Competition day

A daily diet plan for competition day will be based around when you are starting competition, and determining eating times working around that time before and after. For more information about how to prepare for the event, look at the Competition Day resource at Fuelling Performance resources.

Below is a worked example of a 90 minute game/race/single event mid morning. Plan your day this way beforehand so you know what to pack, and what and when to eat so on the day you can just focus on the event.

Most important things to consider:
– Aim for your last meal to be 2.5 – 3 hours prior to the event starting so there is time for the food to digest and not be sitting in your stomach.
– 1-2 hours before, or between warm up and starting, you may want to have a small top up of carbohydrates either from a light snack like a piece of fruit or sipping on sports drink.
– Don’t try any unfamiliar or unusual foods the night before or day of competition. Eat food you would usually eat around training so you know that food sits well in your stomach when active.
– Consider travel time to the event. If you have a long drive home you might also like to bring something to have in the car to avoid unhealthy stops along the way.

Below is an example of how to plan the day when competition starts at 10am. Please note, portions will vary depending on the size and gender of the athlete

6:30am
– Breakfast, around 6:30am – 7am (approx. 2-3 hours before competition starts)
– Cereal and/or toast and fruit
– Fruit and low fat yoghurt
– Low fat smoothie and toast (aim to consume your regular breakfast) and water

Eating earlier will give the meal a chance to digest so fuel can be available in the blood. You don’t want to eat anything too different or too much more than what you would normally eat so the body is familiar with the intake.

7:30am (optional)
– Banana
– Jam or honey sandwich on white bread and water

If you are eating breakfast earlier than 6am and the event has a long duration you might like to top up with a high carbohydrate, low fibre snack.

9am, or one hour to 30 minutes before competition starts
– Sip on a sports drink or water. This will help to hydrate and top up carbohydrate stores. You might like to include it between your warm up and starting the competition

Competition starts 10am

As soon as possible post competition
– Approx. 11:30am, sports drink and 200g low fat yoghurt, or, Sustagen popper and fruit plus water.

Consuming some fuel as soon as possible after finishing will help the recovery process when the body needs it the most. This helps in mending muscle damage and replacing lost  fluid and energy stores.

1pm – 1:30pm, lunch
– Approx. 1.5 – 2 hours post competition
– Ham or chicken or tuna salad sandwich, or, chicken and tomato pasta

In high intensity activity the body is still recovering for hours after the session. Putting good food in now is important as this will also be used to repair the muscle damage and replace fuel stores.

Continue on the day as normal including afternoon tea and regular balanced dinner.

This information is a generalised consideration for healthy active individuals. Food choices and meal plans may change for individual cases and to take into consideration personal goals and dietary requirements. For more information specific to your needs it is best to speak with a dietitian.