Pre-meet fuel

[gymmutti]

Breakfast tacos (tortilla with eggs, a little crumble sausage, cheese, tomato, a dollop of sour cream (and avocado for 1 of my 2) is a big hit before early morning meets. My older DD heard Jordyn Wieber talk about her mom giving her Skittles candy before meets and now that is a good luck thing for both girls. They get 6 skittles that they eat immediately before warmup. We have had a lot of podium placings since doing that and now several other girls on the team are following suit - maybe there is something to that sugar rush.

 

[Aero]

Breakfast tacos (tortilla with eggs, a little crumble sausage, cheese, tomato, a dollop of sour cream (and avocado for 1 of my 2) is a big hit before early morning meets. My older DD heard Jordyn Wieber talk about her mom giving her Skittles candy before meets and now that is a good luck thing for both girls. They get 6 skittles that they eat immediately before warmup. We have had a lot of podium placings since doing that and now several other girls on the team are following suit - maybe there is something to that sugar rush.

That could very well be! Anaerobic exercise tends to burn through glycogen (muscle sugar), where aerobic exercise burns through fats. Gymnastics is almost all anaerobic, so it probably does provide her with more explosive energy.

All right, nerd mode is off now.

 

[flanny2112]

As a gymnast I was one of those people who hated eating much of anything during meets, but if I didn't eat during the meet I would end up so hungry that I would have a headache. I finally realized that carrots are a great meet food. I started bringing a jumbo sized bag to meets (of course half of them would be shared with my teammates). They are healthy, and its hard to be "full" of carrots.

 

[SeaActually]

My daughter started on floor this past weekend and ate her honey stinger right after vault. She placed 3rd on bars and 2nd on bars and she says now she will eat one at every meet. A new tradition I guess!

 

[Mom2Chickadee]

I have made these for my daughter for before/during meets and practices: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/
You can change up the recipe to suit your needs/tastes. I have added dried fruits, different kinds of nuts, white chocolate chips instead of the regular chocolate chips, a little Nutella with the peanut butter...the possibilities are endless.

Just wanted to say thank you. I made these last night for my very fussy DD and she ate 2 right after practice and loved them. I made them with Wow butter b/c our gym is nut free so they will definitely be added to the lunch box for her Thursday practice!

 

[mobeans]

I second the energy bites-we have been making those for a while with sunbutter!

My DD loves flavored coconut water for after her meets (and after practice)-a good alternative to Gatorade. We also like beef or turkey jerky that we purpose from whole foods or another organic grocer. I always send fruit or veggie sticks (mine loves carrots and mini peppers). Usually something crunchy as well-pretzels, dried cereal, homemade trail mix...