Eating is probably recommended so that you have the strength to withstand the procedure, the pain probably won't be as bad? I don't know, I don't remember ever being told to eat before I had mine done, though, and I've never read about this. You can tune out the pain by keeping conversations with the artist (the best way), by focusing on pictures, photos, or even reading something if you're able to based on the position you are in. It only hurts the worst the first 5-10 minutes of the procedure, then your body gets more used to it. And it only hurts during the tracing part, putting the color in doesn't hurt much at all.