Food to go: How Peter Stringer fuels his non-stop day

Former Ireland and Munster rugby star Peter Stringer still considers himself a 24-hour athlete even though the action has moved from the rugby pitch to the dancefloor, writes Clodagh Finn.

The former scrum half has been plunged into a world of flashy suits, sequins and fake tan, but he says his rugby fitness and diet routine helps him to cope, not least with the merciless teasing.

Twenty years spent in rugby dressing rooms have helped to thicken his skin: “You build up a barrier but it is liberating to put yourself and your emotions out there and to show another side.

"A weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he tells Feelgood.

He says it was particularly special to be able to say how he felt about his wife and best friend Debbie O’Leary earlier this month, before dancing a Viennese waltz to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, the first dance at their wedding in 2015.

The challenges of participating in Dancing with the Stars have been more mental than physical but that does not mean Peter Stringer has changed anything in his health routine.

“I have always looked after myself in terms of nutrition and fitness and I knew I wanted to keep that kind of fitness from the time I finished playing rugby. It’s become a kind of a lifestyle for me now. It’s been a huge help in dancing but also in the day-to-day,” he says.

Speaking of which, Peter Stringer still gets up at 6am and starts the day with a gym session.

“I love doing it and it’s part of who I want to be going forward. I want to future-proof myself so that I can get to the gym when I’m 80 or 90 years of age.”

In terms of nutrition, he loves preparing his own food and knows exactly what goes into it.

I eat from a nutritional value point of view rather than sitting down and taking lots of time to prepare an exquisite, tasty meal.

"It’s very much a numbers game for me and I eat simple, simple things — salmon a couple of times a week, lots of chicken breasts and lots of vegetables.

"My proteins and fats will be consistent within my days. It’s the carbohydrates that will vary depending on how active I’ve been.”

Breakfast could be a simple omelette with tomatoes and turkey and he’ll add in a bowl of porridge if he’s had a strenuous gym session.

He takes his lunch with him to dance rehearsals with partner Ksenia Zsikhotska — usually salad leaves and tomatoes with bits of salmon, turkey or prawns, and a little bit of olive oil. Dinner is chicken and green veg and maybe some brown rice which he’ll top up with a handful of nuts if he thinks he needs it.

Peter during a Dancing with the Stars rehearsal.

He doesn’t eat wheat or bread as he has had issues with food intolerances in the past and since he cut them from his diet about seven years ago that has made a big difference.

And what of guilty pleasures? “It would be unnatural not to have guilty pleasures but I’m quite disciplined 99% of the time because I see the rewards that I get from eating well.”

The key to good eating, however, is to make your diet sustainable.

“I would advise anybody not to, all of a sudden, eliminate everything out of your diet. You don’t want to go on a crash six- or 10-week diet to get ready for a wedding, or something. It has to become a lifestyle change.”

Vitamins and probiotics are also part of Stringer’s diet. He’s particularly interested in the study of the links between the gut and the brain and takes natural probiotic Zenflore.

Produced by the Cork-based Precision Biotics, the supplement contains the bacterial culture bifidobacterium longum 1714 which has been shown in studies to help decrease stress and anxiety.

“I’ve been taking Zenflore and I’ve had studies done on my gut and it’s in very good health. I also find it takes the edge off things and makes you settle down,” he says.

And anything that eases the pressure as the knockouts continue on Dancing with the Stars has to be a good thing.