Energy spurts needed
Thus, having lots of complex sugars stored up — the kind produced by carbohydrates — does not help a gymnast that much. Those energy spurts are best provided by a diet high in protein. Most gymnasts try to get between 60 percent and 70 percent of their calories from proteins (like meats and cheeses), the rest from carbs (like whole-grain pasta, fruits, vegetables) and fats (like oils from peanuts). And, as has been proven by all the Atkins, South Beach and Zone diets so popular these days, high-protein regimens help gymnasts keep their weight down.

The weight issue can be a touchy subject in gymnastics, especially on the women’s side. Eating disorders have long been common in a sport in which young girls are urged to stay lean, yet keep the muscle that allows them to explode and do such amazing tricks on the floor, uneven bars and beam.

But done correctly, diets can produce gymnasts like Courtney McCool, Tabitha Yim or national co-champion Courtney Kupets, all fit, trim young women who hardly seem to fit some of the worst stereotypes of the sport.

They eat several times a day, all in small quantities: egg whites for breakfast, a small piece of chicken for lunch, small snacks of cheese and vegetables in between meals and maybe some fish and fruit for dinner.

Is it what most 16-year-old girls would be eating? Probably not, but these young women are in fabulous shape. And with the desire to be a world-class gymnast come sacrifices, the likes of which all these athletes know they must make when they get into the sport.

“It’s just something you have to deal with,” McCool said. “You have to be not just physically tough, but mentally tough.”