After a 12-year career as a professional athlete, that saw him take home two Indoor European Championship gold medals and break Irish 400m records, David Gillick knows a thing or two on what it takes to fuel a champion. But it wasn’t always that way.

“Food wasn’t something I gave much thought to when I was growing up,” the Irish athlete, now 32, says. Raised in Balinteer, in South Dublin, his early exposure to dinner plates is pretty much exactly what you’d expect for an Irishman of his generation. Boiled potatoes, chops, stews, pizza and chips, it may not have been haute cuisine, but helping his night-shift-working nurse mother to prepare meals did help him learn the basics in the kitchen – although he didn’t know it at the time.

“It all sort of changed when I moved away from home,” Gillick says, “And when I started buying my own food, training seriously, and meeting nutritionists as a professional athlete.

Standing among the world’s elite athletes is no easy feat, and Gillick built a career around keeping his body and mental focus is top condition.

“I had developed a clear goal, and that gave me something to work towards, and made clear what areas of my life I need to improve upon in order to keep up with the best runners in the world.”

The Irishman created his ‘four pillars of peak performance’, understanding that to be at the starting line on the world stage means having the right mindset, exercising, understanding nutrition, and taking time to rest and recover. It’s a philosophy he’s carried on into his new career with Motiv8, a company specialising in high-performance team development, coaching, and mental toughness.

David Gillick celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's 400m at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England in 2007 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

“I retired last year after 12 years. In that time, I worked very hard to develop my career. I won medals and qualified for the Olympics, but leaving it all behind was incredibly tough. Not training to the same intensity has been a huge adjustment to make.”

Gillick’s focus turned to food around the time he was training in Canberra, Australia in 2013. The athlete received an email from the producers of Celebrity Masterchef Ireland, darkening his inbox just days after he’d torn his Achilles tendon. Uncertain what direction his running career was going to go in, the athlete jumped at the opportunity to get into the kitchen.

“I was a massive fan of Masterchef, but I really didn’t want to look like an idiot on national television,” he says.

Gillick need not have worried, as his competitive nature and natural flare for combining simple and nutritious flavours won over viewers and judges, the he would add the MasterChef trophy to his list of accolades.

And now his new appreciation for cooking, along with his long-standing interest in nutrition, has come to the fore in his new book David Gillick’s Kitchen. A selection of recipes and eating tips for sound body and mind, it’s most certainly not just for athletes with Olympic aspirations.

“I really wanted to make a cookbook that is for everyone. That could be corporate athletes, or evening people who just don’t have the time to eat well. The book takes in everything, from the three square meals to treats,” he says.

David Gillick was crowned Celebrity MasterChef Ireland champion in the RTÉ show in 2013 [DavidGillick]

“What we eat is so important, and we’re just not eating right. Take snacking, for instance, what we eat between meals shapes the day. At 11am we’re reaching for biscuits, at 4pm we’re going for something else sugary. If you don’t have the energy for a 5pm meeting, something is wrong. So I wanted the book to educate people on how to snack properly, how to eat better, and how to enjoy what they’re eating.”

And education is important to Gillick, who along with New Balance and Athletics Ireland is launching a new programme to encourage school students to consider the sport.

“It’s part of a new school initiative, trying to show school kids that there are other options to GAA, rugby, or football. I’m passionate about getting the next generation involved, and maybe finding the next Irish Olympian.”

And it looks, at the very least, like these students will learning that there are other things to snack on during breaks than orange slices, at the very least. 

David Gillick is launching his new book David Gillick’s Kitchen this evening at Dubray Books on Grafton St, Dublin, at 6.30pm