Healthy Eating

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COMPETITION MEALS

Having followed a high carbohydrate, low fat diet in preparation for competition it is important on the day of competition to choose appropriates meals and snacks.   This will boost your carbohydrate levels and provide you with energy on the day of competition.

WHEN SHOULD I EAT ON THE DAY OF COMPETITION?

You should eat a snack, which is high in carbohydrates and low in fat at least two hours, before you compete, so you are not exercising on a full stomach.  For example, if you are competing at 11am you should eat breakfast between 8 and 9am.  If you are competing at 1pm you should eat breakfast at 8am followed by a high carbohydrate snack at 10-30 to 11am.

WHAT SHOULD I EAT AS A PRE COMPETITION?

Your pre competition meal should be high in carbohydrates, preferably complex carbohydrates, and it should be low in fat to prevent it lying in your stomach all day.   As well as being low in fat it should be low in fibre, particularly if you are unaccustomed to high fibre foods, this will avoid an uncomfortable bloated stomach.

EATING THROUGHOUT COMPETITION

To keep your energy levels high you should eat carbohydrate rich snacks or drinks throughout competition.   These snacks should also be kept low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates.

SUGGESTED MEALS AND SNACKS FOR COMPETITION DAYS

The tables below give you ideal pre competition and throughout competition meals and snacks you could eat.

PRE EVENT

Breakfast	Mid Day
Fruit Juice	Pasta / rice / baked potato
Cereal, low fat milk	Fish / chicken / cottage cheese
Chopped banana / dried fruit	Tomato sauce
Bread / rolls	Salad / vegetables
Jam / marmalade / honey

** VERY IMPORTANT: No fried foods or food with added oil / butter / margarine **

THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Snacks

Sandwiches - low fat spread, low fat fillings, e.g. cottage cheese and chives, tuna in brine, banana, etc.

Pasta salad, (low fat dressing), waldorf salad, potato salad

Yoghurt (low fat), fruit, e.g. banana, pear, etc.

Fruit juice, water, Isotonic drink, (if solid foods cannot be eaten drink isotonic drinks, e.g.. Gatorade, Isostar, yoghurt drinks, e.g., Yop, milk shakes (low fat milk + banana.)

** For further ideas on food to eat, refer to information below entitled Carbohydrates. **

FLUID REPLACEMENT

During exercise heat is produced and body temperature increases. In order to main body temperature blood transports the heat to the skin and sweating occurs. The amount of sweat lost in training or competition depends on the exercise intensity, your training status, the environmental conditions and heat acclimatisation.

To prevent the body temperature rising it is crucial to replace the fluid lost in sweat by drinking appropriate fluids. Failure to drink during and following exercise can lead to heat exhaustion, reduced performance and fatigue.

You should become accustomed to combining appropriate fluids during training and never try anything new during competition.

There are several factors, which influence the rate at which fluid is absorbed:

• The more concentrated the solution the longer it takes to leave your stomach

• The greater the quantity of fluid the quicker it leaves the stomach

• Drinks containing a small amount of carbohydrate (6-8%) and salt will be better absorbed (i.e. isotonic drinks)

Examples of fluid replacement (FR) sports drinks are isostar (FR), Gatorade (FR), Lucozade Sport (FR).

RE-FUELLING

Having dealt with replacing fluid, it is now necessary to discuss the use of fluid to refuel the muscles with glycogen. In other words drinking a fluid which contains both fluid and carbohydrate. Muscles are most receptive to refuelling their glycogen store's in the 2 hours following exercise.

It is important to begin this process by taking in some carbohydrate as soon as exercise stops. Many people find it difficult to eat solid foods (to get their source of carbohydrate) immediately post exercise, so fluids are the preferred choice.

As most fluid is replaced in the first 10-20 minutes of recovery this drink will contribute to fluid replacement as well as replacing carbohydrate.   E.g. of these carbohydrate drinks (CD) are Maxim (CD), Ultra Carbo (CD), FRN Enduro Booster (CD), Polycarb (CD) and Gatorlode (CD).

Please refer to your individual requirements.

GOOD SOURCE OF CARBOHYDRATES

• Breakfast cereals - include mainly wholegrain varieties such as shredded wheat, Weetabix, Bran Flakes, muesli and porridge.

• Bread - Wholemeal, granary, white soft grain, white bread, pitta bread, French bread, rolls, baps, muffins, crumpets, bagels, naan, chappatis and potato cakes.

• Crispbread, water biscuits, wholemeal crackers, oatcakes and rice cakes.

• Pasta - all shapes and colours

• Rice

• Potatoes - boiled, mashed and jacket more often than chips, roast or crisps

• Popcorn and sweetcorn

• Pizza bases - deep pan (choose low fat toppings)

• Beans - baked, red kidney, borlotti, cannelloni

• Peas - lentils, chickpeas, and pearl barley

• Root vegetables - carrots, parsnips, swedes, beetroot

• Fruit-all sorts, fresh, dried or canned

• Natural or fruit yoghurt

• Cereal bars (careful about fat content),Kellogg's Pop Tarts, Twiglets

• Jam, marmalade, honey, syrup and treacle

• Biscuits-Rich Tea, Nice, fig roll, plain digestives rather than shortbread or custard creams because of the fat content

• Cakes-currant buns, malt or fruit loaf, fruit cake, scones, gingerbread, parkin, rock cakes and other similar or plain cakes

• Puddings-fruit crumbles, baked fruit, bread pudding, milk puddings, jelly or banana and custard

• Sweetened soft drinks

• Confectionery-jelly beans, jelly babies, boiled sweets

• Sugar-added to drinks and breakfast cereals

HOW MUCH CARBOHYDRATE DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED?

Based on your requirements, you should eat XXg of carbohydrate per day (refer to your daily target carbohydrate intake as recommended by your swimming coach for XX figure).

This needs to be spread throughout the day. You need to eat a variety of carbohydrate rich foods to make the diet more interesting and to ensure a good mix of other essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre.  Some swimmers prefer to refuel with a variety of small snacks and then consume a large meal later, others can eat a meal soon after training finishes. Many people prefer to drink fluids rather than eat solid food, see Fluid Replacement

HINTS FOR EATING MORE CARBOHYDRATES

• Use thicker slices of bread

• Eat potatoes such as boiled, mashed or jacket

• Have tomato, tuna or low-fat soft cheese sauces with lots of pasta rather than meat or cheese sauces (too high in fat)

• Breakfast cereals can be eaten as snacks (for example, late at night) not just at breakfast time

• Add dried or fresh fruit to your breakfast cereal

• Use canned pulses more (baked beans, red kidney beans, borlotti beans, cannelloni beans, and chickpeas) for example, in soups, sauces, and salads or mixed with rice or pasta

• Make low fat shakes with skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, low fat yoghurt and bananas

• As between meal snacks or on occasions when you cannot face solid foods have a high carbohydrate meal replacement such as Complan or Build Up made with semi skimmed or skimmed milk

Refuelling should start as soon as possible after training (or a competition) finishes, preferably in the first 2 hours. It is wise to take a source of carbohydrate in your kit bag.

REFUELLING PRESCRIPTION

In order to eat a diet sufficiently high in carbohydrate you will need to divide your food intake into four or five smaller meals throughout the day rather than three main meals.

You need to eat the equivalent of 1gm carbohydrate /kg bodyweight IMMEDIATELY after exercise.

Your carbohydrate requirements after exercise is XXg carbohydrate, where XX will be defined by your swimming coach.

e.g. this could be obtained by eating or drinking the following foods:-

• slices of bread

• soft rolls

• large bananas

• Weetabix

• Shredded wheat

• tablespoons of muesli

• large baked potato

• large digestives

• pop tarts

• tablespoons of raisins

• packets of fruit pastilles

• of boiled pasta

• of boiled rice

Pasta

• With cooked vegetables and cheese (preferably low fat)

• With a tomato sauce and vegetables, sprinkle with parmesan

• Make a sauce of melted down low fat soft cheese (shape or Philadelphia light), add cooked vegetables.

• With steamed broccoli florets and onions, olive oil, basil and garlic, sprinkle on parmesan cheese

• With peanut butter heated up together with soy sauce, vinegar, a dash of cayenne pepper, add vegetables if desired

• Buy large pasta shells and stuff with ricotta cheese and spinach or broccoli, add oregano, Parmesan cheese and nutmeg to flavour.  Spoon Ragu tomato sauce over the shells.