Serena Williams
says altering her diet in support of big sister Venus hasn't been much of a
hardship.
Serena said she's
cut down on eating chicken and fish and is eating more raw foods like Venus,
who adopted the change to help her body cope with Sjogren's syndrome, an
autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain. But while the new
diet has been a big change for Venus, it's not been that big a deal for Serena,
she says.
"I've always
been a better eater than her, even though I'm a lot, lot thicker," she
said, laughing during a recent phone interview.
Serena said since
she lives with Venus, she is mindful to eat foods that won't tempt her.
"I don't want
her to come home and see a piece of chicken and be like, 'Oh, I want it,' and
she can't have it. It would be like a stumbling block for her," she added.
Both Serena and
Venus have been back on the tennis court recently after dealing with health
issues. Serena had ankle injuries this year and last year made her return after
missing nearly a year because of several health concerns, including cuts on her
feet from glass at a restaurant and clots in her lungs.
"I'm looking
forward to playing, and just playing and being healthy; I haven't really been
healthy in a few years, and I'm just really looking forward to having a chance
to play," she said. "I think right now I am at 100 percent ... I'm
really looking forward to continuing this and continuing to be healthy."
Besides her
excitement for upcoming Grand Slams and the Olympics, Serena said she's also
still focused on her side ventures, which include an upcoming appearance on the
TV show "Drop Dead Diva," her nails (she's a licensed manicurist and
has a nail polish line), her clothing company, Aneres (she said it's
relaunching online next year) and business school, just to name a few.
She's also part of
a new venture with LeBron James, Amar'e Stoudemire, Chris Paul and Pitbull to
promote Sleep Sheets, which bills itself as a natural sleep aid. Serena said
she's had trouble sleeping for years because she's "constantly on a
natural high, high on life and happy, happy, happy and working."
She said her sleep
difficulty was so bad one year it affected her at the Australian Open.
"Several
years ago before like the finals, I couldn't sleep, and I had to take something
to relax and make me go to sleep," she said. "It was obviously a
pharmaceutical thing, but I physically couldn't sleep, and the only thing with
that is that it slows you down the next day."
She still won the
trophy.
"I did, but I
was a little sluggish," she said, laughing. "It's nothing that I ever
want to do again. I can't put the finals of the Australian Open on the line
because I can't sleep.
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