Eating at Events

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by bruisedfleche

FYI, ADD meds are not illegal for the people they are prescribed for.

Originally Posted by KD5MDK

They are however frequently doping violations unless you have a Theraputic Use Exemption.

Ritalin, etc. are prohibited for in-competition use. A TUE only helps with restricted drugs, not prohibited drugs.

USADA has an online drug reference serach if you have questions about a specific commerically-available drug.

-B

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Originally Posted by bruisedfleche

I'm an adult with ADD and I take meds, and yes, caffeine can mimick the medications effects, but it certainly doesn't replace it. If it did, I'd be prescribed a couple of cups of cofee a day instead of pills.

Combining caffeine and Ritalin for ANYONE not used to caffeine can be disasterous at a tournament.

FYI, ADD meds are not illegal for the people they are prescribed for.

As I said, very clearly, the effect doesn't work for everyone. But younger kids who need less ritalin than the average adult may be more apt to just use the caffeine. Also, athletes with ADD may need differing doses of stimulant for different occasions-- fencing might require less than a timed final exam. Oh, and lots of people dislike the side effects. I'm close enough to underweight that I try not to take ritalin when I'm so distracted I won't remember to eat--- because I don't often get hungry when on ritalin. Crashing off ritalin when you can't yet really tell if you have a concussion and you forgot to eat all day? Really bad feeling.

Also, what Oiuyt said. No, it's not illegal in the police sense, it's illegal in the WADA sense. Now, people really only get tested at national and international competitions, but it carries down to even backwater novice tournaments. And many high school or collegiate conferences say "if we haven't specified a rule, we go with whatever the USFA says" bits in constitutions.

Originally Posted by oiuyt

Ritalin, etc. are prohibited for in-competition use. A TUE only helps with restricted drugs, not prohibited drugs.

USADA has an online drug reference serach if you have questions about a specific commerically-available drug.

-B

Of course, IIRC, the NCAA has slightly different rules about Ritalin. I think you might actually be able to get an exemption (or could at one point?). But since most very successful NCAA fencers also fence the occasional USFA tournament.... doesn't help that much.

In any case, it's only prohibited for in-competition use, which means that if can be used if you don't have a competition within a week of when ever you're using it. Of however long it takes your body to clear it.

[parrythis]

Originally Posted by dadofbag

I am finding it very difficult to get my son to eat anything during fencing events... Does anyone have any ideas or can refer to good reference material?

If he is like many youths that I know, reference materials will not sway him. Getting kids to learn to be self-aware and listen to their bodies is very hard.

Try approaching him with the proposition of a "performance test". Propose that he do two tournaments with his normal nutrition and take notes on how he feels and how he's doing. Then do two tournaments with some kind of nutrition plan and record the same information. It doesn't have to be "the perfect plan" - just one to get him thinking about it.

It will take some time, but if you set the stage for him to make his own discoveries and draw his own conclusions, he will see the light.

[veeco]

Originally Posted by D+F+P=Hadouken!

I used to have the same problem.

I solved it by eating tasty junk food during tournaments.

Heres my sample competition diet...

Breakfast:
Oatmeal
Protein Shake
Yogurt
Oranges
----------
A little bit before the tournament:
A bagel or a few bananas.
----------
During the tournament:
Red Bull
Hamburgers
Coke
Candy
----------
Screw powerbars, if you want long lasting energy, eat crap!

I didn't just dream this up either. It was through experimentation and listening to my body closely that I discovered the foods I need for optimum performance. As an experienced competitor with respectable results, I can say that monitoring your biofeedback is crucial to having good results.

You sound like Dean Karnazes...

This is quoted directly from Wired 15.01:

4. EAT JUNK – LOTS OF IT
You wouldn't believe the stuff Karnazes consumes on a run. He carries a cell phone and regularly orders an extra-large Hawaiian pizza. The delivery car waits for him at an intersection, and when he gets there he grabs the pie and rams the whole thing down his gullet on the go. The trick: Roll it up for easy scarfing. He'll chase the pizza with cheesecake, cinnamon buns, chocolate éclairs, and all-natural cookies. The high-fat pig-out fuels Karnazes' long jaunts, which can burn more than 9,000 calories a day. What he needs is massive amounts of energy, and fat contains roughly twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates. Hence, pizza and éclairs. When he's not in the midst of some record-breaking exploit, Karnazes maintains a monkish diet, eating grilled salmon five nights a week. He strictly avoids processed sugars and fried foods – no cookies or doughnuts. He even tries to steer clear of too much fruit because it contains a lot of sugar. He believes this approach – which nutritionists call a slow-carb diet – has reshaped him, lowering his body fat and building lean muscle. It also makes him look forward to running a race, because he can eat whatever he wants.

[FoilyDeath]

I live on fruit and adrenaline. Have a massive breakfast 3 hours before the event and a lot of carbs the night before, and a combination of fruit and smoothies can easily keep you going at high performance till the night.

[randomsabreur]

Can't eat while fencing other than muesli bars, small amounts of chocolate, dried fruit etc. Unless of course I have over an hour between rounds.

More than that is counter-productive - difficult to fence when you've got your head in a bucket/toilet...

Make sure he has a good breakfast, and if there is a 12noon check in or later, a light lunch/brunch as well. Then make sure he has access to a sports drink (Gatorade or similar) and some nibbles.

Found out the hard way that a sandwich during a competition leads to unpleasant effects.

[fencer92]

We use to be heads on with our son about food. Now we make sure that there is plenty of fluids for hydration. Granola bars, TLC makes some really good ones not too high in sugar with some sustanable nutrion. Also we throw in a bag of Trail Mix. We have found that the stuff from a company called Bear Naked is really good. It has dried fruit, nuts, seeds and chocolate without being too salty or sweet. There is always a bagel in our bag and bananas. I agree with many of the others that the trick is eating small amounts over the course of a competition and for them to not wait until they are hungry to realize they need nourishment. Good Luck.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Originally Posted by veeco

You sound like Dean Karnazes...

This is quoted directly from Wired 15.01:

Hah, wow.....

Yeah, he's on the DFP diet.

[Cookeit]

I eat yogurt during competitions, just be sure you don't get it on your whites!

[gorgie101]

I really like a granola bar and lots of vitamin water. I can't eat too much or it slows me down on the strip. We had one guy in our salle that would eat honey packets between bouts. He said the honey was just enough sugar to keep him going with out making him throw up. I tried it once but the honey was just too sweet and made me drink way too much water!

[Chuck F.]

I agree. Kids and especially teenagers RARELY believe anything we adults could possibly tell them until they actually experience it themselves, usually years later. I wish I knew as much now as I did when I was a teenager and knew everything. I must have forgotten a lot.

As a high school teacher, I appreciate John Dewey more and more every year.

I like ParryThis' suggestion about doing a trial run/test.

Anyway, FWIW, I usually make sure I eat breakfast beforehand, even though I often don't on other days. Also, I drink a LOT of water ahead of time, as well as during the tournament. Once the sweating begins in earnest, I switch to Propel.

Between pools and DEs I eat something light, like trail mix or nuts or a granola bar. (Maybe 1-2 pieces of pizza if available and it looks good, too.)

[sabreteur]

What works the very best for me is a triple serving of grits in the morning, then tortilla chips, candy and Gatorade during the tournament.

[Grasshopper]

Fencing is not an aerobic sport and actually does not use that many calories (as opposed to an ultramarathon). I would advise eating a big breakfast with a lot of complex carbs and then one more small portion (banana, bread, etc.) half way during the day. The carbs from breakfast will help you over the whole day. Most fencers are nervous in the morning and don't feel like eating much, but you gotta force it.

[Phaeton]

I forget to eat easily. In every day life if I'm not paying attention I may get distracted and work through a lunch break. I just don't gradually get hungry. I have two modes: full and absolutely starving. Now that I've been training more seriously, I've needed to schedule my life so that I have time and remember to eat.

Because of the success I've had in every day life, I have set up a routine that I always follow. If I don't think about eating, it makes life a lot easier. For a while a had a tendency to run out of fuel at the end of a tournament. Over the past little bit (with a few exceptions) I haven't had that problem due to managing how I eat properly.

I drink a lot of water. I drink around 6 liters of fluids per competition and have a great 2.2 liter polycarbonate water bottle. In later rounds of DEs (if I make it that far) I may drink some "fadeorade" or diluted Gatorade that I make about 50-60% water by volume. I just can't drink pure Gatorade at a time, it makes me catch.

The night before a tournament I usually try and find an Italian restaurants where I head with as many teammates and friends as I can muster and get a nice light pasta dish, nothing too heavy like a dense cream sauce. If that fails, I'm quite happy eating any noodle-y food, and if I can't find that anything else carb heavy.

In the morning before I try and find somewhere I can get waffles, pancakes, or good bagels with peanut butter. I get nervous and sometimes have to force myself to eat, but in the end it pays off because it is important to do.

During the tournament I'll run, stretch, and do footwork and then eat half a bagel/piece or two of bread. After I finish bouting I'll finish off the bagel or grab another piece or bread. I'll probably also grab a handful of dried fuit (all the sugar and energy without the filling water) and take a swill of water though I'd probably be drinking continuously the whole time.

During pools I'll usually just drink water and have some dried fruit if needed once every three bouts or so. After pools I'll probably have a bagel and a half to two bagels and drink some fadeorade as well as water. I'll also have some dried fruit once the DEs have been called. I'll take fadeorade to strip with me to drink in my break. Between DEs...it's just water. Inbetween my first and second DE I'll probably have a little bit of banana or bagel or the like.

After a competition I'll make sure to eat something that I really like, some kind of a treat for me of some sort. I usually don't eat too much meat due to living with a vegan for a large part of my life, but there's nothing like a nice piece of meat right after a tournament. If not I'll try and grab some icecream. The key thing is that I grab food fast, because once the adrenaline wears off I usually end up feeling pretty bad. Fast food is good. Here in the west coast we have Inn and Outs which is a habitual post-tournament burger stop for my team mates and myself, and a bit more locally there's a fast food chain here called Angelo's which has a great gyros sandwich. Anything that has fat and protein is game...as long as its something I enjoy eating or I'm dead enough to not care.

I like bagels, and I like dried fruit. I also like bananas. I think that along with watermelon, bananas are G-d's gift to mankind. I have them whenever I can. The key to tournament nutrition is finding food that provides the energy needed and has a taste an athlete likes. Eating during a competition is easy to forget, and with nerves it is hard to actually force food down.

It's important to remember not to overdo things. I've done that once or twice in the past while finding what works for me. Just stuffing your mouth without thinking is probably going to weigh you down. You want to eat enough so you have the energy to finish the day, but not so much that you feel weighed down and even worse, possibly sick.

As an aside I know some people that swear by Gu, but I have never tried it myself.

Either way. Experiment. Try. Find what's good. Encourage your child to do so. Bouts are always decided by a small margin of points, and that extra "umph" in one's footwork can make a major difference.

[Cookeit]

What would be the consequences of eating Gummi Bears during a competition?

Would they make your throat dry?

[Welted 24/7]

I usually do a lot of carbs the night before. I live with three women- two Irish and one Italian, so potatoes and pasta are NEVER in short supply in our house.

The day of, my body doesn't really seem to care what I put in it, as long as I eat something. I'd wager to say 85 percent of any bad performances I've had lately are because I've been hungry. Like I said, as long as I'm eating something, I'll be okay. It doesn't really matter what it is. I've even sunk so low as eating White Castle during the pool/DE layover. However, I have yet to try tacos during the break...

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by Cookeit

What would be the consequences of eating Gummi Bears during a competition?

Would they make your throat dry?

Just stay out of the woods.

Accompanying my granola bars, I like dried fruit also.

Raisins. Dole six packs are the best.

[pinkelephant]

Pasta the night before. More breakfast than usual - cereal, toast but no bacon or egg because it has an unfortunate effect on my digestive system. Muller Rice during (lots of starch, not much fat, some sugar, sloppy enough to digest easily, and it tastes nice - though I did get some between the 2 layers of my Vision 2000 mask once). LOADS of water.

The interesting thing is that afterwards, when you'd think I'd be hungry, I can't eat much at all.

[AdamH]

Beer and chicken kebab the night before, lots of red bull and water during.