feeling queasy in training - what to eat/drink?

[Kaitain(UK)]

Hi - just a few questions about diet before intense training

I was grading in Wado last night and I decided not to eat before I left, so my last meal was about 5 hours before the grading. I ate a lot of carbs and some protein - I guess it was too early for the carbs to be any use?

30 minutes before the grading I drank some Lucozade Sport (the non-carbonated one), plus about half a pint of water.

Anyway - 5 minutes into the grading (just basic 3's and 4's boxing combinations - enough to break a light sweat) my mouth went completely dry. Then I started feeling sick - and I mean really close to vomiting. The feeling lasted for the entire grading (hour and a half) - at times I felt completely listless with nothing behind my strikes.

Any ideas what caused this? Too much sugar in the lucozade? Should I eat a bit closer to the grading in future?

Thanks in advance for any advice

[Mr Punch]

Try not eating such a heavy meal. Lots of smaller meals to dose your carbs up and raise your blood-sugar level would seem to be the way to go. Try having your last snack about an hour before the main event, then just stick to water.

Try and stick to more complex carbs: veg, whole grains etc. And try to avoid sugary drinks before training. There is some (a lot of?)evidence to suggest that a couple of hundred grams of carb/fructose combination is good for you immediately after training, but glucose is generally a no-no I think.

Remember though, carbs are your main fuel source, so even with the most complex chains (with an optimum primary digestion time of around four hours), don't skimp them or you'll just be working off your fat and body sugar. That'll really make you sick.

Hope this helps.

How did your grading go?

[JWTAYLOR]

I have the problem that I need to eat allot, and often. But my classes, tests, and sparring sessions often run several hours at a time. I can't eat right before or I'll puke (repeated shots to the gut on a full stomach is a bad ide). But if I don't eat something, I'll get really hungry and weak by the end of class.

I've found that if I eat a cup or two of yogurt and one peice of fruit about 20 minutes to half a hour before class I'm good. It gives me the energy that I need to get through the session, but seems to not make me sick to my stomach.

JWT

[crumble]

I know that most tests involve working til the edge of collapse/puking. But I think it's better to puke than to have a too-empty stomach. I'd recommend eating about two hours before testing.

I think that you stopped eating too early and so your body was a little in calorie debt by the time you drank the sports drink. Before the drink you were burning fat. Then you drank and your body switched from burning fat to digesting simple carbs. But you had a deficit, so you didn't "store" much from the drink, you just payed off a debt.

Then your test began and your body started looking for more easy carbs, but there wasn't any in your stomach. So your body is looking in your stomach (blood to your stomach) which is empty, while your body is working out (blood to your muscles, too). Not a good combination!

The body's reaction to needing blood at muscles in an emergency... will be to throw up! It happens in emergency/trama/shock cases all the time.

So eat closer to the workout. You know your teachers want to make you puke anyway, so you might as well be well-fed! Plus it's rare for a guy to try so hard he pukes and then be denied his belt!

-crumble

[Kaitain(UK)]

Mat - I passed somehow :), thanks for asking

I didn't want to let myself down so I just got on with it - I didn't let on anything was wrong until after they passed me (needed to make sure I'd earned it); but I don't know how I got through it without throwing up. I used a lot of 'grading strategy' to get through - everytime I was under scrutiny I put the effort in and I coasted at 70% effort the rest of the time. Got caught with shots a few times though - I was really listless.

Jon - thanks for that, I think I'll try what you suggest. I once made the mistake of eating a full dinner about an hour before training - got hit in the solar plexus after 10 minutes. One of the more unpleasant sensations I've been through... I think the other students weren't overjoyed either at the sounds coming from me and the dustbin outside :)

Crumble - thanks for the explanation, that pretty much makes sense to me.

[Repulsive Monkey]

it could be Stomach Yin Xu or even a touch of Liver Qi stagnation invading the stomach.