Food at Competition

[gymnasticsfreak]

I'm supposed to tell my mom what to get me foodwise for the next couple competitions, and I was just wondering, what do you guys normaly bring to competitions. My normal is fruit, nuts, crackers. Stuff like that.

 

[bribri514]

If you search "food" in the search box on the top right, you'll find tons of threads on this that have lots of really good ideas. Hope that helps.

 

[cher062]

My DD likes apple slices and carrot sticks. Crackers but I don't usually let her have things that make crumbs.

 

[mpkbt]

My dd went to a talk given by a nutritionist and she said that you should have a meal with protein 1 to 2 hours before the meet. You should also have simple carbs through the meet. The carb should equal about 20-30g each hour of the meet. She suggested powerade or something like that. She also said stay away from the darker colored drinks because they could cause stomach aches. This should be followed by protein, for recovery of muscles, within 30 minutes.

 

[sunshinegymnast]

I like to have some fruit or a granola bar and gatorade

 

[All Chalked Up]

I say this ALL THE TIME, but I would stay away from nuts & peanut butter b/c so many people are allergic to it! I'm severely allergic and even just by smelling or touching nuts/peanuts I could get very very sick or die.

I bring orange slices and plain water (sometimes a juice pack too, make sure it's natural with no artifical clours, flavours, added sugur etc.) to meets.

 

[skschlag]

My ds loves to have beef jerky at meets. He usually takes that with some dried fruits, granola bars, and applesauce and water. I don't like him to have sticky things, or crumby things. But these usually work well for him.

 

[dreamer3773]

I normally take granola bars, pretzels, natural fruit snacks, cheese-its, cheerios, little snacks that will satisfy my hunger without filling me up because we normally go out to eat after a meet. Plus i always have 2 bottles of water.

 

[BlairBob]

Looking at it from a coach's perspective nowadays, I would agree with some meal of protein 1-2 hours before warmup time. During the meet, hydration and glyocogen restoration are what's most important. Unfortunately fat and protein tend to require a lot of blood being pumped to the stomach to digest them in there and would not seem to make a lot of sense during the meet. So basically hydrate and some fruit. I sort of fond through trial and error that granola bars worked well for me in Track and Field but nuts did not. Citrus fruit should also help with electrolytes though sports drinks generally have these. Most sport drinks have far more sugar than is necessary. I would make a case for whey protein during a meet but I seriously doubt many juvenile gymnasts would be up for it.

 

[ValleyTwister23]

I noticed you're in Canada, and I'm not sure if they have these there, but Carnation Instant Breakfast drinks are wonderful. The chocolate ones taste like plain chocolate milk, and while they do have a significant amount of sugar, there is also a lot of protein. They're also really nice because you can just kind of sip them as you go along. I really like peanut butter balls at my meets, but you may want to take "All Chalked Up's" comment into consideration. The recipe below is what I use they're actually pretty healthy. They pack well and are conveniently bite-sized. Some other things that I bring are squeezable fruit pouches, string-cheese, Emerald Nut breakfast pouches, oatmeal-to-go, granola bars and fresh fruit. Plain air-popped popcorn is also really good. It's even better if you add a little brown sugar and cinnamon, but again that's added sugar.

Peanut Butter Ball Recipe
1/2 cup Oats
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Powdered Milk
1/8 cup Ground Flax
Rice Krispie Cereal (Optional)

Mix together and but into balls. Roll in Rice Krispies for an extra crunch. (Optional) This recipe makes enough, but not a ton, you can double or half it for more or less.