being injured, can feel a minor sleep disruption, can tell when they are upset emotionally and have a high tolerance for discomfort which is key to a successful life. |
Successful regular folk have all these mindfulness skills but maybe are not quite as gritty/resilient as Olympians. If we are lucky, these skills start in childhood but failing that, can be learned as an adult.
Often my adult clients have to learn their bodies and feelings for the first time. The primary success indicator here is being open to learning. |
Accountability
| High performing athletes have loads of accountability with scheduled practices, constantly being judged and measured, social and competitive pressure from teammates, performing in public, and social media. This pressure will make someone think twice about dessert, that’s for sure. I’m not saying this pressure is healthy. |
Successful clients manufacture accountability by either entering a coaching program, hiring a trainer, joining my online community, making public statements, or getting a workout buddy.
Young clients typically underestimate the need for accountability. |
Other motivational factors: 
- Fun
- Mastery
- Autonomy
- Higher-purpose
- Confidence.
Eating well and training consistently is hard, unless you were born into it. Change is hard.
I’m trying to say that they are not much different than us. Leverage what we know about motivation to help you change.
Don’t put yourself down or put athletes on a nutrition pedestal. They are genetically gifted and then have loads of support around them.
If you’re not successful with your goals, start putting things in place to help you. Me and the team are here to help.
Until next time,
Kb
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