Professional athletes don't get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focus—and that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what pro athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Here's a look at the daily diet of professional dancer Marcelo Gomes.

Hearing Marcelo Gomes, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, talk about preparing for a performance is like listening to a seasoned marathoner prepare for 26 miles. That's before he compares himself to a racehorse. “Maintenance is a huge part of our lives," he says. “Just like a horse, really, you have to peak at race time, not before. So you have to see how many weeks you have and work your way to it. It’s not just about pumping up, it’s about getting ready for curtain call.”

Getting ready for curtain call means rehearsals from noon to 7 P.M., rarely with a break. As with marathoners, it takes a lot of food to power the body that whole time, but unlike with running, there’s choreography to remember. Low blood sugar doesn’t just slow you down, it makes it a hell of a lot harder to remember your routine.

Despite what your local Pure Barre might tell you, ballet is hellish on the body, the joints in particular. Gomes has been with the American Ballet Theatre for 18 years, making the 36-year-old, Brazilian-born dancer and choreographer a seasoned veteran: He's had surgeries on both his knee and his ankle as a result. A lot of his time in the gym—and his diet—is dedicated to injury prevention.

Maintenance is a huge part of our lives. Just like a horse, really, you have to peak at race time, not before.

“One of my priorities is to keep my back strong, because I’m partnered with ballerinas quite a bit. There’s a certain control you need to have, and I have trouble with my back seizing up. So I focus on making sure the back is really strong—the back, the shoulders, the abdominals—so everything is working toward preventing a back spasm.”

The rest of the day is spent just barely grazing. Ballet also has aesthetic requirements, so on top of staying in shape and safeguarding against injury, Gomes has to make sure no part of his body gets too big. Since he spends so many hours each day working his legs, he tends to avoid heavy cycling and Spin classes, though that doesn't stop him from working with Cycle for Survival, a fund-raiser benefiting Memorial Sloan Kettering’s work with rare cancers. “I thought it would be great to get involved with Cycle for Survival, because someone in my family died of breast cancer,” he says. “But a lot of focus goes to breast cancer, and there isn’t as much funding going to research and medication for rare cancers.”

For Gomes, his biggest meals are at night and in the morning, when food can be safely digested before he heads to rehearsal or the gym for special cross-training. Only on performance days does Gomes have anything akin to a lunch, and that’s because he won’t have the chance to eat from the afternoon until late night, after everything is wrapped up. If he has anything in that time, it’s probably Gatorade.

When his nights aren’t spent jeté-ing and lifting women over his head, he’s either getting takeout (like every other New Yorker) or cooking in his apartment, usually with a cocktail. “It’s great to be superhuman,” he says, “but it’s also great to just be human.”

BreakfastOver-easy eggs, turkey sausageCoffeeOrange juice

Throughout the dayNutsAppleSmall saladSmall smoothie—soy milk, banana, strawberries, peanut butter, protein powder

DinnerChicken thighs with sautéed string beans and quinoaLarge salad with carrots, heirloom tomatoes, and English cucumbers with balsamic vinegar and olive oilGin and tonic

Luke Darby is a contributor to GQ, covering news, entertainment, and the environment. A Louisiana native, he now resides in Cleveland, and his writing has also appeared in Outside, the Dallas Observer, and Marie Claire.Related Stories for GQReal Life Diet