What's a good snack before exercise

[sheridan]

Hi All
I've started to go for walks or go to the gym during my lunch hour (usually 1pm to 2pm) during the week and I've been trying to keep my hunger at bay with an apple before I leave the office so that I can exercise without being too hungry, my issue is that an apple doesn't really satisfy my hunger whilst exercising. When I get back to my office I then have lunch and by that time I'm really hungry!

My question is, what are a good snacks to have before exercise and how long before exercising should I eat it? I'm Type 2 on 1000mg of SR Metformin but a bit rubbish when it comes to knowing what to eat.

Thanks, Sheridan 🙂

 

[Martin.A]

I've never even thought about having something to eat before exercising but you could try a nut or protein bar - Nature Valley, KIND, or my recently discovered Plants brand, for example. Check out the nutrition panels though as the carb content varies a lot between brands and between ingredients. I look for 10% or thereabouts, and ideally less than that.

I do a pre-lunch 20 lengths of our pool twice a week and am always more than ready for lunch afterwards, even to the extent of heading to our favourite cafe straight afterwards rather than waiting until I get home.

 

[helli]

Have you thought about swapping your exercise and lunch?
Quite a few people write about going for a walk AFTER eating to help with their BG spikes.

 

[sheridan]

I've never even thought about having something to eat before exercising but you could try a nut or protein bar - Nature Valley, KIND, or my recently discovered Plants brand, for example. Check out the nutrition panels though as the carb content varies a lot between brands and between ingredients. I look for 10% or thereabouts, and ideally less than that.

I do a pre-lunch 20 lengths of our pool twice a week and am always more than ready for lunch afterwards, even to the extent of heading to our favourite cafe straight afterwards rather than waiting until I get home.

Thanks Martin, I must admit that since being diagnosed I've tried to stay away from chocolate bar type snacks and indeed their aisle in the supermarkets but hadn't thought that the nut or protein ones would be better for me. I'll have a look at them next time I'm shopping, whilst trying to avoid the gauntlet of the Mars, Marathons and Lion Bars!

I must admit that it's the lack of energy whilst exercising that worries me too.

 

[sheridan]

Have you thought about swapping your exercise and lunch?
Quite a few people write about going for a walk AFTER eating to help with their BG spikes.

Hi Helli, I can certainly do that for the walking, but when I was a member of a gym many, many moons ago everyone told me not to eat within 30 minutes of going to one, so I guess I've always had that in the back of my mind. I'll certainly try "eat first, then walk" tomorrow lunchtime.

 

[Deb_l]

I must admit that it's the lack of energy whilst exercising that worries me too.

Unless you feel like you don’t have enough energy to exercise, the average person doesn’t actually need to energy load before performing exercise.

You hear people talking about carb loading for running but this is for the extremes of training, e.g. marathons or ultras. The amount of exercise a normal person achieves doesn’t require any specific boost that your body can’t take care of naturally.

 

[harbottle]

Have you thought about swapping your exercise and lunch?
Quite a few people write about going for a walk AFTER eating to help with their BG spikes.

That's what I do. Usually around 40 minutes afterwards.
Sometimes doesn't work, as I find that oats and lentils cause BG to rise 3 hours after eating them!

 

[helli]

I must admit that it's the lack of energy whilst exercising that worries me too.

Do you mean you are afraid that you might have no energy when exercising or you actually have no energy?

If it is the latter, I wonder what your BG is during exercise because a high BG can make me feel very lethargic and drained, especially when doing intensive exercise.

Another suggestion could be to take a nut/protein bar to eat on your way back from the gym to fend off the immediate hunger before you get to lunch.

 

[sheridan]

Thanks everyone for your replies and help, I guess I just hit panic mode for a while there!

I was kinda working on the advice from years back when I was a kid to not go swimming after eating or a few years later the people at the gym saying the same thing about the cross trainer, so I assumed that went for any exercise. I now eat my lunch (salad, sandwich or couscous) before I leave for the gym/walk then have a piece of fruit after I get back. This seems to work well for me, plenty of energy and no hunger pains. I've also re-introduced the odd nut bar too.

 

[Healthy2024]

Thanks everyone for your replies and help, I guess I just hit panic mode for a while there!

I was kinda working on the advice from years back when I was a kid to not go swimming after eating or a few years later the people at the gym saying the same thing about the cross trainer, so I assumed that went for any exercise. I now eat my lunch (salad, sandwich or couscous) before I leave for the gym/walk then have a piece of fruit after I get back. This seems to work well for me, plenty of energy and no hunger pains. I've also re-introduced the odd nut bar too.

Hey Sheridan, I’m an newbie and I’ve just seen your post 🙂 well done on your numbers reducing saw it in your signature. Can I ask what you did in April to July to get such a big drop? Well done!

 

[sheridan]

Hey Sheridan, I’m an newbie and I’ve just seen your post 🙂 well done on your numbers reducing saw it in your signature. Can I ask what you did in April to July to get such a big drop? Well done!

Hi Healthy2024, thank you.

Once diagnosed I was put on Metformin 2000mg a day which helped bring the level down but my diagnosis last April was the kick up the backside I needed to get me on a diet and stick to it! Initially I had about 4 stone to lose so decided to cut out as much of the “naughty” food, like cakes, biscuits etc as possible and also restarted the NutraCheck App I’d downloaded a couple of years earlier which helped me with calorie counting, but the app notes so much more like carbs, protein, fats etc. it’s easy to use, has a barcode zapper for quick food logging, you can add your own meals and log fluids. I also started walking more and joined a gym. I’ve found walking the easiest form of exercise as I can do that in my lunch break. One of my nephews encouraged me to go to a local ParkRun telling me lots of people walk the 5k courses now. It took me a little time to pluck up the courage to go along on the first Saturday morning but so glad I did as now I meet up with 5 ladies, who I met at the ParkRuns, and we walk and talk all the way round then have a coffee in the café after. I won’t lie, the first 2 stones were fairly easy, but I’ve struggled over the last couple of months as I got back into bad habits with eating cakes and biscuits again. I’m trying to get back on track now to lose the final 2 stone so I’ve challenged myself to just have a coffee and not a coffee and cake which is what I used to do and to give me an incentive I now save the money the cake would have cost in a pot which I’m going to donate to Alzheimer’s Society, since the beginning of the month I’ve saved over £30!

For me, diet was the key as I was, and still am, overweight but that isn’t the case for some people, getting active has helped a lot and obviously the medication has helped too. By losing the weight I’ve managed to reduce Metformin by half.

Good luck, there’s lots of information here on the forum and the learning zone which I’ve also found very useful.

 

[khalidfer]

Hi Healthy2024, thank you.

Once diagnosed I was put on Metformin 2000mg a day which helped bring the level down but my diagnosis last April was the kick up the backside I needed to get me on a diet and stick to it! Initially I had about 4 stone to lose so decided to cut out as much of the “naughty” food, like cakes, biscuits etc as possible and also restarted the NutraCheck App I’d downloaded a couple of years earlier which helped me with calorie counting, but the app notes so much more like carbs, protein, fats etc. it’s easy to use, has a barcode zapper for quick food logging, you can add your own meals and log fluids. I also started walking more and joined a gym. I’ve found walking the easiest form of exercise as I can do that in my lunch break. One of my nephews encouraged me to go to a local ParkRun telling me lots of people walk the 5k courses now. It took me a little time to pluck up the courage to go along on the first Saturday morning but so glad I did as now I meet up with 5 ladies, who I met at the ParkRuns, and we walk and talk all the way round then have a coffee in the café after. I won’t lie, the first 2 stones were fairly easy, but I’ve struggled over the last couple of months as I got back into bad habits with eating cakes and biscuits again. I’m trying to get back on track now to lose the final 2 stone so I’ve challenged myself to just have a coffee and not a coffee and cake which is what I used to do and to give me an incentive I now save the money the cake would have cost in a pot which I’m going to donate to Alzheimer’s Society, since the beginning of the month I’ve saved over £30!

For me, diet was the key as I was, and still am, overweight but that isn’t the case for some people, getting active has helped a lot and obviously the medication has helped too. By losing the weight I’ve managed to reduce Metformin by half.

Good luck, there’s lots of information here on the forum and the learning zone which I’ve also found very useful.

Hello, I hope everyone has a happy day. In fact, I want to thank you because your idea of saving the cost of cakes, collecting them, and donating them to the Alzheimer’s Association is wonderful and inspiring.

 

[JITR]

In a nutshell I found the solution to hunger before, during and after exercise was to have more protein at mealtime. Eliminated the need for snacks.

 

[Admiral Benbow]

Eat eggs. Eat them hard-boiled. I eat 1 egg for breakfast at around 8am and it keeps me going until 12pm. Then at noon I eat 1 egg a small bag of nuts and go play badminton for an hour, come back at 1pm and eat an apple and that does it for me until 5pm when I get my dinner consisting of fish, salad, beef, purple rice, a small sweet potato, half another egg, and endame. For dessert I eat more nuts, two small squares of dark 95% chocolate, and a mandarin orange. This is what I eat on a usual day and seems to work well for me.