What to eat.

Miles Long

K,

So I found myself in something of a predicament on Monday. I had just had a two hour lecture from 2-4 having only eaten breakfast about 12 or so. I was on my way into an hour of BJJ and an hour of TKD from 5-7 on an empty stomach. I had an hour from 4-5 to eat something, but what to eat? At my disposal was the Spar in DCU and canteen food. Oh and a smoothie place too. So the question stands: What, that is available in a shop, would be the best thing to eat 45min or so before training to get you through?

Millionaire

no expert , but when I would be in similar situations, I would go for a few bannanas, and load of water, or some similar fruit.

apparently melon when eaten on an empty stomach digests very quickly, but melon is akward to eat at short notice.

2 Bannana and an apple and get as much water as possible in.

cowzerp

As a personal trainer and nutritionist i would advise you to eat some fruit like ripe bananna with the black spots on it-or grapes,pears-or something like fig rolls or jaffa cakes-all good for energy and fast supply to your muscles

buck65

what about isotonic drinks?like Powerade?

cowzerp

isotonic drinks would be ideal for before during and after your sessions.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Water and since its only 45 minutes to training a simplex carb like Powerade. You don't really need to replenish your depleted nutients until PWO (Post WorkOut).

Next time you know you have a day like this you should load up on water during the day and both complex carbs, and nearer training simplex carbs.

Dan133269

cowzerp wrote:

As a personal trainer and nutritionist i would advise you to eat some fruit like ripe bananna with the black spots on it-or grapes,pears-or something like fig rolls or jaffa cakes-all good for energy and fast supply to your muscles

so is a banana with a few black spots on it more ripe than a firmer yellow banana? can't think of a better way to phrase that

FiannaGym.com

Yes, fruit becomes more and more ripe until it is rotten.

The blacker a banana the more patassium it contains.

I would eat a small peice of chicken, half a handful of nuts, half a smootie, half a litre of water and a banana. I'd eat the other half after training. Basically I would try and make a mini "full balanced meal".

IMHO any drink other than a smoothie or water (i.e. any drink mass produced by diluting a syrup in a factory) is a bad idea. Avoid all commercial iso/hyer tonic drinks - just get a litre of water, mix in a pinch of salt and 50mm of orange juice and your laughing.

Peace

Roper

I used to pre and rehydrate with isotonics all the time. They're grand for a quick fix, but anyone seriously concerned about their training should be hydrated enough throughout the day by drinking water so as not to need them. Plus most of them contain lots and lots and lots of sugar.

I would echoe what Pearse said. If you know what you're going to be doing that day then about ten minutes preperation that morning or the night before can save you going to the shop or crappy canteen. The heavyness you feel during training after eating is usually heavy carbs like bread or pasta just sitting in your stomach. Make yourself up something free of that the night before and you'll be laughing. Jaffa Cakes etc. are grand for instant energy and I often bring them to comps as a between fight snack, but realistically, are they really something you want to have in your diet as a pre-training food? What Pearse said above has bith energy and nutritional value.

Or you could go to the Spar and get a hot chicken baguette and spend the two hours feeling like a rock with legs....:D

Miles Long

Go Banana!

I never really liked the whole powerade thing, I just kinda didn't.

FiannaGym wrote:

I would eat a small peice of chicken, half a handful of nuts, half a smootie, half a litre of water and a banana. I'd eat the other half after training. Basically I would try and make a mini "full balanced meal".

Sounds like a good plan to me, thanks man!

arybvtcw0eolkf

FiannaGym.com wrote:

I would eat a small peice of chicken, half a handful of nuts, half a smootie, half a litre of water and a banana. I'd eat the other half after training. Basically I would try and make a mini "full balanced meal".

The OP asked about getting something in 45 minutes before training. IMHO thats way too much.

Most people won't allow themselves get caught short like that, however if I did and I was starving the most I'd risk is a banana or some simplex carbs like a mini chocolate bar or biscuit & then eat a proper meal post workout.

But thats all down to experience and what works for some people. But me, I wouldn't risk chucking a banana, chicken, half a smooth some nuts and half ltr of water over my training partners!.

Dragan

Mairt wrote:

The OP asked about getting something in 45 minutes before training. IMHO thats way too much.

Not really, sure the protein in the chicken and the fats in the nuts will slow digestion somewhat, but it is still a very, very small volume of food compared to what the stomach can handle.

I would always suggest a protein source before a workout, as a steady stream of amino acids into your system can do wonders for preserving lean mass during cardio/martial arts type activities.

aoa321

I realise this is slightly off-topic ... what's the story with nuts? I presumed they would be health food, I was going to have some at lunch the other day but I was amazed by the amount of fat in them - about 50%, although much less saturated fat - should they be avoided at all costs?

I'm trying to shed a few pounds over the next few weeks. I have breakfast in the morning of cereal and toast, and get through to lunch time on water alone. Lunch is all fruit, and in the evening a healthy "normal" meal, stew, or chicken and pasta, or chicken and rice. I might have a couple of jaffa cakes during the evening as a snack but that's it.

The nuts would have been a tasty bit of variety with all that fruit at lunch-time but the fat put me off, do you think I could have a small handful/

Dan133269

aoa321 wrote:

do you think I could have a small handful/

No! Now go to bed and think about what you did!

Dragan

aoa321 wrote:

I realise this is slightly off-topic ... what's the story with nuts? I presumed they would be health food, I was going to have some at lunch the other day but I was amazed by the amount of fat in them - about 50%, although much less saturated fat - should they be avoided at all costs?

I'm trying to shed a few pounds over the next few weeks. I have breakfast in the morning of cereal and toast, and get through to lunch time on water alone. Lunch is all fruit, and in the evening a healthy "normal" meal, stew, or chicken and pasta, or chicken and rice. I might have a couple of jaffa cakes during the evening as a snack but that's it.

The nuts would have been a tasty bit of variety with all that fruit at lunch-time but the fat put me off, do you think I could have a small handful/

No offence but your diet is ass!! Your undereating, waiting till nighttime to have your biggest meal and then packing in the carbs before bed time! This isn't really the place for an indept diet review but if you head over to Fitness Forum we will happily point you in the right direction.

FiannaGym.com

Mairt wrote:

But thats all down to experience and what works for some people. But me, I wouldn't risk chucking a banana, chicken, half a smooth some nuts and half ltr of water over my training partners!.

Exactly, and since you guys had given him the conventional wisdom I gave him another side to it. My metabolism is quite quick, partly down to the fact that I eat in the way ilustrated above. Plenty of small snacks of well balanced, high variety meals.

If I ate what you guys are suggesting I would be shaking with hunger within 45 minutes of training.

I suppose the difference is between an overall well balanced diet plan and a haphazzard patch up job. I'm often caught with little time to spare and little choice for food, learning to solve problems of this type is worth ten times the learning from books on nutrition and conventional knowledge.

It may only be two bites from a chicken breast, half a banana, a few nuts and a gulp of a smoothie to was it down, then some water. The portion size will depend on loads of things and we would all assume there's some cop on involved.

Quote of the topic: Karl Tanswell asked me "Do you often eat 14oz steak an hour before a fight?"

Peace

Khannie

Some nuts have a higher protein / lower fat content. It's worth checking. Peanuts weigh in at around 50% fat alright.

cowzerp

DONT eat protein straight before training as its hard to digest so is nuts of any kind-eat simple carbs-fruit-premiership players eat jaffa cakes at half time in matches as it digests real quick and they only have 15 mins to be ready-1 hour will be ok for some-not me personally'i need 2 hours..

Colm_OReilly

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Paleo for all your dietary needs.

As regards nuts, they're good. The hard and fast rule that fat=bad isn't so true. Animal and plant fats can be beneficial to your joints I believe. It's the grease you soak your fry in in the morning which isn't doing you any favorus.

aoa321, we'll be happy to help you with your diet. A lot of the guys on this board have very tough training schedules so a good diet is a must to prevent colds and help speedy recovery between workouts. Take Dragan up on his advice, the dude knows his stuff.

Colm

Dragan

Colm_OReilly wrote:

Take Dragan up on his advice, the dude knows his stuff.

Colm

Cheers Colm!!! I try!

cowzerp wrote:

DONT eat protein straight before training as its hard to digest so is nuts of any kind-eat

The main issue with digestion is always volume. Can you comfortable function with the ammount of food you have eaten in your stomach? As such, a few bites of chicken and a handful of nuts will not cost you anything, and such a low food volume is highly unlikely to cause cramping.

Instead, combine with the fruit juice and banana you get a nice slow digesting steady stream of amino acids and carbs into the blood stream to give a steady source of fuel during training.

Also, different protein sources digest at different speeds, chicken being on of the faster ones. For those not willing to go Paleo whey protein would be a great option in this situation.

However, as i have said before, for many people, Paleo and some forward planning is that way.