The Armour Archive

Morning of the tourney...

What do you eat?

hows that... no exposition... straight to the point

Is it more of a ritual, or is there a purpose to your meal?

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Matthew Broadway
(SCA: Dante de la Vallée)

I try to carb and protein up the night before a tourney if I can. The morning of I can eat almost anything, as long as I have an hour or two before I fight so that it can digest some. I usually grab biscuits and crap like that on the way to the event, or maybe a breakfast bar.

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http://bdeb.diaryland.com/

A plain bagel, straight out of the bag and 32 ozs of coffee.

Odo

iced tea and a bagel (everything dempsters brand)

Slimfast. I have never been able to eat solid food and fight. I try not to touch anything solid before I end for the day.

Broinnfinn

Blood.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dmitriy:
Blood.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Hmm I thought that was a snack you had while playing hurly.

Eric

Meat, preferably NOT greasy. No carbs or little carbs and water or tea. Not in large quantities either. Just something that will get me by.
Pre cooked cold brautworst works pretty well. 2-3 of them and I am ready to go.

Insane Irish

A gigantic breakfast at Denny's/Carrow's/Shoney's/whatever, at about 7:30 AM. Since the fighting at a tourney usually doesn't get going until as late as 11:00 AM, this gives the food time to digest, and stop pretending to be a lump of lead in my middle. I snack on light stuff like apples or grapes during the actual tourney.

I never used to eat before a tourney, (made me feel slow and queasy) but when I started getting into the higher rounds, I was experiencing a huge energy "crash" in the late afternoon that was giving my opponent a decisive advantage. My compromise was to eat heavily hours before the fighting, and then hold off during the fighting, except for nibbles and water.

I eat whatever is at hand or convient. Often I stop at McDonalds on the way to an event for something. The important thing is that I eat.

Once, right before the finals of a tourney, I ate a Big Mac, Large fries, and a large diet coke. I am pretty sure that is what put me over the top and helped me win

Yes thanks Odo,
awile ago you told me to try a plain bagel because i was having problums with breakfast.

Thank you it worked.

side note I now can eat my wait in bagels a week lol.

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Thorstenn,
Do or do not their is no try!

I try not to eat anything the morning of a tourney of importance. I do drink Gatorade now though, but for a long time I wouldn't drink anything all day either.

Alaric

Diet Pepsi and meat for breakfast, 4 hours plus from the begining and after that I make roll-ups out of flour tortilla, nuefchatel cheese (cream cheese works, but is a bit sweeter), either sliced ham or sliced turkey and a pickle, which I snack on over the course of the day, especially when it is a long hot tourney (like the Rose Tourney in Mid has been the last couple of times).
That and water/gatorade on a regular basis.

But I think maybe I should try the Big Mac/FF and Diet coke ;^p

i drink a cup of coffee every day, so i have one before i fight. As for food, a piece of toast, maybe an orange.

Protein bars and ripfuel + diet coke

My wife is a registered Dietician. I am not so please excuse the spelling errors and gross generalizations. She said that a lot depends on your "glycemic" index. Your body's handling of energy in the form of stored carbs/glycogen or fat/keytones. In general Protein is used to rebuild muscle, and for those with a mixed diet carbs/fat are used for energy. The rate at which energy is available to the body is based on genetics, training, and diet, and of course with all human equations "the mind". Consumed carbs are the preferintial energy source, then consumed fat, then stored glycogen, then stored fat. Stored glycogen and fat are not quicly turn to energy, thus the late tourney slump.

In general hydrating and carbing up the body 24 hours before will be the key. Not just the morning of. Professional boxers will usually eat large amounts of high water fruit for 24 hours before a fight. They will sweat so much that they can almost not take in enough water during the fight so optimum hydration at the beginning works. The minerals and "electolytes" in fruit will help keep their systems balance dispite the water loss. The University of Nebraska has done some excellent research and applied it to their team sports. They have specific pre and post game meals. Training meals, muscle building meals, weight lose without muscle lose meals, etc. They generally eat high carb, high nutrient meals pre-game. All the raw fruit, raw veggies, nuts and seeds you want, then limted cooked veggies and grains, then very limited meat at the end. The goal being to increase the body's stores of glycogen and naturally occuring minerals for use the next day and that day. Additionally they suppliment the athelic's nutrition with raw high water fruit at the beginning of half time, with a goal of 15 minutes of digestion time before resuming play. Like I said at the beginning genetics starts this evaluation. Then training. You can train your body to have a "prefered" energy source or pre-game meal. The key is what your body "likes". Don't try something new "vietnamese spring rolls with fish sauce" the day of the fights.

There is also some really good research done on high altitude mountain climbers. They eat massive carb meals before climbing and balanced carb protien meals after.


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Sergeant Brother & Lord Wilham
Squire to Viscount Sir Sterling
Outlands Perceptory of the Kinghts Templar

Chello!

I usually fast after lunch on the day before a tourney. Lots of Water and I might have an orange or (if I'm at home that morning) a glass of OJ instead. I do seem to be just a bit faster when I fast...even fast on into the afternoon (another orange and maybe a few (like 5-6) nuts or grapes for lunch) idf there's a melee up. Have never seemed to have a power drop off. YMMV.

Tony

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"But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me."
Psalms 49:15 (DRV)

When I bacame a squire the FIRST thing my knight tought me was proper diet before any event, A bacon, egg and cheese biscut from McDonalds. Acctually he told me it was my choice as long as it came from McD's. It's tradition!

A 19 year-old blonde.