I can not make pre- and post-WO timing work

[SusanB.]

Help! I need ideas and suggestions. (and I apologize in advance - I have a hard time being concise).

 

I have tried to look at this issue from different angles, but I just can't find an answer to make it all work.

 

I work out early-early morning. I do fine working out first thing on an empty stomach (started doing this when I was diagnosed with PCOS, and it works for me), however, not eating makes me run afoul of the eat within 60 minutes of rising rule.

 

Last 30, I would have a small handful of nuts in the car on the way to the gym, and consider that my "upon rising" food - since I didn't really need a proper pre-WO meal in terms of performance. I would have my actual meal1 at the office, post-shower. This is often 60-90 minutes post-WO, but I just can't stomach the idea of eating at the gym before I shower or something. If I hustle, I can get cleaned up and to work within an hour, but it's not easy (travel time is a big chunk of that). Not the optimal time to have a post-WO meal, but I wasn't noticing any trouble with recovery and it was definitely a matter of doing what I could do.

 

I am about to embark on another whole30, this time paying more attention to eating right for my hormones/PCOS. This go-round, I am trying to cut out nuts - while I could handle them in the AM, they became food without brakes for me at any other time of day, so having them in the house is dangerous. Also, with the PCOS, I know I would be wise to limit the Omega-6 that I'm taking in.

 

So if this was my schedule:

 

5:00 alarm

5:30 leave house, eat nuts in car

6-7 workout

7-8:15-ish shower and get to office

8:30 full M1

 

Where do I go from here? I really can't get up any earlier (even getting up at 5 is a struggle, since I'm a night person by nature, and a 9-10:00 bedtime is already a stretch for me). I can't change the 6am workout since they are classes. Eating at the gym sounds just pretty darned icky.

 

I don't even know what my question is, except maybe: is there something that isn't nuts that is small enough that I'm not trying to work out on too-full a stomach, but reasonable enough to satisfy the "upon waking" guideline? I hate the idea of eating in the car, but I was making that work with the nuts.

 

I have looked over the breakfast threads, and they're not helping much, because I think my question is more focused towards how to eat first-thing but still workout right after getting up.

[Krista Billows Rodriguez]

Hard boiled eggs?  Egg/meat/veggies muffins?  Egg salad with homemade mayo, easy to prep the night before and eat quickly.   A small portion of whatever you had for dinner?  

 

I haven't tried to do a W30 and have a strict work out schedule, although that will change March 1-yikes, getting nervous!  I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for my own inspiration.

[ultrarunnergirl]

Cook up extra chicken breast meat, stash in a baggie and take to the gym. Shower, then eat it on your way. You only have to eat a half meal's worth for your postWO protein.

[kirkor]

If it was me I'd skip the pre-WO meal and just make 8:30 your post-WO/M1

[LadyM]

I second ultrarunnergirl's suggestion. I've found that the post-wo muscle fueling is more important than the pre-wo food, and I, too, workout first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. 

 

Could you "stomach the idea" if you believed it would help you keep and build lean muscle mass and lose fat?

[SusanB.]

Absorbing all of these suggestions - thanks!

 

So....blow off the "eat within 60 minutes of waking" rule? That, specifically, is the one that I can't make jive with the workouts.

 

Sorry to have worded it all so badly - but that is really the crux of my issue. If I'm trying to eat better for my hormones/PCOS, is it wise to violate that rule?

 

If it was me I'd skip the pre-WO meal and just make 8:30 your post-WO/M1

 

This is exactly what I had been doing - nuts in the AM were an "upon waking" thing, not really a pre-WO by intent.

 

But....nuts are out. And, because of the immediate WO, nothing too heavy can really work in its place.

 

Cook up extra chicken breast meat, stash in a baggie and take to the gym. Shower, then eat it on your way. You only have to eat a half meal's worth for your postWO protein.

 

This is something I could do - but it would mean something like chicken in the car 7:45-8:00, M1 at work....I'm not sure when? (currently would be 8:15-8:30 if I left the gym at 7:45-8:00). Or make the chicken in the car be the M1?

 

Or, would you suggest the protein on the way to work and have the veg when I get there? Would stretch my eating window to almost an hour (with time to heat stuff up and the inevitable interruptions). Is that an okay thing to do?

[LadyM]

I would eat the post wo food as soon after working out as possible, even if that meant eating a few ounces of chicken breast in the locker room on the way into the shower. Then M1 will be an hour and a half after that, you'll likely be hungry for it, and you will have properly fed your muscles at the most opportune time.

 

Try eating a hard boiled egg within an hour of waking before working out. Try other foods that combine fat and protein. Then try eating nothing. See how you feel.

 

Each of us must experiment and find out what works for us. All of the best most well-meaning advice in the world won't be as useful to you as experiential knowledge. Give it a shot. Be open and patient with the process. And best of luck!

[SusanB.]

Hmm. Hadn't contemplated before-shower, but if I'm sucking up my gross-out factor and eating at the gym, then why not? I'll give it a try.

 

I'll see if I can find some sort of simple fat/protein combo to serve as my "within hour of waking" food. I can't do hard boiled eggs - I'm not a picky eater, but I have always found them revolting. Bought some beautiful local eggs at the farmers' market recently so that I could try again because it had been a few years....blech. Texture. Offered them to someone else, who exclaimed what a "really good hard boiled egg" it was. I wish I liked scrambled eggs cold out of the fridge. Maybe a meatball or two? Thinking of things I can eat in the car.

 

Maybe someday my life will accommodate cooking, eating, and exercise in a manner that doesn't include eating in the car, the locker room, or my desk. But until that time - I'm trying to make it work as best as I can.

[RuthintheDesert]

Frittata is good cold and can be eaten in the car.

[ladyshanny]

Each of us must experiment and find out what works for us. All of the best most well-meaning advice in the world won't be as useful to you as experiential knowledge. Give it a shot. Be open and patient with the process. And best of luck!

This is such an awesome statement....and the crux of Whole30!!!

[ladyshanny]

 I wish I liked scrambled eggs cold out of the fridge.

That sounds dreadful to me.  But in 30 seconds you can microwave some scrambled eggs.  I usually pop 2 in a bowl, fork them up, put in the microwave for 10 seconds, out and stir, in for 10 seconds, out and stir and then in until they are done, usually another 4-6 seconds.  Throw a bit of salt on top of them and done!

[LadyM]

A couple meatballs would be great pre-wo food. No one says you must eat eggs!

[Regina Runs Far]

I think you just need to play around with different foods and timing.  I don't have a morning timing issue like you do, because I work for myself and I have the ability to wake up and take the time to make a good meal here at the house, except for early long run mornings.  My issue is that once I leave the house for various appointments and my 2-aday workouts, I might be on the go all day and not make it home or anywhere for a good Meal2, and Meal3 will be at home, but often very late.  So, I tend to make a good  breakfast, and pack a little cooler full of various foods to eat throughout the day as I am on the go.  I love starchy vegetables as leftovers:  parsnips. sweet potatoes, rutabaga, carrots.............and I also like leftover chicken or pork or steak.  It is more difficult for me to get in the good fats on the go, but I will open up a can of tuna or chicken and mash it with avocado in a container, but I must have time to stop the car and eat it.  Hard boiled eggs have been good for me pre WO or really anywhere.  Post WO I have tended to eat sweet potatoes, and don't feel like meat right away, so need to work on that.  My big downfall is that Meal 1 is usually around 7:30 or 8am, and then sometimes I don't eat Meal2 until 1 or 2, and Meal3 until 8 or 9............so there can be snacking in between.  Sometimes Meal2 is eating while I drive around, so not enough veggies.............sugar snap peas and raw carrots plus other portabel items.  I think it just takes preparation, making enough food that tastes good cold the next day and is portable, and packing food for the day.  Good luck, and I hope you find the right mix for you! 

[SusanB.]

That sounds dreadful to me.  But in 30 seconds you can microwave some scrambled eggs.  I usually pop 2 in a bowl, fork them up, put in the microwave for 10 seconds, out and stir, in for 10 seconds, out and stir and then in until they are done, usually another 4-6 seconds.  Throw a bit of salt on top of them and done!

 

I have tried scrambling eggs in the microwave every which way (using different temperatures, and fluffing them up at different intervals), and I can't eat them no matter what I do. Something happens to the texture and they just don't agree with me. Hence, wishing that I liked them cold and could just eat them out of the fridge, but....ew.

 

I had to eat microwaved but then cold radioactive eggs for a lab test once, that was a joy. Erp.

 

There are so many appetizing compliant foods out there, I have to be able to hit on something to do the job. Today is day one of my third full 30 (with a 24-then crash and burn between 1 and 2). So now is the time to mess around with it I guess.

[ladyshanny]

I had to eat microwaved but then cold radioactive eggs for a lab test once, that was a joy. Erp.

 

 

 

That would ruin me from ever eating a microwaved egg again, for sure!  How about making a batch of meatballs with ground beef or ground pork and a batch of homemade mayo? Then you fork 2 meatballs in the morning, dip them in a bit of the mayo (if it was me I would dip them right in the jar to save dishes!) and you have your preWO.  Or cook a dozen or so chicken thighs, use one for preWO wiht some avo or mayo and use one post workout with some sweet potato?

[cinagain]

I think the "eat within an hour of waking" rule is more to stop the non-breakfast eaters from waiting until noon for a first meal.  Or for those people content to grab a cup of coffee and call that breakfast.  It's to set up the biological rhythm of "breaking fast" and then 4 hr intervals between meals.

 

So you're not not eating (did that make sense?) because your hunger is off.  You're not eating because you're working out.  Personally, I think it's healthier to work out, clean up, go to your office and have an ENJOYABLE, healthy relaxed M1.  Trying to stuff down a boiled egg in your car or a chicken breast in a baggie doesn't sound very much like the spirit of W30 (nourish your mind and body with good food).

 

Now, if you need something small pre and post workout, that's different...but that's also dependent on the intensity of your exercise.  If you're working at a high intensity, lots of lifting, etc, you might need something pre and post wo...but if it's moderate exercise, you might not.  You have to judge that by how you feel, your performance, etc. If you do need it, pack a small PWO meal for in the car, then eat your M1 when you get to work.

[SusanB.]

 

Now, if you need something small pre and post workout, that's different...but that's also dependent on the intensity of your exercise.  If you're working at a high intensity, lots of lifting, etc, you might need something pre and post wo...but if it's moderate exercise, you might not.  You have to judge that by how you feel, your performance, etc. If you do need it, pack a small PWO meal for in the car, then eat your M1 when you get to work.

 

This is pretty much the mindset I was going with last time around, and I really thought that it was working for me. But for the little part of my brain that said "wake up the hormones", I had a handful of nuts.

 

My workouts are generally fine on an empty stomach (maybe that will change as I get more fit and up the intensity? I don't know, I always worked out on an empty stomach when I was super-fit a while back). But trying to eat as best I can for my PCOS means paying extra attention to the hormonal issues involved.

 

I will experiment with meatballs for sure though. I could probably have one or two cold before leaving for the gym and be OK.

 

Thanks for the input, all.

[kirkor]

My workouts are generally fine on an empty stomach (maybe that will change as I get more fit and up the intensity? I don't know, I always worked out on an empty stomach when I was super-fit a while back).

I train fasted as well.