I was playing a match yesterday and serving to win the first set tiebreaker, my team being up 6-4 (a first to 7 tiebreaker). I faulted my first serve and was bouncing the ball to take my second serve when I suddenly thought, “I'm really hungry!” Not where will I put this serve. Not how much spin should I put on this. Not even be calm and play out each point. No, I was thinking how I hoped we won the tiebreaker so I could go see if there was a banana on the snack table.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not what you need to have running through your mind when you are serving out the first set tiebreaker.
After we won that point (Yay!), and the tiebreaker, I found a banana, wolfed it down, and then went on, with my partner, to win the second set 6-2, and thus the whole match (of course, I'm going to throw that in there).
But my point here is – I think I need to come up with a better breakfast option for myself, especially on match days, so that I'm not just adding to my problems on the court by suddenly focusing on the need for food instead of the need to play out my match.
This morning was my first attempt at that. Just see the lovely photo above. This is a warm bowl of steel cut oatmeal with a little soy butter and soy milk mixed in, and topped with blueberries and cinnamon. Doesn't that sound good? Kind of bed-and-breakfast-y? I think the only thing that might have made this a bit more healthy and protein-ish was if I had mixed in some almonds or pecans but I didn't have any that weren't salted.
Here's my whole breakfast, including my Tinker Bell coffee mug:
And here's a shot of that mug, Front:
And Back:
The good news is that my family is beyond thinking that it is weird that I am taking pictures of oatmeal.
So I ate this breakfast at 8:00 a.m. (later than I usually eat), had a lesson at 9:00 a.m., did some errands, came home, and didn't feel hungry until about 11:30 a.m. Thus, the steel cut oatmeal breakfast lasted me about 3 1/2 hours. I think that's pretty good and I will use this breakfast on match days for awhile.
Do you have great breakfast suggestions? Let me know what you eat to make it through your matches.
© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved
Yeah, if you are in the middle of a tiebreak and you are thinking about what is on the food table, it might be a sign… ha ha.
Maybe you need to have a small snack ready in your bag for just before a match? I know packaged foods aren’t the best, but I keep a protein bar on me for emergencies when I am out and about. I eat every 2 – 2.5 hours.
The carbs are a good idea in your oatmeal, since it does help delay hunger, though.
Taking a small snack along is a great idea – I’m working my way through different bars right now, trying to find something I like that won’t melt in my bag. Could I eat this every day? Maybe if I changed the fruit up. I’m also a big fan of scrambled eggs so I’d have to work those in too.