Snacks before Exercise
 

I think I put this in the right place...anywho... here's what I've got going for me. I'm the type where I have to eat 6 meals a day because of health problems, etc, and as I'm a college student, that's hard to do, so I like to have a snack and 3 medium sized meals instead... the snacks are easy for me to do, but my problem is figure out what snack is best for right before exercise... I'm trying to institute a low carbohydrate lifestyle, but when I do consume carbs, they tend to be the good carbs, such as oatmeal, shredded mini wheat cereal, which both have a lot of fiber. Anyways.... bottom line, I need a snack for right before the gym, preferably that I don't have to keep cold because I'm in class all day...would a Fiber One Bar, SBD Bar, or something of the sorts suffice? Or should I try something completely different?!

Thanks!
And sorry for my rambling on =]
Amanda

I was told by a trainer to eat fruit right before a workout to keep up your blood sugar, but not to eat a "meal" within two hours of exercising. I learned this the hard way by eating a hot dog and baked beans 45 minutes before a workout... never felt so horrible in my life!! I would think a cereal type bar, like fiber one, would be a good choice too, because the carbs will help fuel your workout.

I eat some combination of protein and carbs before I work out. Usually I have something like a sliced boiled egg on a wasa cracker - it's around 120 cals total and gives me the energy I need for the gym.

I"m not a big fan of nutrition bars or cereal bars ... I think they have too many calories for the nutritional bang they give ... but if you can find one that's pretty healthy, then that might be a good pre-workout option.

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When I eat before a workout, it is usually a slice of whole grain bread with 2 tsp (measured) of peanut butter.

I just tried that with a banana and felt great. I moved from 8 to 10 pounds on my lats.

Thanks for getting back to me everyone.... I was looking into the Fiber One Bars...high carbs (29g) but 9g of Fiber and 140 calories, doesn't seem like that bad of an option every once in a while.

I'm also a fan of fruit... I really like the no sugar added fruit cups, so maybe that should help.

And I'm definitely a fan of peanut butter, so the toast is a pretty good option as well, I could just do a PB&J sandwich with one slice of bread with sugar free jam.

There you go, I was just gonna suggest that a PBJ doesn't have to be 2 pieces of bread, especially for a snack, but you got it ;)

You could always try a low carb shake. atkins has some that don't taste too bad when they are really cold. Thats what I usually do before I exercise. Slimfast also has a low carb too. They are about 180 calories but I exercise 6 days a week 2 hours a day so it works for me.

Try a banana cut in half (lengthwise) and spread with peanut butter. I also like a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter and a banana - a very healthy "burrito" although the tortilla adds quite a few calories.

Just a quick tip. Look at your the ingredients on your PB, for the best peanut butter there needs to be at most two ingredients: peanuts and salt. Stuff like JIF takes out all of the great fats that are naturally in peanuts and adds saturated fats.

My pre work out meal is half an apple with a tsp. of Peanut butter.