Louis Smith took bronze in the pommel horse in 2008 – the first British gymnast to win an individual medal at the Olympics in 100 years. He won bronze at the world championships in 2011

"As a gymnast you're supporting your own body weight so a kilo can make all the difference. But if you don't eat enough you'll be a bit shaky and weak. It's all about eating the right amount, at the right time – two hours before you do anything – because you don't want food jiggling around in your stomach while you're doing somersaults.

Breakfast is fruit and if I'm a bit peckish, wholewheat toast and butter. I get to training for 12pm, then break after three hours for lunch – more fruit, a cheese and tomato sandwich, or a tuna and pasta salad. I'm back in the gym from 5pm to 8pm, then I go to Mum's for steak and vegetables or chicken and salad. I don't tend to mix carbs with meat late at night. If I don't need to worry about being sensible, Mum cooks roast potatoes, spaghetti bolognese, meatballs or my favourite – Jamaican chicken, rice and peas.

I've had some pretty funky foods over the years. I went to the Ukraine and ate sliced sheep's tongue, and in France they gave me sheep's testicles.

"I'm not the best cook, but I can look after myself. I know how to make jerk chicken and Jamaican fruit cake from my mum's recipes, it just takes me a bit longer and I struggle to get everything together at the same time.I make a good roast duck with plum sauce and spicy noodles – I learnt that on Ready Steady Cook. I was up against sprinter Christian Malcolm, and I won.

You can tell who's finished competing by who's eating junk food. I've celebrated after competitions with everything you can think of – Chinese, Burger King, Pizza Hut. If I got gold in 2012 I'd probably go for a fillet steak somewhere really sexy, like a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. A really nice, medium to well done fillet steak with some béarnaise sauce a few bits of asparagus. Mmm.'"

Louis Smith is fuelled by Lucozade Sport