This section contains valuable guidance on the best food items to eat before, during and after competition and also has some great recipes for providing the nutrients required to fuel and aid performance.
1. Boosting carbohydrate for a competition
Start the day with a bowl of cereal and low fat milk and/or toast (easy on the spread)
Add dried fruit or a sliced banana to breakfast cereal.
Reduce the fat and protein component of meals and add extra carbohydrate. For example have an extra potato and less meat, an extra spoonful of rice or pasta and a spoonful less of oily or creamy sauce. Add an extra spoonful of beans and omit the fat from the toast.
Choose a thick base pizza rather than a thin and crispy on but cut down on the fatty toppings, i.e. more tomato, vegetables, ham, tuna, pineapple and less cheese.
Drink extra juice, squash or sports drink with your meal. This adds additional carbohydrate with no extra fat.
Choose carbohydrate rich, low fat snacks such as dried fruit/popcorn/tea-cakes, breakfast cereal, bagels, bananas, rusks.
2. The night before the competition
Rice or pasta with a low fat sauce
A noodle dish (e.g. chow mein)
Jacket potato with low fat filling
Deep pan pizza (ham and pineapple / vegetarian) and half the amount of cheese as normal.
Beans on toast
Chunky vegetable/bean based soup and sandwiches
Breakfast cereal and toast
Boiled or mashed potato dish with lots of potato and smaller portions of meat/fish.
3. Pre-event meals and snacks
Breakfast cereal and low fat milk
Porridge with syrup and raisins
Toast (scraping of fat) with honey/Jam
Banana or jam sandwiches
Muffins/crumpets with jam/honey/pancakes and syrup
Beans on toast
Pasta with tomato based sauce
Jacket potato with low fat filling.
4. Guide-lines for eating between races
LESS THAN ONE HOUR
Sports drinks or Carbohydrate supplements
Soft drinks (diluted fruit juice & cordial)
Bananas & raisins
Energy bars/Nutrigrain bars.
Jelly cubes and jelly type sweets ( Haribo )
Plain biscuits
Rice cakes
2 – 4 HOURS
Sandwiches/rolls/pitta
Currant buns/tea-cakes
Bagels/muffins/crumpets
Scones/scotch pancakes
Toast/toasted sandwiches
Cereal/Rusks . Popcorn
Canned fruit or dried fruit
Low fat rice pudding
Pastas & tomato type sauce
Jacket potato
Rice and low fat sauce