Sanjana George grew up in Kerala watching martial arts movies. At 17, she stepped into an MMA gym, and she has since moved through obstacle racing and WWE training to become a hybrid athlete, coach, and speaker. Her journey has also been one of recovery. After years of struggling with an eating disorder, she now fuels her body for strength, endurance, and Hyrox races instead of for the scale.
In her interview with Women Fitness, Sanjana talks about breaking into combat sports, bouncing back from injuries, her daily meals, and the diet myths she busts as a coach.
From Kerala to the Cage: How Sanjana George Got Into MMA
You grew up in Kerala and took up MMA at 17, though your family was reluctant at first. What drew you to combat sports, and how did you win them over?
Combat sports fascinated me even as a 10-year-old, watching martial arts movies and dreaming of being one of those fighters. At 17, I finally found the right environment to start training. My dad was excited about me learning to defend myself, but the rest of the family was nervous about me competing and getting hurt. They kept pleading with me not to fight. So after my first competition, I adopted a simple strategy: I stopped telling them about my fights until they were over.
The WWE Turning Point That Changed Everything
You’ve moved from MMA to obstacle racing, WWE training, coaching, and speaking. What was the biggest turning point, and what did it change in you?
Every discipline has brought its own brutal climbs and lessons, but the WWE opportunity was the turning point that put me on the map. It transformed me. I had been a shy introvert who desperately wanted everyone to like me and cared endlessly about what others thought. I became the opposite. The transition was jarring, but it was a non-negotiable chapter that forged the person I am today.
Injuries, Setbacks and Comebacks: Building Resilience as an Athlete
You’ve faced serious injuries and public setbacks. What did they teach you about resilience, and what helped you come back?
Setbacks are inevitable, and everyone faces trials that seem impossible to overcome. What matters is how you fight back and let that growth make you stronger. A belief that became central for me is that life is working for me, not to me. Beyond that, my passion for sport and my love for what I do kept me on track and fueled every comeback.
Eating Disorder Recovery: Learning to Eat for Performance
How has your idea of “eating for performance” changed from your combat-sport days to now, as a hybrid athlete?
I struggled with an eating disorder from the age of 14. In college, I was dangerously underweight and still thought I was fat. I never got proper nutrition education at home or in school, so I fell for every classic fad, the biggest being that if you want to be thin, you simply shouldn’t eat.
Things improved slightly when I started MMA, because I wanted to get stronger and that meant eating. But the constant pressure to stay within a weight category kept me obsessed with the scale. Moving into hybrid sports changed that completely. There’s no way I could run and push the weights I do today without fueling properly. Fueling became the priority; I started eating significantly more, and my performance skyrocketed.
I love where my body is now. In fact, I try to keep my shirt on in my videos, races, and posts, because I want the attention on what my body can do, not what it looks like.
What a Hybrid Athlete Eats in a Day
What does a normal training day of eating look like for you?
I start with a Unimate drink from Unicity, then breakfast: oats with cranberries and dark chocolate, plus four eggs. Lunch and dinner are fairly consistent: rice or chapati with vegetables and chicken, fish, mutton, or beef. In the evening, I have a berry smoothie and a protein shake right after my workout.
Non-Negotiables for Fueling Strength, Running and Conditioning
How do you fuel a week that mixes strength, running, and conditioning? What are your non-negotiables?
Adequate carbohydrates and fats, and getting my protein as high as I possibly can to support heavy training and recovery.
Weight Cuts, Body Image and How Sanjana Coaches Clients
Combat sports put pressure on weight and appearance. How did that shape your relationship with food, and how do you coach clients through it?
The magic happened when I realized that the more I ate to improve my metabolism, the more energy I had, the better I performed, and the better I looked. The more I starved and underfueled, the worse I performed and the harder it became to lose fat.
With clients, I stress that it’s a game of patience and consistency. We live in a dopamine-driven world where everyone wants instant results. I tell them: stick to a smart plan for three months, and if you still don’t see the shifts you want, we’ll reevaluate and adjust.
Common Diet Myths and a Realistic Nutrition Plan for Busy Women
What are the biggest diet myths you hear as a coach, and what does a realistic plan look like for a busy person?
The big ones: carbs make you fat, you must drink a protein shake the moment you start training, creatine is mandatory, intermittent fasting is the ultimate solution, and one green smoothie makes up for zero fiber. Another is relying on takeout just because it’s labeled “healthy.” The hidden calories add up and derail your progress.
A realistic plan for a busy person is built on automation and flexibility, not perfection. That means simple, repeatable meals, protein anchors, and smart convenience foods instead of rigid meal prep. It removes daily decision fatigue and keeps you consistent even in high-stress weeks.
Hyrox Training and Race-Day Nutrition: Tips and Beginner Mistakes
How do you train and fuel for Hyrox, from the running and stations to race-day nutrition and pacing? What mistakes do beginners make?
On race day, I rely on steady, easily digestible carbohydrates. I eat a carb-rich meal, usually oatmeal, three to four hours beforehand, and take Unived 180 gels during the later running segments.
Beginners commonly sprint out of the gate on the first run, skip practicing transitions from running straight into heavy stations like lunges or sleds, and never test their race nutrition beforehand, which leads to severe late-race energy crashes.
Sleep, Food and Recovery: The Link to Mental Health
You speak about mindset and mental health. How do food, sleep, and recovery connect to how you feel?
Food, sleep, and recovery are the physiological baseline for your mindset. They directly shape your emotional resilience, stress tolerance, and mental clarity. When your nutrition is dialed in, with stable blood sugar and proper micronutrients, your brain has the steady energy it needs to regulate mood and focus. Chronic under-fueling or erratic eating brings irritability and brain fog.
Sleep is when your nervous system processes stress and repairs itself. Without it, your frustration threshold drops, cortisol spikes, and even minor hurdles feel overwhelming. Treating recovery as an active part of your routine, not an afterthought, gives you the buffer to handle high-pressure situations with composure.