Ex-Olympic cyclist Emma Pooley on the pressures of diet
Looking back on her time as a champion cyclist, Pooley said: "At the elite level, the idea that thinner is faster is wrong... and I think it's quite damaging."I had some problems in the sport but.. I'm fine now and I wasn't that bad. "But I know other athletes have had problems and it affects your health long-term, so it is something I'm concerned about."
She said she addressed those issues in her book and said it was important that the sport "gives a healthy impression on the viewers as well, so that it should inspire people to cycle".Some of her recipes were meals she "learned to make to support my training, but now I eat as part of a healthy lifestyle". However, she said attitudes had "changed for the better and there was a lot of really well-founded science-based thinking in cycling and other sports about a balanced diet and a healthy body"."Some people are naturally very slim and some aren't and you can't force everybody to look the same," Pooley said."No-one forced calorie restriction upon me, it was because I was told it was better to be thin and I looked around me and saw lots of thin people so I inflicted it upon myself, but I realised... the more I ate the faster I went."Now I realise that I was over-restricting and so a lot of people realise it's not about restriction, it's about healthy fuel."My point is that enjoyment is a really big part of... healthiness."
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