Today I’m sharing my day of eating during my most recent fitness competition to show some ideas of foods to eat to keep you fueled. Different types of athletes have different types of needs for competition day. This type of eating would be good for those that participate in multiple events over the course of the day like a tournament or other instances of intermittent activity over 6-8 hours.
The main advice I can give for these types of events would be:
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Choose mainly carbohydrates and some protein
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Choose foods that you know you tolerate well
My first event started around 9:20 am, so a breakfast of some complex carbs (oats) with some fruit and eggs as well as a seed ball that had a little bit of protein and fat was a perfect start to my day. I ate this meal around 6 am which gave me a good 3 hours of digestion time.
After arriving at the venue, it was time to hydrate and get some electrolytes in. These Nuun tablets are tasty and provide a little extra support for electrolyte balance on competition day. At about 9:00 am, I had 1/2 of a GoGo Squeez packet. I was introduced to these last summer and definitely impressed with the quality ingredients and lack of added sugar! Pre-workout = simple carbs.
As soon as I could following workout #1, I had the second half of my GoGo Squeez, and then about 20 minutes later, had some carbs and protein. I packed my favorite snack of sweet potatoes and almond butter then some ground turkey and mustard for protein with some flavor. I ate half of the turkey and sweet potatoes around 10 am with my next workout scheduled for 11 am.
Post-workout #2 looked exactly the same as post-workout #1. 1/2 GoGo Squeez soon after and then finished off the sweet potatoes and turkey about 20 minutes later at 11:50 am. I really am a simple human when it comes to food, especially on competition day. There’s enough going on, the last thing I want to do is to really have to think about what I’m eating… just keep it the same. 🙂 And yes, in the first picture I’m icing my poor little legs in the background.
Next workout was scheduled for about 1:40 pm so a little apple pre-workout snack happened around 12:45 pm.
I hit another 1/2 GoGo Squeez after workout #3. By this time, I was ready for some substance and getting kind of hungry. So, I added a little bit of protein to the mix with a Coconut Chocolate RX Bar (the best flavor). About an hour later, at 3pm, we were looking at our final workout of the day, workout #4, coming up around 4:10 pm. I had a little more protein with a hard boiled egg and half of a GoGo Squeez for more carbs.
After workout #4 we headed out to our dinner reservations for 5:30 pm. Looking at the timeline and how it all played out, I could have benefited from some additional carbs and a little bit of protein right after that final workout. BUT I was looking forward to some real, meal-like food versus all of my snacks all day. For dinner, I finally added some vegetables to my day; one side of fire roasted zucchini, squash, and eggplant and one side of asparagus. To go along with that I had some sweet potato fries for more carbs and chicken piccata for protein. No such luck getting a picture of this (but I wish I would have!), I was in too much of a hurry to eat! Then the night ended with the necessary post-competition donuts. We hit up a new spot this time around. Elias Donuts in Detroit DID NOT disappoint! A fruit loops topped donut and mini cinnamon roll for me! (Plus some fresh, free samples!)
The donuts are not necessarily key to fueling and recovery plan; however, they’ve become a tradition and I’m slightly obsessed with the food.
I will say that the way I eat in the days leading up to competition and on competition day makes a difference in how I feel and I’m sure in how I perform. If you’re looking to take your competition day performance to the next level, start to consider how you’re fueling!
