Meet Nutrition

Steak and salad the night before helped me last summer - a good bit of iron & protein, but not too heavy a meal. Cup of black coffee and my usual homemade granola for breakfast. I struggled a bit with the during the meet nutrition as I always used to swear by Jelly Babies abd Ribena. However these are prohibitively expensive in the US, so extra jelly bears from Wholefoods and plain old water must suffice. Maybe a banana or granola bar too depending on the length of the meet. As I was only doing short distances, the jelly bears pretty much gave me enough of a sugar rush to get by. I probably need a better strategy for the 200 fly in June:afraid: What is Ribena?

Steak and salad the night before helped me last summer - a good bit of iron & protein, but not too heavy a meal. Cup of black coffee and my usual homemade granola for breakfast. I struggled a bit with the during the meet nutrition as I always used to swear by Jelly Babies abd Ribena. However these are prohibitively expensive in the US, so extra jelly bears from Wholefoods and plain old water must suffice. Maybe a banana or granola bar too depending on the length of the meet. As I was only doing short distances, the jelly bears pretty much gave me enough of a sugar rush to get by. I probably need a better strategy for the 200 fly in June:afraid:

What do you drink? Is there something you eat before a meet? Something during? After? I drink Glacier Freeze Gatorade or water. I'll drink other flavors if necessary. If I am hungry during a meet, I'll eat half a power bar 30-60 mins before my race. Other than that, I try to eat just enough so I am not hungry at the pool. When it comes to normal meals, it depends on when I am racing. For example, I swam an event this past weekend which was the first event of the session. So I had a very light breakfast: one small muffin, glass of oj, banana, and a half of a power bar. If I have more time before my first race or I know I can cruise through prelims, then I will have anything ranging from cereal + yogurt to pancakes/eggs/french toast. Lunch at meets is usually a 6" - 12" sub or something simple like chicken fingers. It's typically lighter than what I would usually eat for lunch. Then dinner I will eat a solid portion and I don't limit myself to anything in particular. Bacon Cheeseburger, chicken fingers, or pasta are the most common things I eat. Almost always a sit down establishment rather than fast food. Occasionally, I will even eat a couple little debbie snack cakes at night.

Coffee before leaving the house, sports drinks at the meet & dark chocolate.

Coffee before leaving the house, sports drinks at the meet & dark chocolate. :bliss:

I generally don't do anything different the night before other than try to eat a full meal. In other words, eat enough dinner (often I'm not "full" when I finish dinner). The day of the meet I have plenty of bananas for during the meet. Occasionally I have Trader Joe's peanut butter filled crackers for some protein as well. And, most importantly, protein drink for after the meet to help recover.

I was looking for a thread like this before New England Championships! I couldn't find it, so I stuck with my usual, and it worked great. please note - 85% of the reason I swim is so I can eat whatever I want. The night before dinner I like to have some kind of pasta. For breakfast I brought some oatmeal with flaxseed, brown sugar, cinnamon & raisins. Our hotel had a microwave, so I was able to eat right there in the room about 4 hours before my first event. During the event, I snack on 2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (I eat a quarter of a sandwich whenever I have a break of 2 hours or more, and one quarter at the end of the day while I wait for the team to go to dinner.) I also like to snack on Veggie booty and an orange or pomegranate if it's in season. I drink a Gatorade after my first swim of the day, and then switch to water. Oh! And I snack on ginger candies when I get nervous, they help calm the butterflies. This past meet I felt I was better nourished than ever before. And now, since I just had a great workout, I'm balancing that out with a slice of apple pie I made over the weekend.

I eat my "usual" for dinner the night before and don't vary from my usual eating routine in any way, which is to say that I avoid anything cheesy or greasy or meaty. On meet day I have a specific routine: Breakfast = I eat abagel with a little bit of cream cheese (or something similar), coffee, and a banana in the car on the way to the pool At the meet = I bring two pb&j sandwiches cut into halves and I eat a half after every event along with a little chocolate soymilk. If there's a long time between events I might have a banana or orange or apple to tide me over Before events = a small-ish cup of coffee about 15-20 min before my next event, constant sipping on water or diluted gatorade. I have no idea if this routine is supported by any kind of science, but I never feel queasy at meets, I never feel hungry, and I always have plenty of energy.

I'll typically eat pasta (or other carb-heavy source) for dinner starting a few days before a meet. If it's a rest meet, the three days before that I'll eat mostly protein (e.g steak, chicken) and then switch to carbs. I've never been big on sides, so these meals are largely carb or protein, somtimes with a salad. I don't eat heavy on the day of the meet- usually oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, copious amounts of water, coffee, and 4:1 recovery drink throughout the meet. Pretty simple plan, and I rely on these foods being a sufficient source of those dietary supplements. I'm not a foodie and try to keep things simple in that respect.

hey there, The body does run on fuel and not exercise. I haven't written much about diet and nutrition in SFF because there's so much conflicting advice from experts, everybody is convinced their approach is right. I haven't done such a great job with my own diet & I haven't discovered the magic-can't-fail Swim Faster Faster diet. I know the following helps swimmers swim faster faster. Swimming and kicking fast in practice, improving stroke technique, various mental techniques, getting stronger, and using better equipment. In SFF I've written: + Don't get food poisoning before or at big meets, eat well cooked meals + world class swimmers have certain height weight proportions and overweight swimmers are very likely to SFF when they Lug Less Lard, + it's wise to stay well hydrated and keep balanced electrolytes, + don't eat or drink too much before racing + Check out what Garrett Weber Gale writes on http://www.athleticfoodie.com or what my friend & UT teammate, Rip Esselstyn wrote: http://www.tinyurl.com/engine2 + if you're trying to get stronger you need to have enough proteins in your diet to build muscle and strength + Paul Smith's Top 10 ways to Blow your Meet I've seen swimmers with many different diets swim fast. I've seen swimmers change their diets several times during their careers. I've seen swimmers with very poor diets swim fast. I think the key is eat a healthy balanced diet. Also if someone is convinced their diet is great and will absolutely help them, they might perform better from the placebo effect alone. I also haven't written much on how swimmers should train after illnesses, injuries, or surgeries because each one is so specific and it's really an issue swimmers should approach with their doctors, physical therapists and coaches. Swimmers should be very cautious, go slow, pay close attention to their situations and report any changes to the professionals working with them. I also heard a coach say the body likes to stay the same so it's best to make gradual changes rather than drastic ones. Ande