Foods/drinks to bring:
· Right after you weigh in:
o Sandwich (try to get wheat bread) with lettuce, tomato, protein, and little or no condiments
o Protein drink, Odwalla, or Naked Juice
o Water
o Gatorade, Propel, or vitamin water
· During the day:
o Wheat bread, or bagels, and Peanut butter, or deli meats (very small amounts)
o Water
o Gatorade, Propel or vitamin water
o Protein bars such as Kashi or Clif bars
o Fruit
· What to stay away from:
o Candy
o Energy drinks
o Soda
o 'Food' they sell at the concession stand
o Items with sugar
o Straight fruit drinks
Thoughts:
If you have been cutting weight, you want something that will give you a little bit of everything. What I mean by that is that you don’t just want to eat all protein or all carbohydrates. Something I’ve always liked to eat after I’ve weighed in is a sandwich that would have lettuce, tomatoes, cheese (though not too much), and some source of protein. To go on the side, I liked to drink some sort of Naked or Odwalla juice blend drink that gave me some fruit servings. The sandwich gives you the protein to help your muscles recover from workouts and from trying to lose weight, and the carbs gives you the long lasting energy you’ll need to make it through the day. The fruit drink will give you a faster energy release than the carbs, but won’t last as long, which is why you eat them both. During the day try to stay away from eating too much dairy products. It’s fine right after you weigh in but dairy products make it too easy for you to throw up. Unless you know you won’t throw up, only eat a little dairy if at all.
During the day you should not eat as you normally would (you don’t want to eat three big meals). Instead you should eat about ten times during the day, snacking every hour or so. The biggest meal will be right after you weigh in because you have approximately two or three hours to digest the food. For the rest of the day you never want to get to the point where you feel full, just “satisfied.” This means that you aren’t hungry but you also don’t feel like you have a brick in your stomach when you wrestle. It’s a balance you have to find between being hungry and being bloated.
I tended to eat right after each match so that I would have time to digest before my next match. This was to remove the possibility of throwing up during a match. I would continue to snack if I continued to feel hungry but I would try to stop eating about an hour before my next match. Water and drinks you should continue to drink right up until ten minutes before your match. Take a water bottle with you into the staging area and with you to the mat in case you feel thirsty right before or after. If so, takes sips at a time and never gulp down huge amounts.
Basically this is all about finding the line where your body feels good and you are able to excel in one of the most demanding sports. A lot of finding that line is experience and finding what works for you. Everyone’s body is different and has unique needs. This list and collection of thoughts is meant as a guide, but you don’t need to follow it to the letter. Find your own needs and develop a routine that will enable you to wrestle your best. You may think that a wrestling match is only six minutes long but it’s not. It starts the night before and doesn’t end until you’ve wrestled your last match. Realize this and prepare your body for the long run.