When Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell reached her 50s, she found that her usual approach to fitness simply stopped working. And once she’d got her exercise dialled in, nutrition was next on her list.
‘I’d spent years being incredibly disciplined as an athlete,’ she says. ‘I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life counting every calorie or saying no to celebrations. I wanted balance.
‘Before I made changes, my routine looked very familiar to a lot of women. I’d often skip breakfast because I wasn’t hungry. I’d have a light lunch, maybe some soup, then go out for a run. By four o’clock, I’d be starving and start picking at food. I’d eat whole bags of nuts because I thought they were healthy. I’d have a glass of wine and crisps while cooking dinner, then eat whatever the family was having.
‘I thought I was eating healthily, but I wasn’t actually eating enough. I wasn’t getting enough vegetables, fruit, protein or proper nourishment.’
The nutrition changes that made the biggest difference
For Sally, one of the biggest shifts was simply eating breakfast. ‘I also started prioritising protein at every meal,’ she says. ‘Rather than obsessing over calories, I ask myself: “Where is my protein coming from?”
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‘After a workout, I might have a smoothie with protein powder, kefir, berries, chia seeds and a few walnuts. Other days, I’ll have eggs or porridge with additional protein. Focusing on protein helped keep me fuller for longer and stopped the constant snacking that had become a habit. Then I fill the rest of my plate with vegetables and fruit.’
The result? ‘I feel satisfied, energised and much more in control of my eating. But so much of this journey is about mindset. People often fall into an all-or-nothing approach. They eat one biscuit, think they’ve ruined everything, and then decide they’ll start again tomorrow.’
Sound nutrition advice and changing mindset around food is something that Sally works on with clients in her Life’s Hurdle programme. ‘The reality is that perfection doesn’t work. I still enjoy crisps. I still eat chocolate. I still have a glass of wine when I want one. The difference is moderation. If you go all-in on a diet or exercise plan, you might last three or four weeks. Sustainable change comes from building habits you can actually maintain.’
Catch Sally’s podcast series Life’s Hurdles from June 25 on all platforms and YouTube