Rave Day Nutrition

With festival season fast approaching one thing to keep in mind and prepare for besides having the best costume or weirdest totem is rave day nutrition! You need to prepare your body for a wild weekend not only so you don't get ill but so that you're not so tired you have to leave the last day early!

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These are a few things to keep in mind and try to work into your schedule the weeks leading up so you can play hard and last all weekend.

Exercise

It seems pretty obvious but I always forget how physically exhausting it is to dance all day for three days straight! Not only are you dancing but you you're covering tons distance walking around checking out the stages, merch booths, plus the myriad of awesome art installations, trips across the grounds for the bathroom, hell even standing in line wears on you (which I've had to do for a few hours before). It adds up fast, you're easily covering a couple miles each night right there. I had a friend at EDC with a Fitbit and he had already doubled his daily quota of steps in the first hour with all the dancing and walking. Now I'm not as hardcore into fitness as I was 5 years ago but I still try to stay pretty active and exercise daily but I always wake up after the first day with a sore neck and sore legs. So if your not already in a routine or live a fairly sedentary lifestyle I highly recommend starting an exercise routine at least a month before the festival! You don't have to do anything crazy like logging hours in the gym daily, even just going for a 20 minute walk 3 times a week is a good place to start. I try to get in a good 30 minute sweat at least 4 days a week, but figure out what works good for you and go for it!

Foods

Not only is the physical stress of the weekend going to make you sore and stiff but it puts a tremendous strain on your immune system, coupled with being around thousands of people from all over the world, it exposes you to tons of bacterias and sicknesses. If your immune system is beat down its much more likely you'll be coming sick as well and thats not the lasting memory you want to have after an amazing weekend like that! Hand-in-hand with exercise for pumping up your immune system is eating some good foods! That sounds vague but I'm mainly referring to eating unprocessed foods. Try stay home and make some a meal yourself instead of going out or ordering in, incorporate more lean meats and fresh veggies into your diet.Try to cut out refined sugars, white breads, white stuff in general, especially in foods generally means it holds NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE. Go for the most color fruits and veggies to really load up on good nutrients. Removing soda and alcohol from your diet is a great start to, or at least cutting back on them. Don't try to cold quit all your bad habits at once as the stress will usually have you back on the wagon by the end of the week. Instead make slow changes, small attainable steps, that over an extended time will make large impacts. Like instead of quitting drinking all together start by limiting yourself to drinking no more than 2 nights a week. Try that for a couple weeks, if its getting pretty easily cut it to once a week, then after a couple more weeks, maybe to just twice a month... You get where I'm going and you can apply this to anything!

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So now the big weekend has arrived!! Hopefully you've been doing you rave day nutrition prep work leading up but here are a few things you can bring with you to help you power through the weekend like a champ!

Immune boosters! In most cases your not going to be able to bring these into the event unless your camping on site but you can have them ready to go at your home base for before and after the show. Its a good idea to bring along some immune

boosters like Emergency-C , Airborne, vitamin-c supplements. Electrolyte supplements can be great too, Zippfizz, gatorades, something with fast acting sugars to your body refuel fast. A cold beer is good for this too! :)

Probiotics! I now know from years of experience just how much greasy foods, alcohol, drugs, late nights, and a host of other unexpected things that can mess your stomach up over a crazy weekend, so I like to have a probiotic or digestive aid with me. Having something to help you digest tons of fatty foods, or settle your stomach after a wild night is a good idea! You don't want to be struggling to start your second or third day. I always bring these “Amazing Grass” brands of green supplements with me! Everyone is a little different though so I recommend trying some different things and going with what works for you.

It definitely also depends on what event your going to and where your staying. You might be a little limited on your options while camping at Tomorrow Land in Belgium versus staying at a beach condo in Miami for Ultra. So make sure to plan and prepare ahead of time instead of scrambling when you get there.

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On a final note for during the festival, you've heard it from everyone but STAY HYDRATED!! Luckily most festivals have free water stations and they let you bring in camelbacks! Take advantage of it, not only will you save buku bucks on not buying water at five dollars a pint but staying hydrated will help keep your soreness down and your immune system up! Nobody wants to end the day early carrying their friend off the grounds because they are so dehydrating they can't stand (happened to a friend of mine). Make sure to eat while you are there too, if you have been dancing for 5 hours and haven't eaten anything since before you left for the show, then that was probably 7 hours ago! Your pretty limited on what you can find at most festivals but find something you like or don't like, and eat it! You need to fuel that dance machine before it powers down early. Try to eat ever couple hours so you can maintain your energy throughout the day/night. Also try to eat something before you go to bed that night, pick up something on the way back or have something prepared. You will wake up the next day feel way better if you give your body something to rebuild itself while you sleep.