You know you’re going to spend the next few hours on the water and you want to be giving your best at each wave, and not have to come in when the tide is getting better just because you’re stomach is screaming !
You also know you’re gonna wear a harness if you’re a kiter or a windsurfer and you might get pounded in big waves or end up upside down.
So what is the best food you can have which gives you enough energy without making you feel heavy ?
Hi Sarah, for ‘normal’ healthy people a good breakfast with enough Glycemic load to deliver enough long lasting energy, but for me as a diabetic windsurfer it’s always a big puzzle. I don’t eat carbs so i have to go out and keep on measuring my glucose levels and i always take some fruit sugar(dextro) with me on the water. Windsurfing burns so much energy that i can almost do without extra insulin, so on the water is the only place where i am or feel healthy 
Umm…go easy on the Sex Wax.
Right before I surf, I like to drink a quart of water, and eat a cliff. That keeps me fueled up for a longer session in the water.
What’s more important is having an after-surf recovery snack in the car so that you can refuel right when you get out of the water. My favorite for that is one of my green protein smoothies:
Throw that in the cooler with some ice, and then you’ve got a great recovery drink after surfing, SUP’ing, etc.
What you eat right after you surf will really affect your energy for the next day’s session (or another later in the day).
If I’m in a rush (because the conditions are good) I’ll quickly prepare a bagel smeared with tons of peanut butter, maybe two if I’m really hungry. And water, but I find if I drink too much water before I surf my belly gets a bit sloshy.
I like @justin’s smoothie technique…
@justin What do you think about eating something like a burrito after an intense session - living in California, this is super common. I will sometimes feel a strong need of a nap after eating said burrito. Burritos have protein, carbs, and they can be massive in size.
Even with protein smoothies, right after a long, hard session, I also feel the need to nap (or have an espresso). I did a quick google search for this and this article The Meal Timing Myth?. Sometimes it’s most productive for us at our computers to eat that meal (but not too large), and then have that quickie 20 min nap.
There’s a lot of science that says that short naps are really good for our health and productivity:
But at a time when roughly one-third of people report not getting enough sleep, more naps, albeit short ones, might make for a more functional workforce, researchers say.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323932604579050990895301888
