There's Literally Nothing Olympian Shawn Johnson Never Eats These Days
With her long gymnastics career in the rearview mirror, Olympic gold-medalist Shawn Johnson has shifted her focus to taking care of her family—and herself. Though food has long been a focal point of her journey in different ways, Shawn says her daily diet is now about giving her body the good stuff (motherhood requires serious fuel!) and enjoying every bite.
After years of working through an eating disorder that caused Shawn to seriously restrict calories and suppress her appetite back in her Olympian days, she says she's worked hard to nurture a newfound love for her body and a passion for nourishing it as best she can.
"It’s never anything to be ashamed of," Shawn says. "It took me getting to a really dark place to ask for help. Whether it’s a nutritionist or a therapist, talk to someone for education."
Shawn credits her recovery to working with a therapist and a nutritionist, and taking nutrition classes. "After everything that I went through, I felt like I would be better equipped to attack the issue through education," she tells Women's Health. "The more educated I was, the easier it was to heal."
The result of her hard work: Shawn's food philosophy nowadays is all about balance.
"I’m just about everything in moderation," she says. "I love my wine and I love my chocolate and I love my cookies, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that." The only time she's gone as far as tracking calories recently: To make sure she was getting in enough quality nutrition to breastfeed her daughter, Drew Hazel.
Now that Shawn has created a more joyful relationship with food, nothing is necessarily off the table. Here's what a day of her healthful (and delish!) eats looks like.
Breakfast
A die-hard coffee lover, Shawn always starts her days with some sort of java. "My go-to is always a cup of coffee or cappuccino in the morning," she says.
A post shared by Shawn Johnson East (@shawnjohnson) on Jun 22, 2020 at 5:59am PDT
And when it comes to her plate? "I'll have a gluten-free English muffin with cashew butter and strawberry jam," she adds. If she's looking for something a little more savory, she switches out the nut butter for avocado and eggs instead. (Both sound very delicious, thank you.)
That said, she stays flexible so she can eat something else if that's what she's truly craving. "I know that if I’m going to eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, I should probably just eat some more protein throughout the day to balance it out," she says. Remember: balance.
Lunch
For her midday meal, Shawn loves a good leafy green salad with some sort of protein. If she's feeling a little something extra, she and her husband (football player Andrew East) also love making protein smoothies to go with lunch.
When she's itching to try something new, Shawn turns to Instagram or Pinterest for meal inspo.
Snacks
Come snack time, Shawn and her husband are *very* into hummus—particularly Cedar's Balsamic Caramelized Onion Hommus—with crackers or vegetables. "We also have this sauce called Bitchin' Sauce that we use with veggies a lot," she says. (The stuff is made with almonds, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, liquid aminos, and garlic—and sounds gooood.)
Shawn honors her sweet tooth at snack time, too. "Hu Chocolate is my absolute favorite," she says. "We have a lot of that in our house."
Dinner
When the final meal of the day rolls around, Shawn likes to keep things simple. "Last night we had salmon with steamed broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, and, obviously, a glass of wine," she says.
And while Shawn loves to cook, takeout is definitely been a staple—especially since the gang spending so much time at home amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic. On date nights, Shawn and Andrew swap their usually-basic dinner for sushi roll or juicy bison burgers.
Dessert
If you love chocolate and wine, then consider Shawn your spirit animal when it's time for dessert. "Ninety nine percent of the time, my husband and I have a glass of wine with Hu Chocolate or chocolate-covered almonds," she says. Talk about a *chef's kiss* perfect way to end the night!
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