If you ever graced the grounds of East Doncaster High School between 2013-18 and stumbled across a rogue blob of strawberry jam, chances are it was Isaac Quaynor’s doing.

Ritualised in the teenager’s day over a decade ago, Quaynor would saddle up at his school’s canteen to order his favourite late morning snack – a strawberry jam donut - however one element would be disregarded.

“I’d have fruit loops in the morning, roll ups, and a strawberry donut every single recess,” Quaynor remembered.

“I’d get the jam strawberry donut, but I didn’t like the jam, so I’d always put the jam on the ground.

“I’d go to the canteen and then often again for lunch and I don’t even know how I did it.”

That jam hitting the high school pavement might have served as a metaphor for what was to come, with Quaynor laughing now as he enters his seventh AFL season with a totally different mindset towards food.

“When I look back to what I’d eat for recess and lunch at high school, it was a disgrace. I was training every day and just eating a horrific diet,” Quaynor said.

“When I made the AFL academy, I got my skinfolds done for the first time and I was like 79 and I had no idea and everyone was like ‘that’s so high’ and I got really self conscious.

“I chatted to the dietician, and she gave me a diet plan and we went shopping at Coles and she taught us how to properly read all the nutritional stuff and within six weeks I changed my diet and I went from like 79 to 52.

“From starting as an AFL to where I’m at now with food … I look at where I’m at now knowledge wise and knowing what works for me and it’s much better. It’s been a pretty long journey but that’s part of it.”

This off-season offered another chance to try new things and take his preparation to the next level, as Quaynor reflected on his 2024 habits.

Harsh on himself but striving for the extra mile to improve each day, in-conjunction with midfielder Patrick Lipinksi, the 25-year-old opted for a ‘keto diet’.

A keto diet generally means carbohydrates are scarce, and fats are increased so the body can break down those cells for energy, instead of its preference to do so with carbohydrates, but as Quaynor explains, he was able to adapt it to his needs as a high-performing athlete.

“I’ve always been in a bit of a tussle with trying to strip down and lose that little bit of extra fat that I just don’t need, and while I’m in pretty good condition, it’s the one percenters that go a long way,,” Quaynor said.

“I did my whole off-season with Lippa which was awesome and he was starting a keto diet and I was like ‘I’m going to join as well’.

“I’ve been sticking to it Monday to Friday, as well as bettering my sleep because on reflection I think my diet and my sleep I just lacked on a little bit last year.

“It’s not a strict keto diet but it just entailed pretty well cutting out carbs - within reason – so I still have fruit which is carbs, veggies and sweet potato the night before every main training, so that’s my carbs that I get in.

“But it’s really just trying to be a bit cleaner and eat more whole foods, that’s really that aim and I saw Pat how quickly he stripped down so jumped on.”

While it’s not as if going down the keto path is a new phenomenon – said to have originated over a century ago as a way of treating those diagnosed with epilepsy, before resurging as a weight loss tool – perhaps it’s the curating of diet and lifestyle through TIk Tok and social media that best encapsulates Quaynor’s shift over the past few months.

“The diet is really more a whole foods one that got its inspiration from keto and you see it all over Tik Tok, everyone has the wooden board and the steak and the eggs and blueberries and that type of vibe, so it’s derived from a similar diet regime,” he said.

“I haven’t been going out as much for dinner and have been a bit more of a homebody so I’m loving it.

“I feel great with so I’ll continue with it until I don’t.”

But like anything, there is balance and a need to keep the mental side of a new regime in check too.

Like many, Quaynor says he has long wrestled with his relationship with food, meaning he is actively monitoring being restrictive and creating unhealthy obsessions with what he is or isn’t putting into his body.

And with a Ghanian culture that revels in the way sharing food brings people together, despite it at times being the antithesis of his off-season switch with its prevelance of carbs, the Western African cuisine has allowed Quaynor to remain immersed in his family-drive lifestyle, while also co-exist with his ability to thrive as an athlete.

“Food is something that naturally plays on my mind all the time because I love food and now that I’m trying to be a bit more strict with it, it’s a constant thought and you’ve got to find the balance of it being healthy and not healthy, and I feel like I’ve found that,” he said.

“I get a lot of happiness from food and I’m not going to let that stuff overtake that and be so strict that I lose that enjoyment.

“I love KitKats for example, like love KitKats, and I always speak to Pat about it and I’m like ‘oh I had a kit kat last night’ and he’s like ‘mate, if it keeps you sharp, it’s fine’.

“I just try and organise things with Dad when I’m going over to his house and when it’s on a Saturday or a Sunday, I can let my hair down a little bit and enjoy the food and not have to worry about what I’m eating.

“Ghanaian food is very high carb, nearly as high carb as you can get because everything’s like rice, potato starch, it’s fried and it’s not the healthiest food for you but it’s delicious and it’s important to share that.

“You’re not a dog or an animal where you need a reward, but you can still have foods that you really enjoy within reason and stick to what you know.”