Nastia Liukin is a 22 year old  gymnast and 5-time Olympic medalist!

Nastia Liukin’s mother and father are World Champion and Olympic gymnasts as well. She states how her upbringing influenced her food philosophy:

My mom raised me to believe that you have to treat your body like an expensive car — you have to put in the most expensive fuel. My approach is to have a clean diet and eat fresh food, and eating organic is definitely important to me.

Nastia Liukin says the best nutrition advice she has ever received was:

Trying to eliminate everything that is processed and that comes in packages. Living that organic lifestyle and eating clean I’ve really noticed a change in my energy level as well. Eating well is not just about being in shape; it also makes you feel better.

Are there any foods that she won’t eat? She says:

I try to stay away from multi-processed foods but, at the same time, I think to deprive yourself of something that you really want is the worst thing because then you just want it even more. So if you want a cookie, than you should have a cookie — its just, like, don’t have five cookies at once. That’s kind of always been my motto: If you want a treat or something, do it.

What’s the biggest eating challenge for Nastia? She says:

Eating breakfast, because I don’t really have an appetite in the morning, especially when I’m about to start going upside down and being in a leotard. But I need to put something in my body to give myself a little bit of energy in the morning.

Photo courtesy of: Nastia Liukin’s Twitter, Nastia Liukin’s Facebook