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Dancing With the Stars’ Ilona Maher Reveals Diet Secrets Amid Competition: ‘I Stress Protein’
Ilona Maher knows the importance of taking care of her body, and she revealed her diet secrets while competing on Dancing With the Stars during an exclusive interview with Life & Style.
“We’re both big protein people,” Ilona, 28, told Life & Style about her and partner Alan Bersten after the Tuesday, September 24, episode taping. “We’ll go out, eat. He’ll get his eggs and turkey bacon. So, I stress protein. I stress restoring my muscles.”
Ilona also said she uses a lot of “protein powder” during rehearsals as fuel for her body.
She shared that she prefers Thorne Protein, which she said is certified for sport. “Our dietitian thinks it’s really good because we get drug tested so much,” Ilona explained about the brand. “So, it’s really smart to have that. And then also, I’ve been drinking Podium by Mat Fraser.”
Not only did Ilona open up about her diet, but she also revealed how training for DWTS is different than her preparation ahead of the Olympics. “It’s not the same physically. I mean, I play a very physically demanding sport, and everyone’s like, ‘You’re gonna be tired,’” she explained. “Mentally, it’s hard. Cause rugby becomes so natural, whereas dance [does] not.”
Ilona added that “there’s so much more” to dancing, “so it’s mentally very straining” on her.
She also opened up about the long hours she puts in for the show. “We’re here on show days for, like, 12 hours a day,” the rugby player shared. “I have to be in the makeup and hair chair for about three hours.”
However, she said that the preparation process is different for Alan, 30, “He walks in, they put a little bit on him, and he’s good,” she explained about his hair and makeup process. “I think people will be surprised to know, like, the first time we tried [our routine] in our costumes is at 3 p.m. right before the live show.”
Ilona quickly won over fans during her time at the 2024 Olympics in Paris by sharing behind the scenes videos from the experience. Meanwhile, the athlete’s fan base has continued to grow as she’s become a role model for body positivity.
Earlier this week, Ilona took to TikTok to admit she wasn’t feeling “too body confident” at the time. She then said that the feeling was “OK” because she knew her followers would “hype” her up, adding that “the mind be playing tricks” and tells “you different things.”
“It’s hard to love your body all the time and to think it’s just so amazing,” she continued in the clip. “Even myself, I have a problem with that.”
She went on to remind fans that “our bodies are constantly changing and will constantly change the rest of our lives.”
Ilona also assured fans that it’s normal to feel down about your body every once in a while. “It’s OK if you’re going through this. It’s going to be ups and down for the rest of your life,” she said.
Reporting by Lindsay Hoffman
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