Being confident in your body starts with the habits you develop to take care of yourself. 

A major part of those habits is how you fuel. 

VIS Mentor and WNBA veteran Alysha Clark talked to VIS about her biggest takeaways on loving your body, fueling confidence, and supporting performance and training in the kitchen. 

Finding Her Way

Growing up in a musical family, Clark took her own route and dove headfirst into every sport possible during seventh grade. From gymnastics to volleyball, she found a sport during every season to get herself out of chores at home. 

This full-tilt attitude benefitted Clark, but it also put her in range of body image concerns at a young age. When her gymnastics coach told her that she could not wear shorts over her first-ever leotard, Clark understood what body confidence—or a lack thereof—looked like for the first time. 

Her insecurities followed her into high school when she became more aware of different body types. She struggled to leave the house because of the acne on her face or her hair that she didn’t yet know how to style. Throughout all of this, she was still developing as an athlete and learning valuable lessons, like how to put a “mask” of confidence. She learned to wear this mask whether she was facing a rival on the court or simply walking through the halls of high school. 

Learning to Fuel

When she went to college, Clark began to understand the relationship between food, performance, and confidence. 

“How you fuel your body and what you put into it is how it performs,” she says. Fueling isn’t just about what you eat. It’s about preparing your body and mind to function on and off of the court. And it’s about sustaining these habits and replenishing your body. 

Sustainable habits start with sustainable ideas, and Clark’s favorite is the 80/20 rule. The idea of the 80/20 rule is that her meals should consist of 80% fresh foods or produce, while the remaining 20% can include whatever her body desires that day. 

Just like with body confidence, the 80/20 rule isn’t about perfection. Sometimes, we have to wear a mask confidence. And sometimes—20% of the time, to be exact—Clark treats her body to what it tells her it needs. 

“For you to love yourself, and for you to love what your body is capable of, you're going to do the things you need to do to properly take care of it.”

VIS Mentor Alysha Clark

Developing Proper Habits

Being able to fuel yourself properly is about discipline. But it’s also about forming habits and being flexible. 

Clark developed her discipline and habits in nutrition at the same time by taking notes and setting reminders on her phone. Whether the alarm reminded her to eat a carb snack or a carb and protein, she kept up with these reminders until they developed into sustainable habits. 

These reminders helped Clark to stay on top of her fueling and plan around her busy schedule. They also helped her master another key part of nutrition: timing. 

“The timing of fueling is so important," Clark says. 

When we eat certain foods, like carbs or proteins, in relation to our training helps support recovery or prepare us for our sessions. Timing is critical. 

Clark pre-plans her meals and snacks and keeps food items ready to go to stay on top of her nutrient timing with her busy schedule. Acting as her own chef and nutritionist, Clark made the kitchen her playground, putting her choice of ingredients into whatever meal her heart desires that day. 

Mental Shift

Clark is an advocate for teaching women athletes to fuel and be confident in their bodies. 

By fueling, we prepare our bodies for the work ahead and thank them for what they’ve done. Food is fuel, and just like a well-tuned car, we need fuel. 

These habits don’t come overnight, though, and neither does the mental shift to embracing fueling as a confidence-building tool. It takes time. It takes resilience. It might even take setting reminders on your phone. 

The key is showing up for yourself in the ways your body needs. 

“For you to love yourself, and for you to love what your body is capable of, you're going to do the things you need to do to properly take care of it," Clark says. 

Start with the small habits. Remind yourself that food is fuel. Try out the 80/20 rule. And, if you learn anything from Clark, it’s this: don’t skip the veggies. 

 "If I can leave you with anything, every night eat something green on your plate,” Clark says.