Boxing champion Tiana Echegaray has enjoyed a rapid rise since starting her sporting journey in 2019. Echegaray and other athletes, share their experiences on discovering proper nutrition.
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00:00 Tiana Ichagirre is now one of Australia's fiercest fighters.
00:08 But when the 30-year-old started, something was holding her back from reaching her full
00:13 potential.
00:14 Before I had a nutritionist, I was definitely under-fuelling and I think it was mainly just
00:18 because I was trying to keep an eye on my weight.
00:21 I was just training very dehydrated, fatigued, lacked a lot of energy in my sessions.
00:29 I was just focused on the work and just trying to work hard in the sessions as best as I
00:32 could and thought, you know what, if I'm feeling so terrible it's because I'm just not working
00:36 hard enough.
00:37 It's common for athletes to not eat enough to match their output, which can lead to energy
00:41 deficiency.
00:42 It has a whole host of health and performance detriments that can come with it.
00:47 So things like menstrual cycle, bone health, stress fractures, gastrointestinal symptoms
00:53 like bloating, constipation and immune down regulation.
00:57 So athletes can be more at risk of getting sick.
01:00 Then on the performance side of things, you can also see a reduction in endurance, strength,
01:05 training response as well.
01:06 Athletes also need to understand what nutrients to eat and to ignore stigmas.
01:12 Around when I was about 16 to say 21, I was really strict with what carbs I was putting
01:18 into my body, which I actually look at now and it actually really didn't work for me.
01:22 You know, there's so many negative connotations on carbohydrates, they're going to make you
01:25 fat, they're going to make you swollen, they're going to make you bloated, where in fact it
01:29 actually really helps with recovery.
01:30 I think in terms of talking about food, we want to try and avoid black and white thinking.
01:34 So foods being labelled as good or foods being labelled as bad.
01:37 The amount of food and timing of meals is key too.
01:41 But while elite athletes may have access to that information, it doesn't always filter
01:46 down to younger competitors.
01:48 I know that some of these younger girls, they probably have no idea what to eat on a game
01:52 day or what to eat for breakfast, but when they do get educated on it, their performance
01:57 is going to be a lot better.
01:58 Iron deficiency affects many sportswomen, including Ichigire, and there are added challenges
02:04 for athletes in weight-based sports, like boxing.
02:08 I think you really have to start early when it comes to making weight.
02:11 You don't want the fight to be about making weight and against the scales, you want the
02:15 fight to be about the fight itself and what you're going to do in the ring.
02:20 My biggest recommendation here is to seek advice from a sports nutrition credentials
02:25 professional.
02:26 I can see how people can develop a really unhealthy relationship with food because if
02:30 we're consistently counting calories and having that at the forefront of our mind, we become
02:37 so obsessive about everything that we're eating.
02:40 I think I've managed it pretty well.
02:42 I think the biggest thing is just really communicating how you're feeling about these things because
02:46 you'll find that a lot of people in the sport have experienced the same thing.
02:50 Ichigire will make her Olympic debut in Paris, knowing she's done everything she can to perform
02:57 at her peak.
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