The RL diet: Swinton star Gavin Bennion talks breakfast, dinner and tea

Josh McAllister 25 Jan 2020 11:30 AM

The rugby league diet is our new feature where we give you an insight in to the eating habits of your favourite professional players, in partnership with Heaven ‘N’ Health.

Swinton prop Gavin Bennion is our latest guest…

What is your usual breakfast, Gavin?

“For breakfast, I’ll normally do a gym session early in the morning and I’ll eat after.

“I’ll have scrambled eggs, probably around four of them, with around 100 grams of natural porridge oats and I’ll chuck a couple of scoops of protein in there, which helps for flavour for me. I don’t like eating porridge oats on there own so I’ll stick strawberry protein in there.”

And for dinner?

“For lunch, I’ll have a prep meal so it’ll mainly be chicken, rice and veg, with a piece of fruit on the side as well. I’ll probably eat again around 3pm, I’ll have a protein shake to top myself up.”

And then for tea?

“For tea, I’ll do similar to lunch. Chicken, rice or sweet potato, veg and whatever you want to throw in there. Beef, turkey mince or whatever.

“I’ll then probably have a 0% fat yogurt with some peanut butter in. I have the peanut butter in small amounts as its good fats, but too much of it is bad for you.

“I’ll probably have another yoghurt before bed or a casein slow release protein shake before I go to bed so you’re not hungry over night and your muscles are getting fed throughout the night.”

So how many calories do you consume a day?

“I try and get around 3,500 calories in a day, I’d like to get around 4,000 but it’s not always possible. It’s expensive to eat healthy!

“You can easily eat 4,000 calories of fast food and a couple of burgers, but it’s not what you want to be doing. To be eating 4,000 healthy it costs a bit, and it’s a lot of prep. When we train and when you’re active, you burn a lot of calories you want to maintain weight really.”

Does your diet change on game days?

“On game days, I’ll probably have scrambled eggs on toast with beans early in the morning.

“We usually play around 3pm, so at around 12pm I’ll have a bowl of porridge as well to top me up. That’s normally it.

“If I’m feeling a bit hungry before the game, I’ll have a banana or maybe an apple or an energy bar. On a game day morning, not much food is consumed – small breakfast followed by porridge.”

What is your cheat meal after a game?

“After a game on a Sunday, you eat what you want and whatever I fancy. You burn so many calories when playing, so Sunday is the cheat day if you like. My favourite is a Hawaiian pizza from Dominos – ham and pineapple with stuffed crust. Pineapple is very nice and belongs on pizza!

“And then come Monday, I like to get back on track and be on a normal diet day.”