Energy food before morning work out?

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What do you eat to give you energy before your morning workout? I get up around 6am, but I can't get to the gym till about 9:15am. I can't to eat a huge meal, just something small. I've been drinking this protein shake that I got from Trader Joe's 30-45 minutes before my workout, and I have more energy than I can imagine when I get there, but the cans are darn expencive.

Any suggestions? I'm open to making my own powder protein shakes, if anyone can recommend a good one.


TIA!

Replies

  • momof2winsplus
    momof2winsplus Posts: 137 Member
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    I eat two eggs with a piece of toast. Way cheaper.
  • TheMerryPup
    TheMerryPup Posts: 186 Member
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    1/2 a toasted bagel with 1 tbsp. raw peanut butter. 2 cups of coffee with light cream, (1/2 tbsp. each), and by the time I do my workout a few hours later I'm good to go.
  • Miche37
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    Oatmeal with blueberries. I don't get to the gym until about 9:30 (have to wait for the kids to go to school) and I used to go on an empty stomach and it was a struggle to work out hard. Now that I eat first, I have much more energy.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    What do you eat to give you energy before your morning workout? I get up around 6am, but I can't get to the gym till about 9:15am. I can't to eat a huge meal, just something small. I've been drinking this protein shake that I got from Trader Joe's 30-45 minutes before my workout, and I have more energy than I can imagine when I get there, but the cans are darn expencive.

    Any suggestions? I'm open to making my own powder protein shakes, if anyone can recommend a good one.


    TIA!

    If whey protein is too expensive try cottage cheese and some oatmeal.

    Before I lift I eat, whey protein shake with 1 cup of oats and 1 serving of natural PB

    Stay away from the cans, they're overpriced and often low quality anyway. Ordering online is your best bet, like Bodybuilding.com. Good brands of whey protein:

    - Optimum Nutrition (ON) Gold Standard 100% Whey
    - Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion
    - MusclePharm Combat Powder

    just to name a few... there are others.
  • sslloyd5
    sslloyd5 Posts: 6 Member
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    I TOO ALWAYS AM TRYING TO FIND A LOW CARB ENERGY BOOSTER THAT WON'T MAKE ME CRASH LATER.
    Today I had a cup of Tazo Awake Tea with splenda and peanut butter on a sandwich thin before working out and then had my breakfast post workout that is like a mid-morning snack.
    Do you mind sharing the Trader Joe product that you use?
    BTW, they have the best honey Greek yogurt.
  • Koketa0510
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    Oatmeal with blueberries. I don't get to the gym until about 9:30 (have to wait for the kids to go to school) and I used to go on an empty stomach and it was a struggle to work out hard. Now that I eat first, I have much more energy.

    Same here.. I add bananas, 1/3 cup of greek yogurt, oatmeal and make a smoothie out of it.. thick smoothie but it's been working for me.
  • Michele7091
    Michele7091 Posts: 256 Member
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    I eat two eggs with a piece of toast. Way cheaper.

    Ditto...I'm having this tomorrow morning before I head to the gym...inexpensive, quick, filling, & tasty!
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    I've tried dozens of powders, and some are amazing, some are just...like flavored flour.

    Regardless, I usually stock up on what's cheap, and have picked up a few tricks to make ANY flavor/brand taste decent.

    Adding a frozen banana will give it a great texture, sorta like a milkshake.

    Cottage cheese + sweetner will give them a cheesecake flavor. (add cocoa, vanilla , cinnamon...virtually anything here).

    Instant coffee to chocolate whey will give you an iced cap flavor.

    You can pretty much tweak it into whatever you'd like. Peanutbutter + berries is a decent PB&J.

    If you luck out, your local (whatever) store may have some on sale. A few times our Walmart had $25 tubs for $5. I even recall $50 ones for that low.

    Otherwise a handful of sites have daily deals where you could pickup a tub or two. Check a site like amazon, or even google reviews on the flavors if you're leary.

    The best part about whey is getting creative and using it for cooking.

    I highly recommend it for a $0.25-$0.50 snack, or meal. Again, if it's too costly, I won't buy it. If you want it as a meal replacement, add a few healthier things to it to up the calories.

    :)
  • suzgyo
    suzgyo Posts: 29
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    Eggs or small bowl of oatmeal or any good whole grain bread
  • Anomalia
    Anomalia Posts: 506 Member
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    I eat toast with hazelnut butter, so good!
  • plushkitten
    plushkitten Posts: 547 Member
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    I have a citrus fruit, 1 oz of almonds, and either a hard boiled egg or a morning star sausage patty.
  • ahealthy4u
    ahealthy4u Posts: 442 Member
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    I drink prepair before I work is what I do. If I eat before I work out it makes me feel sick for the rest of the day even if eat a banana.
  • Jellyphant
    Jellyphant Posts: 1,400 Member
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    Whole wheat toast with peanut butter or raspberry preserves. When I'm in a hurry, just a medium banana. I workout from 7ish to 8am. Does the job. :)
  • sportyskylar
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    oatmeal is my absolute fave. its perfect because carbs are great before a workout, and it keeps you full and satiated :) = GREAT EXERCISE
  • MegaByte81
    MegaByte81 Posts: 11 Member
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    I've tried dozens of powders, and some are amazing, some are just...like flavored flour.

    Regardless, I usually stock up on what's cheap, and have picked up a few tricks to make ANY flavor/brand taste decent.

    Adding a frozen banana will give it a great texture, sorta like a milkshake.

    Cottage cheese + sweetner will give them a cheesecake flavor. (add cocoa, vanilla , cinnamon...virtually anything here).

    Instant coffee to chocolate whey will give you an iced cap flavor.

    You can pretty much tweak it into whatever you'd like. Peanutbutter + berries is a decent PB&J.

    If you luck out, your local (whatever) store may have some on sale. A few times our Walmart had $25 tubs for $5. I even recall $50 ones for that low.

    Otherwise a handful of sites have daily deals where you could pickup a tub or two. Check a site like amazon, or even google reviews on the flavors if you're leary.

    The best part about whey is getting creative and using it for cooking.

    I highly recommend it for a $0.25-$0.50 snack, or meal. Again, if it's too costly, I won't buy it. If you want it as a meal replacement, add a few healthier things to it to up the calories.

    :)

    These are great ideas. I usually get the Walmart "vanilla" whey because I find it the easiest to add stuff. I usually throw in half a frozen banana and a bit of peanut butter. Sometimes some berries but I almost always use half a banana as a base. 1 benefit of the banana is that they help reduce cramping too!
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Are you lifting or doing cardio?

    If I'm lifting I'd have some egg whites with two slices of center cut bacon and avocado about an hour before.

    If I'm running a short distance, 5 miles or less, some egg whites and two slices of toast about an hour and a half before. Or something simple like a Luna or Luna Protein bar about 45 min to an hour before, depending on how much time I have.

    If I'm running longer distance, I'll have a couple of eggs, bacon and toast with some PB2 about two and a half hours before. Then a Luna bar around 45 minutes before. If its a run over 8 miles, I typically have two Clif Shot Bloks at some point during the run as well.