Best thing to eat post 5am workout?

Melaniec78

Ugggh I meant PRE WORKOUT but already posted this. Sorry!!!!!

Let me give you a little backround for some good answers. Any suggestions are appreciated my mind is drawing a blank.

I get up literallly 5 mintues before I go to the gym 5am blah so no time to make my protein shake or drink it
I do 30 minutes elliptical and about 25 on strength.
When I come home I have a protein shake with half a banana and then guzzle a cup of coffee.
Last weekend I went to the gym midday and was able to work out a million times harder than I do at 5am and my only conclusion is because I had food in me.
So what can I eat in like 2 minutes that will give me enough energy without too many carbs that won't make my belly be rumbly for more food before I get home and also won't make my calories suffer the rest of the day.

Thanks in advance!!

BrianSharpe

Pretty much anything that will give you a boost that quickly would be have to contain simple carbs, a protein shake is useful for recovery but consuming immediately before working out won't do much for you.

The reason you had a more intense workout at midday was probably a result of the energy from breakfast being available as fuel.

denise33027

Why not drink that protein shake on the way to the gym???

nml2011

Drink a coffee on your way to the gym... it's all you need.

Chief_Rocka

red bull

Isaanne

I do the same thing - at the gym by 5am and usually do both lifting and cardio, some days just cardio.

I have always made sure to have a pre-workout shake. Protein powder and water was what I did for a while - in a blender cup so I mix and am shaking the cup and drinking it on the way to the gym. I lean on the protein powder as I am trying to get more and more protein in my diet so having it as a pre-workout as well as post made sense.

Recently I have been mixing in coconut water with the protein powder to get the carbs mixed in and it seems to balance my electrolytes and absorb the protein more.

My workouts are even better now. If I am out of coconut water (I buy it by the case now) I use water and it is fine.

Once I went for a boot camp type workout later in the morning and had had coffee ( I am a huge coffee drinker) and felt sick to my stomach so for me that does not work so well.

BerryH

If you don't have time to make coffee or a protein shake before the gym that rules out most things! Have your coffee on the way to the gym with some sugar in maybe - it's favourite of runners who swear it kick-starts the fat-burning process. An energy drink would have the same effect if you really don;t have any prep time. Don't worry about getting a rumbly belly - once you start working out you'll have glucose in your blood stream and won't feel hunger until you finish.

If you're hard-core, other early-morning running buddies get up at 4, have some porridge then go back to bed for an hour before they run.

Or, you know, get up 5 minutes earlier :flowerforyou:

Melaniec78

I was thinking about doing protein shake before and after and just making it with water instead of my usual high protein milk to cut the calories down but I don't think your body uses protein immediately?

And I have thought about having my coffee before instead of after but 1. that is my 20 minutes of relaxation before another crazy day starts and 2. I am always super dehydrated and dry mouthed in the am and thing that would make it worse.

fit4life76

How about a handful of almonds or a banana?

happycauseIride

I'm not a coffee drinker so instead of drinking water during my work out, I mix in a Crystal Light Energy packet in my water bottle. It's 10 calories, has caffine in it and adds a little flavor. If I'm feeling really tired, the healthy thing would be a banana, but I try to save that for my smoothie after my work out or I have also eaten 1 Hershey's Dark Chocolate square with Almonds. It's only 40 calories.

RGv2

GNC Lean Chew on the way.

BerryH

And I have thought about having my coffee before instead of after but 1. that is my 20 minutes of relaxation before another crazy day starts and 2. I am always super dehydrated and dry mouthed in the am and thing that would make it worse.

Unless you drink 5-7 cups of coffee a day, coffee has been proven not to have a diuretic effect, so the water in it will hydrate you as well as the same amount of water, thought it might not have the same hydrating "mouth feel" as water. No reason you can't then sip water during your workout.

ejwme

I swig a few mouthfulls of OJ, or eat an apple or banana (OJ is preferred, apple is too heavy, banana is less heavy). It's not as great as having a full breakfast and midmorning snack in me, but it stops the "oh dear god why is the road made of sand today?" feeling.

One thing you might consider, depending on what you put in your protein shake and how long your drive/walk/bike ride to the gym is, make the shake the night before and stick it in the fridge. Personally eating something that dense less than an hour before a workout (two before a hard workout), especially first thing, would make me hurl. BUT you might find you have no trouble - play with it. Just try to be very aware of what your body tells you, and respect it when it disagrees with your ideas.

Melaniec78

Thanks everyone for the replies. :flowerforyou:
I am going to try a few suggestions for a few days each and see what I like best.