Olympic gymnast Simone Biles is all about eating clean — but she isn’t afraid to have a cheat meal every now and then. The elite athlete, who is competing with Team USA at the 2021 summer games in Tokyo, opened up about her diet on Thursday, July 22.
“My diet is pretty simple, a lot of proteins, fish, chicken, vegetables,” she told Buzzfeed during a video interview in which she played with puppies and answered various fan questions. “And then outside of the gym, my cheat meal would be pizza.”
The four-time Olympic gold medalist previously revealed how she incorporates food into her day while training for an Olympic game. “I wake up so early before practice, which is at seven, so sometimes I’ll grab a quick bite and sometimes I won’t,” she explained to Women’s Health in October 2020. “On the weekends, I’ll have some protein waffles with chocolate chips, some eggs or even make cinnamon rolls. Because I might not have to be at the gym, I can actually take the time to make breakfast.”
When she’s training, the Ohio native is all about ordering dinner through a delivery app. “I feel like it’s more manageable because I can get home, shower and go on the app to order whatever I want with the click of a button,” she told the outlet. “If I cook, though, it’s usually pasta, or chicken or salmon in the air fryer, oven or on the grill.”
When it comes to snacks and dessert, she tends to go for fruit or even banana bread, especially when hard at work. “It all depends on how I feel, but when I splurge, I have like popcorn or pretzels and Nutella, stuff like that, as a snack,” Simone explained before noting that sometimes, when she has the time, she likes to bake. “I do bake chocolate chip cookies myself, and whenever I do, I usually make s’mores cookies. I put a graham cracker at the bottom, marshmallows and chocolate on the top, and then I wrap it in cookie dough and bake it. That’s my favorite cookie to bake.”
No matter what, the Texas resident is dedicated to eating without pressure. “I do not track anything. I eat what I feel good with and try not to overeat or stuff myself because I’m always at the gym,” Simone noted. “For gymnasts, in particular, [tracking] can lead to health problems and eating issues, so I just eat what I know I can and should.”
Scroll through the gallery below to see photos of Simone’s favorite foods!