Like so many elite athletes, Nicola Adams found herself somewhat adrift when she retired from boxing.
After a wildly successful career as a double Olympic champion with an undefeated professional record, Leeds-Born Adams hung up her gloves in 2019 after suffering an eye injury – and she admits the period of time that followed was “a struggle”.
Now 38, Adams had her first fight when she was 13 (she won!) and became very used to following gruelling training schedules and precise diets, and found food one of the trickiest things to navigate with her newfound freedom.
Great Britain’s Nicola Adams with her gold medal at Rio 2016.
“Once I retired from boxing, there was a point where I wasn’t used to being able to eat what I want, because I had such a very strict eating regime,” she admits. “To go from that, to trying to find a stable, healthy way of eating has been quite challenging for me. I’ve finally found a way to say it’s fine to eat what I want and stay healthy.”
For Adams, a big part of this journey was unlearning some of the preconceptions she had…
