What’s the ideal time from when you eat lunch to going back and competing in your finals event?

Question

Randy Bird,MS,RD,CSSD,CSCS · Answer

The question is, what's the ideal time from when you eat lunch to going back and competing in your finals event? That's kind of a tricky question in that it depends on the composition of the lunch. If you're having a balanced meal that contains carbohydrates, moderate amount of protein and some fat, then ideally you're having that three to four hours before you compete. If you don't have that length of time, then we modify what the lunch looks like. We reduce the protein and fat content and focus on carbohydrates the closer you get to an event. If you're eating within two hours of an event, that's when we're focusing almost entirely on carbohydrates with very little protein and fat. The reason for this is it takes fat and protein longer to leave the stomach. The stomach is really using its acid to denature protein, so that delays the amptenine from the stomach into the intestines where carbohydrates will move quicker. Long story short, if you have a full meal, then you want to eat that three or four hours before the event. If you don't have that time, then focus on carbohydrates and minimize the amount of protein and fat that you have at that meal.

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"What’s the ideal time from when you eat lunch to going back and competing in your finals event?"