Eating for martial arts

What do you eat and how do you time your eating so that you have enough energy for your workout but not so much that it's detrimental?

For me, I find that I need to be at roughly the right percentage of the day calorie wise for the time of the class.

If it's a morning class I want to have 300-600 calories before I go to class.  If it's an evening class I want 1,000-1,500 calories.

I try to eat at least an hour before the class and then make it a snack rather than a meal or a protein bar if need be.

I keep nuts and protein bars handy in my car just in case I forget and end up short on calories.

i am still really struggeling with this.  I have eaten to feed a workout that didn't happen bunches of times... i haven't really felt weak from too few cals though, so i think i will err on that side, and eat after or the next day.  my workouts are consistantly late at night (for me)  Last week i tried to keep a steady 1450 regardless of workout, but ended up feeling like i had eaten too much, so this week back to 1250 unless i have completed a good workout.  then i get to eat back my cals.  we'll see how it goes.  may keep some trail mix in the car for after... although my favorite post workout treat is chocolate icecream... mmmm.

interested in other ideas out there too!

Apparently chocolate milk is supposed to have the perfect after work out carb to protein ratio...Trader Joe's carries chocolate almond milk that is really good!

I've taken to eating breakfast, two small lunches, and a variety of snacks and then adjusting my dinner to match whatever workout I've done.  A small one if I skipped class for some reason or didn't get a good workout in.  A larger one if I'm needing the calories.

I eat ~2,000 calories per day, on your 1450 I would be starving!

chocolate milk is how i justify chocolate icecream!... like frozen milk, right?

actually, i love the swiss miss fat free fudge bars.  100 cals, frozen creamy chocolate goodness

Anyone else?

Someone mentioned pizza in another forum post...I do love pizza and I have found some reasonably healthy versions/alternatives that fit well with martial arts.  Since I frequently am not sure if I'm having a 400 or a 900 calorie dinner until after I've done or skipped a workout, one of my last minute meals is often either a spinach feta wrap from Starbuck's (~300 calories of sundried tomato, scrambled egg, spinach, and feta in a wrap) or a frozen BBQ chicken pizza from Trader Joe's accompanied by a pound of broccoli (~900 calories, 500 if I only eat half the pizza).  If I've actually worked out then I usually have room for a small dessert item too or if not, then a kid's size non-fat hot chocolate.

mmm those are yummy ideas! and i would love to hear what anyone else is doing too!

Yesterday i had left over icecream cake from baskin robins in my freezer... that was a nice after workout treat.  ( and yes, i know I have a pattern here...)

I usually find that as long as I am eating throughout the day and not skipping any of my six mini meals I have no issue with doing a 1 hour MA class.  I might eat something real small if I am feeling a little hungry.  Now for longer workouts and activities I will load up with carbs early and try to maintain my intake throughout the activity (I do long distance mountain biking).  But this is only for hard workouts greater than 1 1/2 hours.  That tends to be my tipping point for energy.

I have found in general that as long as I maintain my 2 to 3 hour eating routine, I never get either hungry of feel the need to overeat.

I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago where I was rushing to class and forgot to grab a shake (which I think is ideal for me if I have it enough in advance - maybe .5 hour before class) or bar or something. my stomach started grumbling just before we were to start lining up for class. I thought 'uh-oh. this is gonna be difficult!' I mentioned it to someone and she said "hm, I kinda like taking class on an empty stomach sometimes. feels a lot lighter..." I don't know if it was the power of suggestion or something but I had more energy in class than I had had in a very long time! it made me rethink my whole approach to eating before class.

before then I would eat a half cup to a cup of brown rice with 3 egg whites about 30 minutes to an hour before class. it seemed to work fine but after that experience I'm more inclined to eat very little before class. that was, of course, in the evening and I had had a decent lunch. so even though my stomach was growling I must have had some nutrition in me from the earlier part of the day or something.

I digest food too slowly for much more than a shake, I think.

yeah... i have areally hard time with this sometimes.  our workouts are 2 hours, but if i go to the begginner/ kid's workout with my daughter, i can't count on the intensity, and she sometimes only lasts an hour.  so i hesitate eating before hand... also i have memories of being physically ill during workouts as a kid from eating to close to the work out.  but on the other hand, workout starts at 7:00 and goes to 9:00 or 9:30...especially if i have my kid with me, i have mixed feelings aobut food that late, but after a workout that long.  hense setteling for a light dinner (that we can scarf down between 6:00 and 6:30 to leave in time to get to the dojo) and icecream after.  maybe i'll start bringing chocolate milk to the dojo with us to drink on the way home instead...

I have distinct memories of chili cheese fries just not being a good idea, on the same day as any class...didn't vomit but I did NOT feel good even though it was a few hours later.  I do find that I need at least an hour to digest real food before a class, preferrably 2 hours, otherwise I feel sluggish/tired/ill.

I complicate matters by going to dance classes or out dancing after most of my BJJ workouts.  I just got a bunch of the snack sized chocolate soy milks at costco, so I'm going to try taking one of those frozen for after my class.  I have to keep Luna and Clif bars handy in my car just in case I forget to eat.