Greetings all!
I'm a recreational-level Masters swimmer who's been going for nearly a year now. I swim a mere 2x a week, 1hr a workout, and generally finish less than 5KM a week. This is fine for me, swimming is a hobby for me, and it fulfills my "hobby" requirements quite nicely.
I do, however, like to have goals, and distance goals just don't cut it for me. I decided that my main goal was to compete regularly, and to fill my event card, eventually, with times from 17 or 18 different events.
I want to do my best when it comes down to swim meets and being timed, and coincidentally, I also want to improve my (currently shoddy) eating habits, so I figured I'd come to others who might know...
What kinds of foods should I be eating the week before the competition? What kinds of foods should I be avoiding?
I would assume that McDonalds and the likes is assumed - but how harmful are things like chocolate and high-sugar foods, aside from the fullness they give you and the lack of other foods you consume as a result?
If anyone has special meals they like to eat before competition, and they don't mind sharing the logic behind the meals, I'd really appreciate the info!
Jill
Some Chick's Life
Glen
What a pleasent surprise. Thanz for all the info. Have u swam in this pool? What kind of gutter system do they have. trough or flat? I really appreciate the update.
Joy
Here is some information on the pool in Saskatoon:
8 Lanes, 50meter, shallow end from 3' to 5', deep end from the 5' to 16', moveable bulkhead, second pool for warmup and cool down is 25meter. 1500 seat bleacher over looking the 50meter pool.
Hope this helps.
Glen
my coach always tells us to avoid sweets and other high sugar foods. my stomach hurts whenever i ate something sweet before training. though sweets are energy giving stuff, they're just not healthy... (my opinion) :mad:
Supafly,
Milk is bad for you anytime unless you are a baby cow. You won't hear this from nutritionists or dieticians since they believe what they've been taught, and the American Dairy Council has done a real snow job on the public regarding the healthful benefits of milk.
Don't believe the hype. I can debate the con side of this topic all day and provide plenty of documentation to back up my assertions. Basically, milk is not just "not good" for you. It is also bad for you.
DrG
Wayne
Yes, you're right about those things as well. There's just so much that people don't know and yet the Dairy Council persists in selling the public on the idea that "Milk is good food".
Actually, there is more calcium and protein in rats' milk than in cows, so imagine the marketing efforts to get people to drink milk from rats. It's all in how you market it, after all, humans are the only species on earth that consumes the milk of another animal.
Also, try a google search for Frank Oski as well as a PETA (yeah, I know how some feel about PETA) site called milksucks.com.
Wayne - I have a son with Galactosemia. Pretty rare to find someone that even knows the word. I hope your child is doing well.
I always find the "documentation" about milk being bad as questionable. While it is bad for my son, I don't believe that the rest of us will have dire health ailments because of milk consumption. I guess previous discussions about the water quality of swimming pools concern me more than milk.
Back to the original thread...McDonald's cheeseburger and Diet Coke are perfect for a pre-meet meal. Now you know why milk is the least of my diet worries :D
What is bad about milk?
1) The high fat content, which most people realize is a health risk so they drink 2% or skim, erroneously thinking they're getting other benefits.
2) The protein in milk is Casein, which is difficult for humans to digest, causes many allergic reactions and is implicated as a factor in the developement of iron deficiency anemia and juvenile onset diabetes.
3) According to the USDA, there is no milk sold in the US that does not contain trace amounts of pesticides including poisins such as arsenic, cadmium and mercury, (of course, they believe these to be in "safe" amounts).
4) Residues of antibiotics are present. We have a huge problem with antibiotic-resistant bacteria now and this is one of the causes.
5) Trace amount of hormones intended to increase milk production are present and being fed to your kids.
6) you can't even get the calcium from milk that you think you can after they pasteurize it because they destroy the enzyme phosphatase, that works to split the calcium from the phosphate ions. On top of that, the protein further depletes calcium stores so you, in essence, are causing osteoporosis by drinking milk.
Want more? The former chief of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins was Dr. Frank Oski, who wrote a book called, "Don't Drink Your Milk".
I loved milk as a kid and would like nothing more than for it to be good for you, but the evidence is overwhelming that it contributes to heart disease, cancer, diabetes a host of allergies (earaches, sore throats, asthma runny noses in kids, etc etc etc) anemia, and probably several things I've left out.
Drink up, people.
