Venus Williams is one of those sports personalities who look magical on a tennis court. Her strength, agility and the flexibility of her body are quite clear when you see her play the game. Here we try to explore her diet secrets to get motivated and to be fit like her by eating the right foods. We also get to know about how Sjögren’s syndrome forced her to live healthier. She has also shared some amazing tips with people who wish to enhance their diet. Have a look at all this here.
The Tough Phase
Venus was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011. It is a health issue in which people often suffer from dry eye & mouth, joint pain, and fatigue. It hindered her performance on the tennis court and even forced her to withdraw from the 2011 U.S. Open during the second round. Soon after the break, she got back to her personal and professional life, thanks to proper treatment and some diet changes. She opted for following a raw vegan diet and it worked for her. In this diet, a person usually eliminates all foods and animal products that need to be cooked above 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
Falling in Love with the Diet
Now the sports star admits to loving the new diet plan. It has fueled her body in the best possible manner and it feels like the right thing for her, in and out of the tennis court. She confesses that she still has some health issues now and then, but they don’t stop her from living her life or playing the game she loves.
Preferred Recipes
The diva admits that she doesn’t like to cook regularly. She likes it sometimes only. When she does, she loves making celery root soup by using silk almond milk, tomato, celery root, pan-fried garlic and truffle oil, which helps her to make the recipes interesting. Her signature healthy dish is warm roasted kale salad complemented with some fresh peppercorn and sun-dried tomatoes. Some ingredients you can always find in her kitchen are organic butter, kale, and Himalayan pink salt.
Cheat Meals
When the renowned tennis player is in a mood for a bit of indulgence, she tries to find things that are sweet and healthy at the same time. Sometimes, she likes having juice or sweet smoothie named orange creamsicle. She makes the smoothie by blending in silk milk, oranges, some banana, vanilla flavoring, coconut oil, etc. It tastes like ice cream but it’s very healthy. You should also find a way to enjoy healthy foods when you are craving junk foods. Her other guilty pleasures are butter and donuts.
Diet Plan
The winner of 7 grand slam singles titles starts her mornings with a smoothie. Then, she goes for a practice where she has a lot of fruit.
Her lunch consists of a big pot of stew or beans as its good on the run. She eats meals that are not hard on her stomach as she trains really hard.
For snacks, she has dried fruits and nuts. She especially likes snacking on dried cherries and organic fruit straps.
Her preferred healthy drink is hot water with lemon and honey. One thing she will never eat is Escargot.
Advice for Fans
- Get a Blender
The California-born wants you to invest in a blender so that you can have amazing food wherever you go. It will make your life easy as you can just throw in whatever fruits and vegetables you love and blend them all. You can add plant-based milk or soy milk to it. It will be a healthier option than dairy milk.
- Love Your Diet
The sister of Serena Williams wants you to enjoy what you eat. No matter, whether you are eating a plant-based diet or following another diet plan, you should learn to love it. It can be done by finding recipe restaurants or joining a community so that you can learn and enjoy the foods you are having. If you don’t enjoy your foods, your life would not be much of a fun.
- Stay Motivated to Eat Well
If you wish to eat well, then you must not let yourself go hungry. When you are too hungry, you will pick the wrong foods and make decisions that you regret later. You should also try to set a goal like you will not eat fried foods for 30 days. It will keep you motivated and when you achieve it, you will feel good. You can also install food tracking apps on your phone to map your progress. This way you will stick to healthy foods more to feel proud of yourself.
Another thing you can do is to find healthier replacements for every food you crave. For instance, if you like chips, you should make your own healthier chips at home with basic ingredients.
Here’s a recipe you can try.
- Wellness Advice for Women
Women should follow 90/10, 80/20 or 70/30 rule. They should select the one that suits them and eat healthy foods majority of times. It’s okay if you don’t go to the gym every time or grab a bag of chips occasionally. You just need to learn to get back on track the next day.
The Benefits
If you eat right, you will feel proud and feel like you are doing an important thing right. You will also feel more energized and positive when you eat right and have a healthy body. In contrast, if you don’t eat healthily, you live with the guilt about unhealthy eating which might impact your health negatively later on.
