Question about eating before working out. What??

poledancing_ninja

A glass of OJ is my go-to running fuel. When I run in the mornings I do so before breakfast so I drink oj. Last week I forgot and my run was awfully hard.

In the evenings I run before my evening meal but on 5-6 small meals a day I have the energy to do so

LeggyKettleBabe

I take my amino acid pills 30 minutes before a workout, seems to help with endurance and get a better calorie burn.

prettygirlhoward

BUMP

ahealthy4u

I use my Herbalife 24 prepare before my work out gives me a boost before my work out I cannot eat before I work out. It makes me sick so as soon as I am done I use my other Herbalife products such and Herbalife 24 Sport and rebuild and rebuild endurance.

To be honest it is really up to you and how you feel while working out on a full stomach I know if I did that I would be sick. Some suggest eating a banana which is good but bananas are high in sugar which can lead to ones feet hurting as well. Just play around with your food and see what works best for you. I know what works for me and it is my Herbalife 24 products from Herbalife.

karinefitness

Some ideas of pre-workout "meals" (cardio & strength training):
http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com/nutrition/other/preworkout-fuel

vidoardes

Just to throw my hat in the ring, I eat my breakfast before working out (so a bowl of cereal with semi skimmed milk, a small banana and a glass of orange juice) but I leave it half hour between finishing eating and starting my workout. I find it's long enough to get energy in my but also long enough so I don't feel sick when jiggling around and doing crunches!

heybales

So I have started the Couch to 5K program and a few people have told me I should eat about 30 min before working out to get more stamina. Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should eat? I really dont want to go the Red Bull or 5hr energy drink way. I am not a fan. Any advice would be appreciated.

Stamina for a short run won't be an issue - unless you are constantly running your glucose stores down by making that your primary source of energy.

How do you do that? - eat carbs all the time and keep your insulin elevated, that puts you into fat storage mode, so you don't use the fat for energy until carbs you ate are used and insulin drops back down.

But if you had not had an insulin spike, you probably would have burned 40-50% fat as energy, making your existing carb stores last even longer.

Some people put their systems into such carb burning mode you literally must keep it up or you will run out and hit the wall.
I've trained with people that have managed to make themselves "hit the wall" after only 45 min. That means you ran out of glucose in the liver, blood sugar has to go up to feed the brain, so muscle is going to get broken down for conversion. The muscles still have glucose in them at least, but that can't be put into the bloodstream for blood sugar for the brain.
You can usually literally feel this. Usually it happens on marathons by recreational runners going to fast, in which case you have actually run out of glucose in the muscles too, so now the muscle breakdown is for general energy use in addition to fat being used.

There is easy way, there is hard way. For short distance and effort, you can do it the hard way without any ill effects. By why?

cantobean

Do you workout first thing in the morning? If so, then you do need to eat first. A yogurt, some toast with butter, cereal, banana...it's up to you.

If you workout in the afternoon or evening and you've eaten during the day, you don't need to make yourself eat again half an hour before working out. Personally, I feel like crap if I eat anything less than an hour before working out. I might have a light snack 1-2 hours prior depending on how I'm feeling, but by the time I workout, I've eaten enough calories in the day to keep me going for a good while.


Everybody's different. I feel awful if I eat peanut butter before working out, but for some people, it works.

ttaylor68913

One sliced of whole wheat bread and 2 tbsp of your choice of peanut butter.

add 1/2 a banana sliced on top of this and you'll be good to go

KristyJoy123

One sliced of whole wheat bread and 2 tbsp of your choice of peanut butter.

add 1/2 a banana sliced on top of this and you'll be good to go

The BEST pre-workout snack!

dlyeates

I'm interested in this too. If I'm hungry one of my normal snacks is a fiber bar.

Good luck with C25K!! I finished it in March and I actually don't mind running now. I use the term running very loosely since I'm only doing about a 4.9 on the treadmill!! But at least I'm doing it!!

sarahkatara

I was thinking bananas too but wasnt sure. I dont want anything massive but just a little something to see if it truly does help.

If you get cramps at all in your legs, a banana is the answer! eat one after your workout and the potassium helps the cramps. I used eat a medium size banana after every run until my legs were conditioned properly. for before hard workouts i generally do a string cheese with a piece of fruit or a big glass of milk, usually chocolate milk. the glass of milk ALWAYS holds me over. Good luck!

Melanie12081

One sliced of whole wheat bread and 2 tbsp of your choice of peanut butter.

This is what I do, except I use the 45 calorie Sara Lee multigrain!

smerced30

I was told by the trainer that its good to eat at least 30mins or 1hr before working out and after a light snack (no fruits after 3pm) if you staying awake for 2 hours or more,(that means at night) That's because I go to the gym in the evenings... but also your meals depends on the type of workout routine you're doing.