As an athlete, you’re judged. If you’re in a competition and buying cake, the general public will comment. The irony is never wasted on me. If I go to a pizza restaurant I can almost guarantee that someone will come up and say, “you shouldn’t be eating that!” – even though they are. I laugh it off.

I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and remember being told: “The world as we understand it will end. Armageddon will come.” I was tempted to reply: “Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later, then we won’t have to go to school any more and eat the dinners.”

The only religious food taboo I had, apart from no Christmas dinner, was black pudding – because of the blood.

We were working class and food was very important in our house – chicken casserole, especially – because my dad, a self-employed builder, got up at 6am and came home at 8pm famished. My brother and I had competitions about how quickly we could eat.

I have a very sensitive stomach. As a kid, I suffered from irritable bowel syndrome and was never in good shape. I would always see other athletes and say, “I look nothing like them. I have a very undefined tummy.” For a while, I became quite conscious of that.

My coach Glen called me “fit-fat”, in the nicest possible way, when he came on board as a nutritionist in 1999. My other-half, Susie, has IBS too, and has a sister with Crohn’s disease – hopefully, our children won’t inherit either.

I cook a really good leg of lamb but the first time Susie ate at my house I nipped out of the room and she scraped her dinner into her handbag. I thought she’d eaten it, until my dog Dexter went mad for her handbag.

I drank alcohol at a young age, partly as a rebellion against my religious background. Also, I had friends who drank and stayed out. I was the one stealing milk from the milk float in the morning after an all-nighter. I could run fastest. But I hated the taste of milk.

I take John West tuna steaks with me to competitions. I have a couple of cans with my eggs and salad for late lunch when I don’t like the meat where I am.

Andrew Steele (the 400m runner) and I became obsessed with combining breakfast cereals when competing in America. I had Lucky Charms, Reese’s Pieces and other mega-sugary cereals mixed up. A “breakfast quartet” is just four. We got up to seven per bowl at one point. It is the best sugar hit you could dream of.

I trained as a barista in 2012, because my dream is to run a coffee shop. I learnt about various notes within different beans and coffees, a bit like learning about wine. Nowadays, I travel with an AeroPress – there’s never a scenario where I wouldn’t have coffee.

I’m keen on my children eating normally. Some athletes have children who eat the same as them, as they don’t want any other food in the house. I’m all for kids having chocolate and chips, but also avocado, eggs, nuts and fruit.

My favourite things

Food
Because I’ve generally stayed away from it as I can react badly to gluten, I’d say dough actually remains my favourite food. I really enjoy a good pizza.

Drink

I enjoy a red wine, especially with my friend Rob [TV’s Judge Rinder]. There’s a shop in Islington where we have a card for free wine-tastings.

Favourite place to eat
Taka Sushi in the Gaslamp district of San Diego. Small inside and fantastic. Or Nick’s in Laguna Beach, California. It does incredible mac and cheese.

Signature dish
Omelette and protein supershake.