Janet Evans: On Fitness and Diet during Life’s Big Changes

Olympic swimming champion Janet Evans can take on just about any challenge: She’s won four gold medals, has broken world records and has even carried the Olympic torch. Now, she’s looking forward to another major milestone: motherhood.

In an exclusive interview with GNC, Janet discusses her diet and exercise habits during phenomenal lifestyle transitions: from being a competitive athlete, shifting into a professional career and preparing for pregnancy. Like Janet, many women are striving for the same success in fitness, career and family life.

Many professional athletes get accustomed to eating – for the most part – whatever they feel like eating. They work out so much and so hard, they’re almost always burning off the calories. In fact, they often find themselves eating extra just to keep the weight on.

That’s how it used to be for Olympic swimming champion Janet Evans. And when she retired from her swimming career in 1996, she found, like most retired athletes do, that she had to watch her diet for the first time.

“When I was swimming 12 miles per day, I really could eat anything I wanted,” she confirms. But when elite athletes retire and retreat from a competitive lifestyle, she explains, they tend to maintain their same eating patterns and eventually begin gaining weight. But for Janet, a few things have helped: watching portion sizes, eating smaller amounts of red meat, including more fruits and veggies in her diet, supplementing with quality GNC products and, of course, working out.

Whatever you do, don’t stop exercising

After her retirement, Janet found herself burned-out when it came to swimming. She wanted to stay in shape and get rid of her so-called “swimmers’ bulk,” so she decided to take up running. But when she ended up with back pains, she returned to the pool – and incorporated some light lifting into her workout regime.

These days, Janet has another reason to monitor her diet and exercise habits: She’s expecting her first child.

“Now that I’m pregnant, I’m starting to feel very clumsy and top-heavy. But being in the water balances things out and helps me feel normal again,” she says. Janet offers a little guidance for soon-to-be mothers: “Swimming is truly the best exercise I’ve found since I’ve become pregnant.” Furthermore, she explains how swimming offers a few added benefits: It helps keep her blood pressure low and the turns help keep her stomach muscles tight.

“Overall, I’ve realized that regular exercise, combined with a healthy diet, has kept me feeling quite fit throughout my pregnancy.”

Eat right… and don’t forget your prenatals

“I’ve also become very conscious about what I’m putting into my mouth,” Janet says. “I’m consulting with my doctor about my diet, generally eating healthier foods, avoiding caffeine and taking supplements where I feel my diet is weak.”

Currently, Janet uses GNC’s Women’s Prenatal and GNC’s Calcimate™. She drinks GNC’s Soy Protein (vanilla flavor) in a breakfast shake and also takes DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid vital to a healthy heart and brain).

“Taking a prenatal (vitamin) is just so simple,” she says. “It provides so many benefits to both mother and child. And if I feel I haven’t had enough milk or cheese during the day, I’ll take a calcium tablet, too.”

When it comes to food, Janet typically gravitates toward things like cheese and baked crackers, turkey sandwiches, fruit salads, a plethora of veggies and perhaps steak or chicken for dinner. She eats breakfast every day, has most meals at home, drinks a lot of water and even admits to a periodic french fry indulgence. But for Janet, there’s one more thing that makes managing her pregnancy a little bit easier: her family.

Family support and friendly advice

“My husband has been incredibly helpful throughout this entire process,” she says. “We often cook together and, since he has been especially attentive to what we eat and I don’t have any aversions to food, preparing meals has been rather easy.”

And Janet’s mom provided a bit of wisdom for all pregnant women: “Your growing baby is taking all the nutrients it needs, but you can’t forget about your own needs.” So with seven months down and just two to go, Janet is still swimming four-to-five times per week.

It’s true that exercise, healthy foods and vitamin supplements have helped keep Janet right on track with her weight gain goals – as most doctors recommend about a 35-lb. weight increase during pregnancy. And while expectant mothers are sure to get lots of advice from lots of different people and sources, Janet says that sometimes you’ve just got to go with your own instinct.

“You won’t be able to follow everybody’s advice all the time,” she jokes, “especially when they think they’ve come up with the perfect name for your baby!”