Gold Medal Olympian Shawn Johnson Shared What She Ate While Training, And Her Pre-Competition Snack Superstition
It takes a lot of hard work, passion, and good food to make a medal-winning Olympian. Just ask Shawn Johnson, one of the most accomplished gymnasts in United States history. No biggie.
As Shawn put it: "The thing with gymnastics is we don't have an off season. Ever. For like 20 years." So for the most part, her eating was all clean all the time while she was training. A typical breakfast would include six egg whites, cottage cheese, and smoked salmon, with a chocolate protein shake and raspberries as an early-in-the-day snack. Cottage cheese was a staple in her diet back then, and she'd even eat grilled chicken, cottage cheese, and sriracha mixed together in a bowl back in the day.
For lunch, lettuce wrap sandwiches, chicken lettuce bowls, homemade cooked veggie slaw, and a side salad or quinoa were common. During practice, Shawn would drink some sort electrolyte beverage, but her go-to snack then was maple nut Cliff Bars: "We used to go to Costco and I would buy cases of the maple nut Cliff Bars and that was the only thing I'd eat when I was training and traveling."
As for food-related superstitions, Shawn actually did have one that was a part of her pre-competition routine. "Before every single competition I had to have a piece of those Dove chocolates. I'd always have one piece before I could leave my hotel room to go to competition," she explained. "That's maybe kind of embarrassing now." (Girl. It's really not!)
Shawn always trained hard and fueled her body as necessary, but there was one moment after winning her World Championship title in 2007 where she had herself a victory meal:
I was on a strict, very clean, grilled chicken with fresh veggies and no seasonings diet and as soon as I came home I went to Fuddruckers. That was, like, my thing back then, and I had the juiciest, greasiest, yummiest burger with fries and that was my big win. I had just won Worlds which is my biggest win to date.
Now, as a retired Olympian and new mom, she finds a similar indulgence in a glass of wine or spending $300 on sushi for her and her husband. Hey, it's all about balance, and Shawn (the balance beam gold medalist) would know.
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