Question about eating before working out. What??

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

THIS!

AND, very important...DO NOT EAT ANYTHING HIGH IN FIBER BEFORE A RUN. Unless you want to hide in the woods to take care of business if you know what I mean! I run long runs once a week (10+) and have learned that lesson. Stick with something that has good amount of protein and carbs. Runners World suggests oatmeal but I disagree. Even that has too much fiber for me. My best bet for long runs is a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and a banana for breakfast then run about an hour later.

ADD: I do consume a lot of calories for breakfast on long run days, so if you're not running that long, perhaps cut that amount in half that I mentioned. :-)

SO true! I actually can't do a banana before long runs, it has the dreaded fiber affect on me. I stick to half a bagel with some peanut butter and a couple slices of turkey bacon (or something like that) before long morning runs, I can't have too much on my stomach before those.

A little protein and carbs before, and protein, carbs, and salt (if it's a long cardio workout) are after. I usually try to get in about 150 calories before a workout. The suggestions here are good (nuts, fruit, whole grains). Some people can't handle dairy before a run, so watch out for that.

I saw this on another thread and thought it was helpful:
http://www.greatist.com/health/the-complete-guide-to-workout-nutrition/#

Excellent!!! this is just what i needed! Thanks

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

THIS!

AND, very important...DO NOT EAT ANYTHING HIGH IN FIBER BEFORE A RUN. Unless you want to hide in the woods to take care of business if you know what I mean! I run long runs once a week (10+) and have learned that lesson. Stick with something that has good amount of protein and carbs. Runners World suggests oatmeal but I disagree. Even that has too much fiber for me. My best bet for long runs is a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and a banana for breakfast then run about an hour later.

ADD: I do consume a lot of calories for breakfast on long run days, so if you're not running that long, perhaps cut that amount in half that I mentioned. :-)

SO true! I actually can't do a banana before long runs, it has the dreaded fiber affect on me. I stick to half a bagel with some peanut butter and a couple slices of turkey bacon (or something like that) before long morning runs, I can't have too much on my stomach before those.

Yup. Having a lot of fiber before working out is also bad because it slows digestion, which is great any other time of day, but when you're going to workout you need your body to get those nutrients quick if you're gonna eat beforehand.

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.

you could start with half a banana and see if that helps. Do you normally run on an empty stomach?

Before I run, I eat a banana or protein bar (usually a Luna bar) anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours before my workout. It seems to help.

Once you start getting into longer runs, watch out for anything that is high fiber...that can be hard on the stomach!

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

BUMP

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

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?

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