Olympic Medal Winner Hannah Teter Is a Vegetarian and Lives a Green Lifestyle

by POPSUGAR Fitness 5

One thing that may have catapulted snowboarder Hannah Teter onto the Olympic podium for the second time in her career is her diet. Hannah — who scored a silver in the women's halfpipe — tells People that she credits turning vegetarian for making her a better athlete: "I started that [a vegetarian diet] last year and feel stronger mentally and physically, and springier."

Even though Teter has given up meat, she still gets plenty of protein. For breakfast, the snowboarding star has a power smoothie; dinner is often a veggie stir-fry with a side of quinoa. Quinoa is a great replacement for white rice and a staple among many vegetarians I know because it's exploding with protein and fiber. Though not a raw foodie, Hannah does admit to not cooking her food too long,"because you lose what's good in the food."

Besides a responsible diet, Hannah is also doing her part to live eco-consciously. And while I do my best to recycle, reuse, and reclaim, Hannah's taking it a step further by moving into a yurt on a parent's property in Vermont. (A yurt is sort of like a tent, except stronger and more weatherproof. It's portable and doesn't rely on a ton of materials for its construction.) Living green is not foreign to Hannah — her dad produces maple syrup on the family's property, and her mother keeps a huge garden and also tends fruit trees. If all goes as planned, Hannah hopes to be living off the grid by relying only on solar and wind power.