While you can’t paint all elite CrossFit women with the same dietary brush, I thought I’d investigate to find out how similar, or different, their diets really are.
BarBend spoke with 14 female athletes — all CrossFit Games qualifiers between the ages of 15 and 32, including three-time champion Tia-Clair Toomey — and discovered 13 of them track their macronutrients, meaning their daily breakdown of carbohydrates, protein and fat.
The approximate daily average macronutrient grams among these nine athletes are:
- Carbohydrates: 350 g
- Protein: 160 g
- Fat: 75 g
But these numbers vary based on the athletes’ weight and activity level.
Let’s take a look at the athletes.
[Learn your own macros with BarBend’s online macros calculator!]
1. Tia-Clair Toomey
Toomey won the CrossFit Games in 2017, 2018, and 2019, making her the first ever three-time Fittest Woman on Earth.™ She spoke to BarBend and said that while her calories increase as the season progresses and the Games approach, she typically follows a protocol like this:
- Age: 26
- Height: 5’4″
- Weight: 135 pounds
- Calories: 2,500 grams
- Protein: 140-150 grams
- Carbs: 230-250 grams
- Fat: 65-70 grams
- Go to meals: meats, veggies, fruits, rice, and every day she’ll drink some apple cider vinegar and a shake made from coconut water and vegetables.
[See our complete guide to Tia-Clair Toomey’s diet!]
2. Katrin Davidsdottir
Katrin Davidsdottir, Tia-Clair Toomey, and Annie Thorisdottir are the only women to repeat as Fittest Woman on Earth. We talked to Katrin’s nutrition coach at Working Against Gravity, Adee Cazayoux, to find out her favorite foods and her standard macros. Her intake fluctuates throughout the year, but here’s what it looks like around Games time.
- Age: 26
- Height: 5’7″
- Weight: 155lb
- Calories: 3,200
- Protein: 150 grams
- Fat: 89 grams
- Carbs: 450 grams
- Go to meals: Egg and cabbage slaw, vegetable scrambles, burrito bowls, and poke bowls.
[See our full breakdown of Katrin Davidsdottir’s diet!]
3. Taylor Williamson
Williamson qualified to her first CrossFit Games as an individual in the 2020 CrossFit Open when she placed 30th worldwide. That being said, she isn’t new to the CrossFit Games. She has competed on a team for the last four years. In 2018, Williamson and her CrossFit OC3 team placed third overall at the Games.
- Age: 26
- Height: 5’9”
- Weight: 160 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 450-500 g
- Protein: 200 g
- Fat: 60-70 g
- Williamson’s go to breakfast: Toast with peanut butter and banana, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. Sometimes, she adds a protein bar, or a Chike high protein coffee.
4. Carol-Ann Reason Thibault
Reason Thibault is a five-time CrossFit Games athlete, who has placed in the top 20 four times. She punched her ticket to her sixth Games this summer when she placed eighth overall in the 2020 CrossFit Open.
- Age: 32
- Height: 5’5”
- Weight: 145 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 375-420 g
- Protein: 158 g
- Fat: 60 g
Reason Thibault never trains on an empty stomach.
“Only when I’m going for a swim in the morning,” she said.
5. Brooke Haas
Haas placed 53rd overall at the CrossFit Games last year in her rookie season, and thanks to a 22nd place finish in the 2020 Open, Haas will be returning to the Games this summer.
- Age: 31
- Height: 5’3”
- Weight: 154 lb.
Haas has three macro guidelines she follows depending on the day: One for a high-calorie day, one for a rest day and one for a regular training day. She consumes 2,442 calories on high-calorie days, 2,175 on training days and 2,069 on rest days. She also chooses to fast before her first workout of the day.
- Carbohydrates: 285 g on high days, 230 g on training days and 190 g on rest days
- Protein: 150 g on high days, and 145 g on both training days and rest days
- Fat: 78 g on high days, 75 g on training days and 81 g on rest days
- Haas’ go to breakfast: “Always egg whites with spinach, tomato and ground turkey,” she said. She also eats oats with peanut butter, banana, blueberry and chia seeds.
6. Emily Rolfe
Rolfe competed in her first CrossFit Games last summer placing an impressive 18th overall. She will be heading back to Madison Wisconsin this summer, as she qualified through the recent Wodapalooza competition in Miami, Florida.
- Age: 31
- Height: 5’7”
- Weight: 152 lb.
- Calories: 3,100
- Carbohydrates: 387 g
- Protein: 175 g
- Fat: 93 g
- Rolfe’s go to breakfast: Cottage cheese and oatmeal. “If I’m feeling fancy, I sprinkle cinnamon on top. High protein, high carbs and very low fat,” said Rolfe, who generally trains at 6 a.m. and eats before her first training session, or else she says she feels hungry with low energy.
[Related: Is breakfast a must for muscle gain and performance?]
7. Meg Reardon
A two-time CrossFit Games athlete, Reardon will be competing in her third Games this summer. She qualified through the 2020 CrossFit Open by placing 31st in the world.
- Age: 27
- Height: 5’6”
- Weight: 150 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 300 g
- Protein: 155 g
- Fat: 100 g
- Reardon’s go to breakfast: Eggs plus egg whites with broccoli and peppers, as well as oatmeal with almond butter, bananas, strawberries and blueberries. She generally eats her breakfast two hours before her first training session.
8. Kendall Vincelette
Vincelette, who placed 15th overall in the 2020 Open, will be making her CrossFit Games debut this summer.
- Age: 25
- Height: 5’2”
- Weight: 127 lb.
Though Vincelette doesn’t track her macros as closely as many others, she said she basically eats the same thing every day and checks in periodically to see how many macros she is eating. She estimates her totals to be:
- Carbohydrates: 250 g
- Protein: 150 g
- Fat: 130 g
Vincelette also carb-loads around her workouts: she consumes 75 grams of carbs before heading to the gym and breaks her protein up evenly throughout the day. She generally eats a high-fat meal in the morning and a high-fat snack before bed. Beyond that, Vincelette said she listens to her body and what it’s telling her to do.
I go based on how I feel. If I am hungry, I will add a snack and depending on the time of day, I choose a lower carb snack.
- Vincelette’s go to breakfast: Two eggs with sauteed peppers, onion, a strip of bacon and toast. “And before I work out, usually oatmeal and a banana.”
9. Alex Parker
Parker is a 2015 individual CrossFit Games athlete. She was an impressive 73rd overall in the 2020 CrossFit Open.
- Age: 30
- Height: 5’6”
- Weight: 142 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 320-340 g
- Protein: 130-140 g
- Fat: 55-60 g
- Parker’s go to breakfast: Parker eats two breakfasts—”the same thing every day,” she said—before training at around 10 a.m. At 6am it’s two rice cakes, 25 g of peanut butter, a banana, 15 g of jam, and coffee. At 8a.m she’ll follow up with 60 g oatmeal, 20 g raisins, and chicken sausages.
10. Emma Chapman
Chapman, a New Zealand athlete, qualified to her first CrossFit Games as an individual woman through the 2020 CrossFit Open when she placed 29th overall.
- Age: 32
- Height: 5’2”
- Weight: 130 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 330 g (on training days)
- Protein: 160 g (on training days)
- Fat: 55 g
Chapman doesn’t train until the afternoons and evenings, so she eats her first three meals before her training, a shake as she trains, and then two more meals: post-workout and pre-bedtime.
[Related: Pre and post workout nutrition: your ultimate guide]
11. Paige Powers
Powers placed third the last two summers at the CrossFit Games: in the 16-17 division in 2019 and the 14-15 year-old division in 2018. She also finished third in the 2020 CrossFit Open in her age division.
- Age: 17
- Height: 5’3”
- Weight: 151 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 340 g
- Protein: 140 g
- Fat: 65 g
While that’s her general intake, Powers said it changes slightly depending on her training volume and how she’s feeling. And on competition days, she increases her carbohydrate intake.
12. Meredith Root
Root is a 2018 individual CrossFit Games athlete, who is still at the top of her game. Most recently she competed at Wodapalooza on a team.
- Age: 31
- Height: 5’4”
- Weight: 132 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 315-325 g
- Protein: 140 g
- Fat: 65 g
Root’s go to breakfast: Root eats two breakfasts. The first one at 7 a.m. is an English muffin with peanut butter and jam and a banana. The second one is at 9:30 a.m. and is three eggs, oatmeal with honey, and some kind of vegetables.
13. Emma Cary
Cary won the 2019 CrossFit Games in the 14-15 year-old division and was second overall in the 2020 Open in the 16-17 year-old division.
- Age: 15
- Height: 5’4”
- Weight: 125 lb.
- Carbohydrates: 400 g
- Protein: 169 g
- Fat: 75 g
- Cary’s go to breakfast: Eggs, potatoes, kale, and deer meat, as well as a bowl of oatmeal. She usually waits to eat it until after her morning workout. Prior to her workout, she has just a small snack, she said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8QUgdiJtO5/
14. Nastassia Kaddour
After competing in the United States in recent years, Kaddour chose to compete for her home country of Algeria this season and punched her ticket to this summer’s CrossFit Games when she became the Algerian national champion during the 2020 CrossFit Open.
- Age: 27
- Height: 5’10”
- Weight: 171 lb.
Unlike the other nine athletes I surveyed, Kaddour doesn’t track her macronutrients. Instead, she chooses a more intuitive approach to eating, sticking to eating when she’s hungry and listening to her body’s needs. That being said, she said her daily calorie intake is generally between 2,700 and 3,000 calories per day. Kaddour also intermittent fasts for 16 hours, usually twice a week.
Featured image via @tiaclair1 and @katrintanja on Instagram
