Eve Gordon is 31, and a very toned and fit silk aerialist and circus performer.
Technically, she is a professional athlete — because of this she needs to "eat heaps, listen to her body and eat the right things". She leads a very busy lifestyle, training 5-6 hours a day for performances, while also running the circus theatre company! Would she describe her diet as typical of other circus performers?
"Yes, circus performers eat heaps! I’d eat much more than your average person, but for a circus person I’m not that big an eater. Because we are so active we’re able to read our bodies and know what we need at all times. I can almost eat anything I want and it doesn’t make a difference to my weight. In saying that I avoid too much sugar and many fatty foods aren’t that appealing to me".
9.30am Mike let me sleep till late this morning as I'd had a massive weekend with five shows and am also in the theatre plotting lights for ATC's Badjelly the Witch from 10am-11pm tonight! I usually start the day with lots of strong coffee and fruit and muesli for breakfast… or toast with butter and peanut butter… or eggs and bacon…
10.30am Egg and bacon bap with a flat white. We went to a cafe up the road for a breakfast meeting… I have spent most of my life being vegetarian but have just this year weaned myself on to a little meat
3pm A sumo salad: chicken and penne and beetroot and pumpkin and a flat white. Today is a light food day as I'm not doing any training at all! I am still recovering my muscles from the weekend so I need to keep my protein up
5pm A chocolate biscuit and the rest of my salads
7pm A high-octane nuts and seeds energy bar. Wish I'd brought something else to eat...
Supper Toast with marmite and butter. Yummy snacks before bed!
Nadia Lim’s nutrition quick fix
With the amount of high-intensity physical activity you are doing, it’s no wonder you can afford to eat more calories than the average person. Most people only require 1600-2000 calories a day, but you could have up to 3000 calories. You will also require double the amount of protein most people need, for muscle repair and maintenance.
However quality is just as important as quantity. How about adding in some avocados and nuts, and some healthy dairy products such as yoghurt — these foods can be high energy, but are nutrient-rich too, unlike white bread and chocolate biscuits (that only contain the energy/calories, but little nutrition).
Eve is the founder and director of The Dust Palace Circus Theatre Company. See Eve on screen in The Almighty Johnsons, Thursday nights 8.30pm on TV3.