On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore their routines, schedules, habits and day in the life.

Australian sportswoman Ellyse Perry has a lot to be confident about. At only 16 years old, she debuted for both the national cricket team and the national soccer team, and currently holds the record for being the youngest Australian to play international cricket. To top it all off, she’s also the first Australian to have appeared in both the Women’s Cricket World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, Perry has been heavily involved in sports since her early childhood years. Attending Beecroft Primary School and Pymble Ladies’ College, she participated in cricket and soccer, as well as tennis, athletics, touch football and golf, and also met her future teammate Alyssa Healy as a kid.

My family had a huge role to play in developing a love for the outdoors and physical activity. My earliest memories are of us playing outside in the backyard or making trips to the beach or local park whenever we had a chance. I love everything associated with that kind of lifestyle, so to be able to play sport for a career is something I feel incredible fortunate about.

Ellyse Perry Interview | Girl.com.au

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As Perry’s cricket game has continued to evolve over the past decade, many observers have proclaimed her to be one of the greatest female players of all time. “I loved playing against her, and she’s definitely improved a lot since I stopped playing,” said former England captain Charlotte Edwards in a 2019 interview, and who played against a 17-year old Perry in 2008.

“You knew then she’d become an unbelievable batter,” Edwards continued. “She was mainly a bowler in my career, and now we see what an unbelievable allrounder she is, and the greatest female player we’re ever going to see.”

But even for a sports legend who has achieved more than what most athletes can only dream to, lack of confidence and self-doubt are not things that Perry are immune to on a day-to-day basis. “Self-doubt is something I feel in some form every day; I think many of us feel that way,” she told Body+Soul in a 2021 interview.

“When you step through that doubt, you’re stronger for it; when I’m in extreme doubt, I think of the people I love and the support they’ve always given me, and I know it doesn’t matter what will unfold.”

Ellyse Perry’s training routine & diet

While Perry has been playing both soccer and cricket at the highest level since she was 16 years old, in more recent years the focus has been on the latter. On a typical training day, the renowned cricketer packs in 3-4 sessions, usually made up of a skills workout, training in the gym, running and recovery.

My week looks different depending on our schedule, but I train most days. I never really count the hours, but it’s similar to a full-time job,” she says. “Our [national team] training consists of three components: skill work – so batting, bowling and fielding; the physical stuff, like weights and running; and then all the tactical preparation, which is looking at footage and discussing in groups how we want to play a game.

This is what an easy day looks like for Ellyse Perry | body+soul

To fuel her multiple training sessions throughout the day, Perry consumes a fair bit more food than the average person, although she’s not necessarily strict with her diet. She follows a basic guideline of eating food that is good for her and will benefit her during training and recovery.

“I basically stick to fresh, wholesome food, so anything from the fruit and vegetable section as opposed to packaged, perishable foods,” she told Delicious. “I really like the idea that if your grandparents wouldn’t recognise it or know what it was then it’s probably not worth eating.”

For Perry, a typical daily meal plan might look something like this: breakfast at 6am with some bircher muesli and fruit, followed by a piccolo coffee. At 9.30am she’ll have a protein bar with a handful of mixed nuts — almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts and pistachios — for a mid-morning snack.

Lunchtime will usually be a dark rye sandwich with grilled chicken fillets, avocado, tomatoes, spinach, shredded carrots and a couple of beetroot slices. For her mid-afternoon snack, she might have a Greek yoghurt and an apple, then dinner is usually some grilled salmon with steamed asparagus and mashed sweet potato. If she’s having dessert that night, it’ll typically be Açaí berry ice cream — “ice-cream is probably my favourite dessert – and acai berries are a superb antioxidant and contain numerous amino acids,” she told Amodrn in 2016.

If it’s a game day then she’ll switch up her diet slightly. In a 2019 interview with Delicious, Perry revealed what she would normally eat before a match.

Depends what time of day the match is really. For a morning match, I’ll just have muesli, fruit and yoghurt, or if it’s a night game, I might have something silly like peanut butter and sliced banana on bread. I really like coffee and I drink a lot of it so I’ll always have a coffee before a game.

Ever wondered what an elite athlete eats? Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry shares her day on a plate | Delicious

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