What to eat before the gym

[iamthattree]

I go first thing - around 7 and it's mostly strength training.

I have a pt session once a week and today I felt properly dizzy and had to stop. Not the first time I've felt off tbh.

I have always done fasted exercise previously but it used to be more cardio based. I do feel sick if I eat too much though.

So far I have tried I slice toast and peanut butter (felt very very sick) and half a banana (less sick but banana burps!).

Only has to be small, just enough to give me enough to boost. And veggie pls.

I strength train with Caroline Girvan and I never eat before. Protein and vegetables after.

Anything with protein... boiled eggs?

A smoothy with yoghurt, oats & fruits... about 45 min before exerciseing works wonders for me. I usually have only a glass of water with freshly squeezeed lemon juice afterwards and eat at "normal times".

I have overnight oats, a mix of 25g oats, half a grated apple, protein powder, cocoa powder, milk, greek yoghurt. I was having more i.e. 40g, but I was too full. Ideally you want something with fat and carb and protein or you burn the carb too quick. Sometimes I vary it and do hot porride with pears.

I also eat a good dinner the night before i.e. complex carbs.

Protein shake or bitesize flapjack

Greek yoghurt, berries, honey. Maybe some granola ?

I can't eat immediately or I feel sick, but like you can also feel dizzy or sick with nothing at all. In your case if you can eat at 6am or earlier (depending on what time you get up) have what you usually would for breakfast.

If immediately before exercise, or time constraints, I have fruit (small mixed bowl of melon, apple etc) and coffee.

I eat cereal if I'm going early. I get up 1.5-1 hours beforehand to eat and make sure it's digested enough.

I sometimes have a yoghurt but often have nothing

I do a 6.15 am HITT class. I have a banana beforehand, and 2 poached eggs and a slice of toast or overnight oats.

I recently ran a 5k/ parkrun pb fuelled on a glass of orange squash (full sugar). Fluid is the most important, and just having access to some easy, instant energy is easy on the digestive system.

Yes, it needs that time to digest really. Fruit, a little, is best if you have no time for that.

Though a lot of parkrun people I know don't eat anything before their run and go for breakfast afterwards.

I think it depends a lot what you're doing. I lift (like the OP) and I do lots of short heavy bursts which I wouldn't hit without the fuel. My lifts suffer if I've not fuelled enough beforehand.

In fact that might be an answer OP - do you fuel enough the day before? I eat around my training, so often eat extra the evening before to make sure I'm fuelled for the following day. I make sure I eat enough after a session so I don't end up hungry. It's not just what do I eat that morning as much as what I eat all the time. Always 3 meals plus snacks. If I let myself go hungry it shows in my sessions. It depends how intense your training is but only thinking of the morning before wouldnt work for what I'm doing.

I have overnight oats. I soak the oats in a cup of black coffee (stick with me, it’s not as disgusting as it sounds), then mix in Greek yoghurt, grated apple and some nuts. I find it easy to digest and has a good mix of carbs, fat, protein and caffeine!

Also very much agree with the comment above - what you eat the day before makes a huge difference too.

Thank you all. I am having a bit of a focus on my diet when I'm back from holiday do very interested in saying the night before impacts the next day. I think Monday night I had a choc ice!

For me I've found since starting lifting there's been a fundamental shift in how I see food, from something to be withheld to fuel for the amazing things my body does. And something controllable and changeable. If I need to cut weight I can do that but it'll impact on training. Or I can choose to fuel to get strong. And I can choose what I do when depending on my priorities. And it's very liberating. I love the muscles I'm building far more than longing for the flat stomach I might have had in my 20s. So if you're thinking about nutrition that's the bigger picture for where my thinking comes from.

Make sure you're drinking plenty of water too. I know it seems obvious but water before training is key.

If you can't stomach food before then how about an electrolyte drink or a clear protein? I have to leave a long time for my food to digest before training and sometimes I don't have time for food so can get by with an electrolyte drink or an energy gel.

When I have a session with the PT I eat 2 eggs, scrambled. That suits me and I cannot manage anything else.

I can't eat before PT/ spin. Always have protein after

Never eat before but I do drink High 5 zero instead of plain water

I can run (for say 40 mins) on nothing or very little first thing but for strength training I need food. I make a bread substitute with eggs, seeds and nuts and have that toasted with peanut butter and lemon curd. I train at 8am sometimes and just about manage with that at 7.15 (not huge quantity).

I’m ok doing strength stuff fasted but need a small handful of sultanas before running in the morning, that gives me energy without the full feeling

What time are you eating for that tiny amount of food to make you feel sick?

A bread substitute with eggs, seeds and nuts and have that toasted with peanut butter and lemon curd sounds both intriguing and delicious!

Recipe please 😎