You eat alot
Since we're training alot more, that also means we're eating alot more too. If there was one thing I needed to fix up my diet and to start eating again, then it was picking up dance games again.
Truth be told, since I was blogging and trading alot, eating was the last thing on my mind. Since being sedentary and at the computer seated all the time, food became less of a necessity since I was barely burning any energy by getting up. Now that I'm playing ITG again, food suddenly becomes a central element again because it won't be possible to improve without it.
Dance games strike again to fix bad habits!
What's good to eat?
From my experience, a totally clean diet is no good. It lacks the volume in numbers needed for long stamina sessions and I would often find myself running out of steam before I could get properly warmed up, or I would peak and begin to lose momentum too quickly. As a result, I spent some time listening to my body and figuring out what it needed. Many of the high level dance game players have dirty diets that are high on carbohydrates, proteins, fats and sodium. They consume alot of processed food and not enough vitamins and minerals present in vegetables in fruits. Many of them also drink sweetened carbonated drinks, but very few consume alcohol.
This is a list of some things I came up with:
A mix of clean and dirty foods. Clean foods meet the vitamin quota needed and dirty foods meet the macros needed for long sessions of play.
For example, eating raw vegetables alongside a pepperoni pizza.
Large quantities of milk and juice, often with protein powders
Food substitutes such as Soylent and Jake are also popular
Clean carbohydrates such as rice and pasta do not seem to be as effective. High fat foods such as french fries and burgers seem to provide the best levels of sustenance.
No alcohol
Heavy meals before play also seem to be effective. Light meals have limited mileage
Only drink water during play. No soda, energy drinks, flavored waters or milk. Pulpy juice consumed sparingly seems to be okay and sometimes helps keep the stomach full. I like to consume it with water to thin it down.
Milk only ever after playing. Fats, proteins and carbs are desperately in need after exhaustion.
A banana before playing also seems to helps
It is unknown if sugary foods such as desserts are effective. I don't have much experience with them as I don't eat them very often in any case.
These foods are the result of a number of years of experimentation and observation. They seem to be the kinds of foods that worked the best for me, and there are some common threads between them and other high level players. I'd like to experiment more, particularly with meal substitutes, but that will require more time.