After my last Crossfit competition, I provided a handy guide for what to pack. But how do you Eat to Perform for a Crossfit competition day to ensure you are properly fueled for the workouts? Without strictly following any program, I had previously suggested items like Larabars, raw veggies, nuts, and avocados. While these options may work for a lot of people, if you are trying to stay on point with Eat to Perform, there is a bit different template that I would follow (and that I attempted to follow this past weekend). There are little fats. There are no bars or nuts or vegetables. It is about eating for a purpose.
Starting with the day before, I made sure to consume most of my daily allotted carbs at night (via means of cinnamon and sugar French Toast.. 😉 though you may prefer a more cleaner source).
Our competition had 4 WODs spaced out between 9:00-2:30, so trying to eat breakfast and lunch as usual was not feasible. I wanted to make sure I had enough fuel before and after the WODs, but not so much that I would feel too full to WOD. I kept it super simple this time around and packed what I thought I would actually eat.
Pre-Competition
On a normal day for an hour to an hour-and-a-half training session, I aim for 25g protein and 50g carbs both pre- and post- workout, with limited fat. With the sporadic workouts during the day and the amount of work at any given time was only 10-15 minutes, it did not make a lot of sense to consume that much food both pre- and post- workout. The morning of, I ate a typical pre-workout meal to prime my body for the rest of the day.
1/2 cup egg whites + 3/4 cup oatmeal + 1 Tbsp honey
Post-WODs
After my first workout, I ate a brown-spotted banana for some quick replenishment. After each workout, the plan was to eat half of a serving of protein/carbs (12g/25g) than I would for a longer workout.
2oz chicken thighs + 1/4 cup jasmine rice
Pre-WODs
For the remainder of the workouts, I aimed for the same ratio, which I was able to concoct a convenient little no-bake oatmeal snack (1 1/2 cups oatmeal, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 Tbsp honey), portioned into four cookies. Paired with a hard-boiled egg, it yields 30g carbs and 13g protein.
1 hard-boiled egg + 1 cookie
Despite having what I thought was a perfectly laid out plan, in reality, my stomach was just not feeling that amount of food! Between the nerves, adrenaline, and post-workout exhaustion, I wasn’t able to eat as often as I anticipated, yet still had sustained energy throughout. I made sure to drink enough water, and sipped on some energy-infused BCAAs when I couldn’t stomach any food.
In the end, it is all about finding what works best for you, but I found that keeping it simple this last time around worked out better than trying to over-pack and cram in random bits of food like I did last time!
Your turn..
Do you overpack when it comes to food for a competition/race/event?
Have you tried Eat to Perform guidelines yet?
What is your favorite pre-workout and post-workout meal?
Do you follow any macro-counting?
Really interesting to read! I am always tweaking things to best eat for my performance and fuel my body. May I ask why egg whites and not the full egg prior to competing? Sorry for being nosy!
Amy @ The Little Honey Bee recently posted..Chicago: July 18-20, 2014
Oh girl that’s not nosy!!
I prefer them tastewise is all! The thought of scrambled eggs pre workout sounds gross to me. And not mixed with oatmeal. Ick. This way I make them sweeter. Just a dab of coconut oil and sometimes I’ll even sprinkle cinnamon on top too!
Definitely better to be over prepared than find yourself scavenging for half eaten protein bars that fell underneath your car seat 🙂 I definitely have had post race munchies that lead me to some really questionable purse food.
Anymore I try to pack as much as I can for a race, with a nice wide variety because I’m never sure what I’m really going to be feeling afterwards. Though I stick to Gu during long races (unless it’s a long trail race… Seriously, their aid stations are like buffets of all things good in the woods), and eat a pretty carby breakfast, sometimes I’m starving afterwards, and sometimes I don’t want anything til hours later. Still, it’s nice to have options.
Martha recently posted..Well hello there!
Ugh your blog always hates when I try to enter my blog website! As I was reading your post I knew that sounded like too much food for me to stomach if I was crossfitting and jumping and throwing a barbell around. I have been more conscious of getting carbs and protein and eating to fuel my workouts (hello, marathon training!). With races I am always nervous/anxious so I end up being conscious of that but also sticking to what I know & love!
No competition, but I’m finding out in general that I don’t eat enough before I WOD, or else I eat too soon. I’m trying to straighten out size and timing, then I think I’ll play with the macros. Thanks for sharing!
Chris @ ifailedfran recently posted..The 2014 CrossFit Drinking Games
Definitely something that takes a long time to tweak!
What a helpful post! What would you usually eat pre/post wod?
On a normal day, I usually eat some cereal or oatmeal pre-WOD.. used to do eggs and oats but find lately I’m crunched for time and usually don’t need extra protein for the day, so just some carby!
Post-workout my standard is protein shake w/unsweetened almond milk and a banana!
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