Hi there everyone! This is the first of our in depth blog posts covering some topics we’ve made short posters for, to bring you more information about the tattooing and piercing processes, the dos and don’ts, and other general information that can help you get the best experience possible out of your time with us, and the work that you get done. As always if you guys have any suggestions, or if you have any requests for topics to be covered, ask away and you shall receive. Let’s get into it then.
Eating before your tattoo (or piercing) appointment. What makes this so important? When is the appropriate time to eat? What should you eat? All great questions and I’m going to go over all of them.
Eating is incredibly important, and to be quite honest is capable of making, or breaking, the quality of your tattoo experience. This is especially true if you’re going to be getting a lot of work done in one day. It’s important to remember that while you’re getting tattooed, your body is undergoing constant physical trauma, damaging your skin over (sometimes) a large area. In order to maintain a good feeling while you’re going through all of this to ensure your body has the energy to push through it, just like with exercise. When you’re getting tattooed, on a biological level you are going through your fight or flight responses and this absolutely shreds through energy. Lots of it. As your body kicks into this mode it will start burning through whatever sugar stores you have in your blood, then it will start to use whatever stores are in your muscles. Once you run out of those, if you don’t have additional calories that your body can tap into (such as a meal the night before) your tank hits that big ole’ “E” symbol, and you start to feel like total crap, or you pass out.
Moving onto when and what you should eat. This is a two part answer, as you should have a good meal the night before with a good helping of carbohydrates (all carbohydrates turn into one of many different forms of sugar in your body so this is the energy), and some protein, as well as making sure you are well hydrated before going to bed. Then you need to repeat the same thing the day of your appointment 1-2 hours before you head into the shop. Doing a solid double tap like this will ensure that you feel great throughout your entire appointment (if it’s a really long one make sure to bring carb loaded snacks such as a granola bar, a soda, candy bar, whatever) and believe me it makes a world of difference.
Then for the last step, follow up on this with a nice well balanced meal after you get home from your appointment to give your body all the energy it needs to start the recovery process, and it’s smooth sailing from there. Just be sure to follow your aftercare instructions, and repeat as needed! Eat them carbs guys and we look forward to seeing you!