Competition Part 4: All about food

Read on; especially note the bold pointers…

Before the competition

“To make sure you have enough energy, yet reduce stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten. Everyone is a bit different, and you should experiment prior to workouts to determine what works best for you.”

Eat way before competition to reap best benefits from your food, and reduce possibility of stitching, nausea, the need to pass motion, so on. Eat food high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. These include foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars. Have it the night before. In our context, no one eat pasta for breakfast, right? As least not for me. We all always need a comfort food, be it ice cream, spicy stuff, fried stuff. Start cutting them down ONCE you read this article. 1-2 weeks before competition, stop them. Control what you eat.

During the competition

“You should try to eat or drink something easily digestible about 20 to 30 minutes before the event. The closer you are to the time of your event, the less you should eat. You can have a liquid meal closer to your event”

This is where the Banana, Apple, Grapes, Oranges come in. Isotonic drinks and energy gels. You got to know by now, how much you need. So try not to overeat! all of us tend to do it during competition. Especially me.

Foods to Avoid Before Exercise Any foods with a lot of fat can be very difficult and slow to digest They also will pull blood into the stomach to aid in digestion, which can cause cramping and discomfort. Meats, doughnuts, fries, potato chips, and candy bars should be avoided in a pre-exercise meal. Spicy stuff should be avoided too!

After the competition
Feel free to indulge in the food you have been avoiding for the past 1-2 weeks. The feeling is very rewarding. You have just trumped yourself by controlling your diet, and you deserve it. However, if its National still water, this indulgence is short lived. Open water is less then 1 month away.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/EatForExercise.htm