Fueling Up for Training

Your High Performance Training Diet

1. it must provide enough of the essential nutrients for good health, and
2. it must have enough energy to meet the demands of training and enable you to recover well.

Eat More Carbs

• An active person’s diet should be high in carbohydrates for muscle fuel
• Eating high carbohydrate foods will help to sustain your activity more easily and aid recovery
• Base meals and snacks around nutritious foods like rice, pasta, noodles bread, cracker biscuits, fruit, yoghurt, milk, starchy vegetables and legumes. Select high fibre varieties where possible

Eat Protein

• Protein is used in our body structure e.g. muscle
• Choose small to moderate serves of protein containing foods including lean meat, fish, poultry, low fat dairy products, wholegrain cereals, eggs, nuts and legumes

Fluid Replacement

• Thirst is a poor indicator of dehydration, it is a late signal of fluid loss
• Sweat is mainly water and very little salt; salt tablets are not necessary and can make dehydration worse
• You need to replace fluid lost. As a guide, for every kilogram lost during exercise you need to drink 1 litre of fluid. This fluid should be consumed before, during and after exercise
• Drink cooled water. If exercise is going to continue for more than 1 hour use a sports drink (a carbohydrate concentration of 5-10% with the addition of a small amount of sodium)

Fueling Up for the Races

Pre-Event Meal

• It is important to top up on fuel stores
• The meal should be familiar. Do not experiment with new foods prior to competition
• Eat at least 2-3 hours before competition to allow time for comfortable digestion
• The meal should be high in carbohydrates and low in fat, protein and fibre
• Ensure adequate fluid intake with your pre-event meal
• If anxiety is a problem before an event, a liquid meal supplement can take the place of a solid meal e.g. Sustagen, fruit smoothies, commercial low fat liquid meals
• Drink a glass of water

Eating During the Event

• Keep up fluid levels and carbohydrates in between races to top up fuel levels and help delay the onset of fatigue.
  Suitable carbohydrate choices are:
  --> 500-1000ml Sports Drink
  --> 10-20 jelly beans
  --> 2-3 pieces of fruit
  --> 1 low fat Sports Bar
  --> 1-2 low fat Muesli / Breakfast Bars

Eating For Recovery

• Need to refuel your body with carbohydrates in the first 15 mins after exercise and then again in 2 hours time
• The amount of carbohydrate that needs to be consumed is between 50g - 100g
• Drink water or sports drink regularly after training or competition