If eating before exercise please share what you eat

(Karen) #1

I exercise regularly and for the most part exercise fasted. I started CrossFit and decided to eat prior to workout to see if my strength and energy levels improved, which they did. This was when eating high carbs. Prior to workout I would make sure I had porridge and if eaten at least an hour before would sit well in my stomach. However, since keto woe I have gone back to fasting prior to the workout. I find I am feeling hungry where my tum aches a little and dont have as much energy or strength during class and can feel the energy depleting during the workout. I know that lockdown restrictions have played some part in the strength depletions but throughout lockdown i continued to do cardio by stair running over 100+ floors a day (in one set) and still doing that even before going to CrossFit class. I think I need to eat first but the thought of eating eggs or meat just makes me think I will throw up mid class!

So the question is for those of you who eat first, what food or meal suits your stomach? What do you eat?

For the record very fit 63yrs old female ā€¦ keto-ing since May this year and now just started to go carnivore. Not trying to lose weight.

N.b. I have read in another post that there is another transitioning period between keto and carnivore. Does it effect lung capacity? I do breathing exercises to help with lung capacity.

Sorry if this is in another thread, I have read all those on exercise and eating.

#2

As you already know, you always go further with more fuel in the tank! Me personally, I take in carbs before the gym. If youā€™re doing Crossfit youā€™d probably do better to do it that way as well since itā€™s really glycolitic. Youā€™re going to burn it all off by the end of the workout anyways. I either do a bowl of oatmeal, or English muffin with some peanut butter on it, or a protein ā€œsludgeā€ bowl, whey protein with just enough water or almond milk to make it mud, then throw a serving of oatmeal into it so Iā€™m getting some carbs and protein in prior. I usually do that once I wake up since Iā€™m at the gym 45min later in most cases. Itā€™s gotta be stuff that digests very well. You definitely donā€™t want to ā€œfeelā€ like you ate. I never felt an energy difference when I ate keto breakfasts before the gym. I never get sick of bacon and eggs, but never translated to better workouts either.

(Karen) #3

How did your stomach feel working out on keto breakfasts? I take it that would be something like bacon and eggs? I once ate eggs before CrossFit before going keto and quickly regretted it! Trouble with me is the thought of breaking the ā€˜carb ruleā€™ so to speak. I am an all or nothing girl and over the years had to give up drinking alcoho, eatingl chocolate you name it anything that sets me off munching and overloading/bingeing. Perhaps i should try a small steak for early breakfast. But then i would have to get up even earlier to get the stair runs out of the way first then eat and then workout! Lord it never ends for meā€¦ lol

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #4

Check my recent topic related to this. Search for Fatmax. I link two articles and Volekā€™s FASTER study which discuss how keto changes everything. You get much higher VOmax and fat burn while fasted.

#5

Felt fine, but unless I overdo it I seem to do good working out fed, always have. If you want to go with mostly protein then Iā€™d just do a whey shake or something. That way youā€™re getting in the protein but donā€™t have a hunk of meat in there to digest while your training.

(Karen) #6

Hmmm tried working out on shakes pre keto and it just felt choppy in my tum like being in a paddle boat on a rough sea! But thanks for the suggestion.

(Karen) #7

Thank you for the links ā€¦ gInteresting read ā€¦ perhaps a little too scientific for me and maybe going a little off topicā€¦ I was hoping to find out what exercising people eat if they do so pre workout that doesnā€™t have them heaving or feeling like they want to throw up?

#8

If you remember what you used, see if it was a concentrate, I personally like those better since they typically taste better (to me at least) and have the diary fats still in there, but some people have some digestion issues with them. May want to try an Isolate if it was. Plus, thereā€™s always other sources. RedCon1 makes a Beef/Chicken/Salmon Protein that tastes AWESOME! Little pricey though. Dutch Apple Pie is awesome! My wife thinks theyā€™re too sweet, I say amazing.

#9

I donā€™t usually eat in preparation for exercising, but when I do, it can be anything except peanuts, or yogurts, but in very small quantities, or I throw up. It was the same before keto. A piece of 86% chocolate is my favorite pre exercise snack. Like you, Iā€™m very fit and not interested in losing weight.

Iā€™ve come to accept poor performance and cramps since I started this WOE.

(Bob M) #10

@Corals That performance issue should change over time. For cramps, up your salt content ā€“ a lot. Drink pickle juice or olive brine. You can also try magnesium, maybe potassium. If necessary, you can do a TKD or CKD or add smarties or other carbs.

@Karen18 If youā€™re going to eat carnivore, thereā€™s not much you can eat period, let alone before exercising, if youā€™re a strict carnivore. It would be what meat can you eat?

Personally, Iā€™d find some kind of liquid energy drink and try that. Something like this:

Only tailored for your exercise.

Caveat: I only drink coffee before I exercise. Thatā€™s it. Used for work out after fasting 32 hours ā€“ all the time. Never had an issue. Tried a TKD and thought it was OK, but I only work out 3 days a week. Not useful for that.

(Robin) #11

Wow, 100+ Floors of stair running a day! I should be asking your advice. And even though my workouts consist of an hour on the rowing making and walking the dog, I will say I use cream cheese and celery before exercising if I need to. Itā€™s a nice bland creamy crunchy snack, and maybe a few almonds.

(Karen) #12

Perhaps I should try hard cheese before, like you sometimes have chocolateā€¦ I havenā€™t eaten chocs and sweets for some years now due to my bingey nature. I had a fairly good workout this morning and thought my strength was returning after the lockdown break but tomorrows workout could be back to like wednesdays lol. I ate lamb chicken and fish yesterday and got my calories in so that may have made a difference plus was able to get on the 10am class this morning which is my happy workout time! Sometimes I canā€™t book that class in time before itā€™s full and end up on the 11am class. ā€¦ oh also because I couldnā€™t get booked on a class at all yesterday I may have just needed the rest?

(Karen) #13

Is that a whey protein? And what is TKD? I stopped coffee about 3 years ago due to it raising my BP which I take ramiprill for. The doc said not to worry about the coffee as there wasnt a lot to tweak in my diet at that timeā€¦ just to watch salt intake but when I drink coffee it has to be black and strong enough to stand a spoon up in it and I would drink too much of it!!! Before giving it up I would always drink it before my workouts.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #14

Maybe a chunk of cacao butter (aka cocoa butter) rather than cheese. A smaller piece would deliver more energy at less digestive cost. Plus, it tastes a little like chocolate

(Karen) #15

Yes the stair running started on 1st May 2020. The previous month was a home challenge of 100 burpees a day which I managed to get down to 9 mins 22secs . Then I just thought what can I do that I will just keep plodding on with every day and stair running was, for me a natural choice. I just didnā€™t have enough room to do all the CrossFit wods my team leaders put on wodify for us and i am techno phobic so when they started doing zoom and skype classes they werenā€™t an option for me. My son-in-law just happened to say if i did an average of x amount in so many days I could run up Everest snowdon or whatever mountain so that just motivated me. So it was that I have done the 100+floors (which amounts to 1000ft+) a day ever since. I have run up and down the equivalent of Mount Everest 29030ft, kilimanjaro 19340ft, K2 28250ft, Mauna Kea 33550ft and Olympus Mons 72000ft . Finished the last one on 12th of this month and still stair runningā€¦ not chosen another mountain, I may just keep going now till May 2021 to challenge myself to do it for a year. I am known at work as the mad woman lol

(Karen) #16

@Michael ā€¦ If I liked chocolate I might do that but having not eaten it for so long I donā€™t even like the smell of it now. I think it is going to be a case of trial and error.

(Edith) #17

My exercise is not intense like Cross Fit, but I find a couple pieces of bacon pre-workout seems to work fine for me.

(Roberta Worley) #18

Iā€™ve always exercised after eating. When I lived on back in WI, we worked up an appetite prior to eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I went to Basic, we didnā€™t eat until after PT. It was the same when I was sent to my permanent duty station.

Iā€™m a 56yo female that has not stayed in shape. Not even one iota. But I will say this: eating breakfast post work out works very well with intermittent fasting. Now my non traditional workouts involve my soon-to-be twelve yo Border Collie who will bark at me as though heā€™s my DI. I really ought to get him a brown round. LOL

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(Roberta Worley) #19

As far as eating is concerned, I have coffee with non homogenized milk, butter and a shot of SweetLeaf Vanilla Creme Stevia Drops. As far as eats are concerned, hereā€™s some of the recipes my husband and I enjoy:

Easy Taco Salad by WholesomeYum
Grain Free Meatloaf with Homemade Ketchup (this ketchup is a hands down winner in our household!)
Homemade Ranch Dressing by The Pioneer Woman
Instant Pot Beef Stew - I reduce the amount of carrots and use turnips instead of potatoes but have yet to try celery root ($4.99/lb!)
Crustless Broccoli Quiche
Baked Lemon Turmeric Chicken
Homemade Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties
Homemade Beef Breakfast Sausage Patties
Hardboiled Egg and Avocado Salad
Caprese Salad
Tomato Basil Salad
Breakfast Skillets
Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Oven Baked Cauliflower Rice (WellFed)
Green Beans with Slivered Almonds
Fried eggs with a side of fried turnips and chicken sausage patty
Cheesy Cauliflower Skillet
Steak
Cabbage noodles
Steamed broccoli
ā€¦

I believe we are better and more well fed than any other ā€˜die with a tā€™ weā€™ve been on!

(Karen) #20

I take it you donā€™t do intensive workouts after eating those foods???