Clearly there are many different types of diets that people follow. The right diet might be a combination of diets. According to the top athletes, the best diet is the one that works best for you and your goals.

Everyone is unique and so are the health needs of every individual. When it comes to a diet, what is best for you depends on the health goals you are trying to achieve. Nothing illustrates this better than taking a look at a few different athlete diet plans.

Ryan Lochte - Swimmer

Ryan started his career fairly young. In his early days his only concern was his daily caloric intake. Swimming is a sport that burns a lot of calories, and Ryan strove to consume 8000 to 10000 daily. He used to get those calories in what ever form he chose, typically in the form of fast food. These days he strives to achieve his daily caloric goals with healthier foods like lean meats and vegetables.

Scott Jurek - Ultra marathoner

Scott is a proponent of the plant based diet. His diet is a high-protein, vegetarian diet. Foods like cashew butters, tofu, seaweed, and quinoa are the desired fanfare for Scott to achieve his dietary goals.

Dean Karnazes - Ultrarunner

Dean favors a diet that is a mixture of paleo, raw pescatarian, and Mediterranean diets. He made the switch after years of bad eating. With new found clean eating habits, he enjoys consuming full-fat, Greek yogurt, wild Pacific salmon, bananas, and a energy bar consisting of sesame seeds and raw honey.

Hafthor Bjornsson - Strong Man

Hafthor's daily dietary goal, as a strong man, is to eat as much as possible. When training, Hafthor consumes up to 8 pounds of food per day. His daily consumption includes 900 grams of beef, 500 grams of salmon, 400 grams of chicken, and more than 1500 grams of fruits and vegetables. In addition to this, he consumes several raw eggs and drinks plenty of water. If he is short on calories, he will make those calories up by drinking more fruit juice.

Laird Hamilton - Big Wave Surfer

Laird has one of the more relaxed attitudes towards diet, for an older athlete. For Laird, it is important to avoid restricting foods as he believes that it diminishes your self-control for these foods. Instead, he simple tries to avoid alcohol, refined sugars and flours, and processed foods. He will occasionally indulge in things that he should not, but chooses not to place extremes stigmas on diet cheats.

Clearly there are many different types of diets that people follow. The right diet might be a combination of diets. According to the top athletes, the best diet is the one that works best for you and your goals.