Olympic soccer star Alex Morgan says she's learned not to deprive herself: 'If I want a cinnamon roll or a cookie, I'm going to have it'

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Alex Morgan is a living soccer legend. She's performed for teams across the globe and has been a power player at the Olympics and the World Cup. Today you can find Morgan back in her home state of California, playing for the San Diego Wave FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) — the top division of women's professional soccer in the U.S. — and the United States Women's National Soccer Team.

But while Morgan is a superstar on the soccer field, at home, she's just a mom taking care of a toddler ... who wants snacks.

"My daughter loves edamame," Morgan tells Yahoo Life. "She's obsessed with edamame. We also love cauliflower chips or lentil chips, those are some favorites for sure. Uncle Eddy's vegan cookies are very, very good as well, but [we eat] those in moderation."

Morgan's 2-year-old daughter, Charlie, is also really into fruit ... and potato chips.

"My daughter is actually obsessed with fruit and so am I," she says. "She will ask for strawberries, blueberries and bananas all day every day, so I end up eating a lot of fruit with her — that's something we're always snacking on. And we love chips: all chips, jalape?o chips, salt and vinegar chips, chips and guac — I'm a big chips girl."

Chips and guacamole are just the start, as Mexican food is a favorite in Morgan's household. Her husband, Servando Carrasco, a soccer star in his own right currently playing for the Fort Lauderdale CF, originally hails from Tijuana, Mexico.

"Mexican food is actually really easy to make vegan," she says. "Fajita veggies, rice, beans, chips — who doesn’t love chips? And my daughter actually loves quesadillas, [which are] so super-easy."

Although Morgan loves to eat Mexican meals, she typically sticks to cooking more simple dishes, like grain bowls and stir frys, and leaves intense kitchen creations to the masters. "I pretty much leave [cooking authentic Mexican food] to my mother-in-law," says Morgan. "She makes amazing vegan dishes, but also her baking skills are second-to-none. I'm not a big flan person, but her tres leches cake is to die for."

In fact, Carrasco's Mexican heritage has inspired one of Morgan's favorite weeknight food traditions.

"We do Taco Tuesday as much as we possibly can," she says. "My husband and I used to do this thing where we speak Spanish on Tuesdays, because I studied Spanish in college, but I need to brush up on it."

Taco Tuesday and beyond, Morgan says she eats a fairly balanced diet, but game day means fueling her body for intense running, kicking and some headers too, of course.

"Preparing for a soccer game is different, it's a lot more carb-forward than balanced with protein and greens," she says. "For a pregame meal, I'll have some avocado toast. I don't eat that many carbs in a typical day, but for a game, I need to be able to last for 90 minutes, and so that's when I'll go more carb-heavy."

Morgan, who spoke with Yahoo Life on behalf of her work as an ambassador for Orgain, says the brand is a go-to when it comes to refueling after a soccer session.

"I'm so happy to partner with them because our family naturally uses Orgain products and they recently partnered with [the San Diego] Wave as well," she says, "so after every training and game I get a plant-based protein shake."

Between plant-based protein shakes and carb-heavy game days, some might be misled to think the Morgan never indulges in treats, but the 33-year-old athlete says that couldn't be further from the truth.

"People think that athletes eat perfectly and are always just on it with nutrition and take care of their bodies through nutrition like crazy," she says, "and as much as it's on my mind and I'm aware of it, if I want a cinnamon roll or a cookie, I'm going to have it."

At the end of the day, Morgan is more like most of us than we might believe after seeing her score goal after goal on the soccer field. "Every once in a while," she shares, "I love to have a bottle of wine with my husband."

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