Best foods to eat pre exercise

[SerenityNowwwww]

So I have finally bitten the bullet and signed up for twice weekly outdoor fat fit camp.

Now I used to be quite fit and flexible, be able to eat anything in any quantity/combinations then zip off for a long run, swim or bike ride and be absolutely fine.

The first session was Saturday and ‘easy’ as it was the first one. I thought I was fine - didn’t ache or feel out of breath - but by the time I got home I thought I was going to vomit, pass out and/or drop dead. I had to have a lie down! I slept like a lot that evening too.

This can’t be normal (although DS tells me it’s not unusual)!

Next class is Wednesday. Should I have something to eat a couple of hours before? Have a cup of tea? Glass of gin?

How bloody embarrassing...

Porridge before, and then a cereal bar in the car for straight after - that's what I do for a club cycle.

So what made me feel so sick? I have never felt vomity (like car sickness) after doing a wussy wee bit of exercise (it really was tame!).

Did you drink a lot of water during class?

About 500ml if water. It was early so I hand made breakfast.

‘Hand made’? Hadn’t had...

Yeah, eat something and see if it helps. I feel sick and sometimes even get an actual temperature if I exercise before breakfast. (Which is a pain because apparently its a good way of losing weight!)

You want something to give you some energy at least an hour before. Porridge, bananas, dates are all good.
After, you need some protein, so milk, yogurt or a protein bar are good.
There's a theory that says chocolate milk has the perfect amount of protein for post workout.

Nothing apart from coffee if it's a morning session/class.
Only exception to that rule is if I'm running for more than 3hrs or so, in which case I'll have a banana.
If I eat before exercise I tend to feel sick throughout, so I eat more than usual the night before to ensure I'm well fuelled.

“...if I'm running for more than 3hrs or so...”

What 3 hours...THREE hours... must be some mistake. Humans definitely can’t run that long...

yeah we can, in the depths of marathon training!

Noooooo - everyone knows your ladybits will drop out... my grandma told me...

(Disclaimer - this was my grandma who was a nurse during WW2 - we used to joke that she probably offed more troops that Hitler 🙄)

Ha ha!!

A bit of peanut butter and /or banana on toast an hour before would help you, as would some caffeine too. Women's physiology means you can't do fasted cardio as well as men can (see research by Dr Stacy Sims in her book Roar). Also I'd have a protein shake or chocolate milk straight afterward. See how you go on your second session, it seems odd that you felt OK in the session but awful when you got home.

That book looks really useful and interesting, thank you for posting it MrsJamin. I've just read the free chapter on my phone and am about to find my kindle to read the whole thing. (It also reminds me a bit of the "Invisible Women: Exposing Data" book so far - it still never ceases to surprise me that women are overlooked like that in studies!)

It depends what time the class and you need to work out what works for you. I generally wake up hungry and struggle to exercise without breakfast. I can just about manage 5-10k run but I couldn't do a bootcamp. I usually allow 2 hours between food and exercise to make sure it's not going to come back up (or down!!). Toast or porridge / overnight oats should get you through a bootcamp. If it's really early then even something like one of those dried fruit nak'd bars might be enough to perk your blood sugars up to get you through.

One class is first thing and the mid week one is about 6. I can’t really eat ‘intense’ sweet foods (ie cheap chocolate or something heavy on dried fruit) - what I call ‘dirty sugar’ - as it makes my blood sugar go crazy.

@SerenityNowwwww glad you liked the chapter, there's a lot more to female physiology in terms of nutrition and sports / physical activity, Dr Sims says "Women are not small men" repeatedly in her social media as female athletes have been treated like small men, to date, but tailoring training to women's physiology has massive benefits eg how the USA football team use the women's cycles to plan training and nutrition has helped them to massive success. The app fitrwoman also has loads of information and guidance about how your cycle affects your diet and activity levels.