Food question

[jspierre]

You're two hours into a tourny, you've got another two hours or so to go, and your hungry. Other than fluids, what do you eat, and why?

[Emfuser]

Powerbars. (or MetRx, et al.)

Sure... the chocolate ones taste like coffee grounds and cardboard with a hint of chocolate, peanut butter is (barely) bearable, etc... but I have yet to find an non-engineered food with a comparable nutrtitional density.

A pack of 4 powerbars and a huge bottle of Gatorade with get me through a whole day of fencing.

Mike

[Peach]

I can't eat at tournaments, adrenaline really screws up my stomach. So I pack Slimfast drinks, a good source of nutrients without too much fat; Fig Newtons; Gatorade diluted half and half with water so the sugar doesn't make me sick; and bananas.

[MikeHarm]

Sub or sandwich, oatmeal cookies & powerade.

Mike

[This message has been edited by MikeHarm (edited 03-03-2001).]

[FencerInUS]

I havent had the oppertunity to attend a fencing competition as of yet, but when I was in track, we'd eat just about anything so long as we weren't running right after we ate it. Nothing worse than running a 400 with a full stomach. (been there done that)

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F.I.US.
Parry, THEN riposte
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[floretje]

I always eat a Mars and I always drink martini orange. (Of course you can't buy a martini at a tourny, but I always bring my own bottle.) It's a great combination. I can concentrate better on the game.

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kus floretje

[Moonitic]

Chocolate chip cookies & Powerade...yummy combination!

I usually bring in a box for "the gang" to munch on between the pools & DE, or when we're done fencing & too lazy to go out (or waiting for others to finish fencing).

fig newtons (YEAH!)
pepperridge farm goldfish crackers
lots of water
if you've got the time: pasta pasta pasta

[arcon]

[ 10-19-2001: Message edited by: arcon ]

[Zelda]

Ok, I generally (for National level comps anyhow) have somewhere in my bag, 2-3 1 litre water bottles in various stages of defrost, a large 750g bag of Allens Party Mix (it has things like snakes, strawberries and cream, rasberries etc etc, yummy glucose sweets), dried apricots, dried apples, dry roasted cashews or mixed nuts (unsalted), if I can I try to get some bananas at a local store, but I have a tendency to forget them in pockets and then wonder what the odd smell is in my room 2 weeks later. I am also not adverse to a sausage roll between pools and DE's. The SAFA generally has a really nice cheap soup you can buy from teh canteen (last year it was a yummy home made ministrone). So yeah thats what I eat.

[Lumberg]

Good question. Since everyone's digestive system reacts differently to various foods, you want to specialize your competition day diet for yourself.
You know you are going to get hungry but the more important issue is not to run out of energy during a competition. As for suggestions:
1. Bananas are good to have for their potassium content. It's what athletes eat for extended periods of activity. You can eat one in between bouts and not get bogged down.
2. You want to stay away from deep fried foods like doughnuts, french fries, potato chips, tortilla chips and greasy foods like McDonald's and Burger King entrees. You don't want to eat these greasy foods before the competition either.
3. You also want to stay away from candy bars. Although they have sugar for energy, it's only temporary and your body is going to hit a wall when that energy is depleted. 4. Someone else already mentioned Powerbars. They are a good source of energy and do contain sugars (not sugar like in chocolate) but they won't drag you down like a candy bar.
5. Fruit. Fresh or dried. They also contain natural sugar, fructose, for energy.
6. You want protein, which is why other people are mentioning peanuts and peanut butter. You can also take in protein from meat and eggs.
7. Someone mentioned pasta. That's high in carbohydrate and you may not necessarily want to eat that during a competition; but, I would recommend it the day before. It's referred to as carbo-loading. Marathoners do it for the energy they are going to need the day before the race.
8. People are mentioning desserts like cookies and fig newtons. Fig newtons are good since they contain both carbohydrate and protein. Cookies are a bit high in sugar. If you find they give you that sugar high and the following wall, you should leave that out of your competition day diet.

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Lumberg.
"...ahhh, we have sort of a problem here... yeah, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS report"

[Bugaboo]

First of all, you need to eat a good meal about 16 hours before a competition. That allows your body to process the food and for your muscles to store the energy in proper form. It helps to super-hydrate yourself the day before, too.

As for food consumed on the day of competition, remember that your gut needs about two hours to fully digest what you've put in it. That's not such a big deal in general -- most of us can walk and eat cookies at the same time on any other day. But it can have some effect on higher levels of competition, because some percentage of your energy (blood flow, oxygen, etc.) is being diverted to digestion. Small snacks between events reduce that conflict, as do liquids.

NEVER experiment with new food combinations just before or during a competition. You'd be surprised at how stomach cramps can ruin your concentration. Fix your diet during the rest of the fencing season instead, and stick with what works.


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[mangofever]

the only foods you should eat are things that are easily digested, no fat or very low fat foods. A Banana is good, a handful of grapes, but fluid replacement is more important, gador aid is very good.

[belligerent_sorceress]

Before the tournament, I eat a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Powerade (jagged ice- mmm) and water go in my bag for drinks, along with a couple of apples and a sandwich. Tourney food that is sold at the refreshment table is so unhealthy...I'd rather bring my own.

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Melissa

"You can beat me, you can bind me, but you can't touch me!

[Shadow Fencer]

What a great thread!

Well, in the past 3 tournaments I've been in, I've "grazed" on wheat thins, fruit (oranges/bananas) cheese, and my favorite snack food at this time, that honey flavored chex mix and bites here and there of a granola bar. Drink of choice= gatorade.



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I live to fence and fence to live!!