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Help on energy drink pre-workout


LisaCooley

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I am in day 4 of my first Whole30. I am doing it for Lent, but decided starting at beginning of week is better. I am struggling with two things. One I have always drank Spark from Advocare before working out. It has equivalent to 1 cup of coffee of caffeine. I love the jolt to get me going, I teach hour long spinning at 5:30am. Getting up at 4:45am. I am eating a few macademia nuts before teaching, but need either SPARK or V8 with energy- it has sucralose in it, but only 11 carbs??? UGH help!!!   Also, post workout, I am showering and getting ready at gym for work.  So can't eat anyting I've seen suggested- hardboiled egg would make me sick.  I have just been eating macadamia nuts then eating sweet potatoes, eggs, spinach, sausage as soon as I get to work for M1.  

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Yeah, sucralose is out - no sugars or sweeteners of any kind on a Whole30 (look at the ingredients list as your guide, vs nutritional information). We don't advocate energy drinks either.

 

The recommended pre WO fuel is protein and fat. If eggs don't work for your protein option, try chicken or tuna. Use the macadamia nuts here as your fat.

 

Post WO recommendation is lean protein and carb. Neither the macadamia nuts or hard-boiled egg work for this option (nuts are considered a fat, not protein, on a Whole30). Hard boiled egg doesn't work since the yolk in the egg counts as fat.  Again, chicken or tuna and sweet potato are popular options.

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Requiring a stimulant to start your day is a good sign that your hormonal rhythms are out of whack and/or you are not getting enough sleep. You don't need a Whole30-compliant substitute. You need a change in your lifestyle. 

 

Eating early in your day is one of the most important things you can do to get your hormonal rhythms where they need to be. It is very challenging for some people - sounds like you - but very important. 

 

Your body carries enough energy stored as fat to run multiple marathon races even when you are lean. You don't require energy from food to perform well in the morning. The issue is accessing that energy. The Whole30 facilitates becoming fat-adapted so that you can draw on fat stores to zip through an hour of spinning. Unfortunately, the adaptation process takes several weeks and you will feel tired and sluggish and perform below your usual standards until you reach the other side. It is worth the pain. You can ease the pain a little by eating starchy veggies at several meals per day, but nothing will stop it. 

 

Eating pre-workout is a signal to the body to get ready for exercise. I often don't eat pre-workout simply because I don't notice it making a difference. When I do, like you, I eat a few nuts.

 

Our bodies get maximum benefit from lean protein for muscle recover when eating within 15-30 minutes of finishing a workout. Protein still helps if you delay longer, but recovery is less robust. We recommend lean protein and a starchy carb to replenish muscle glycogen as a post-workout meal. Do the best you can to eat as soon as you can. Avoid fat after a workout because it slows digestion which consequently slows protein getting to your muscles. 

 

I eat canned tuna or sardines as post-workout meal because that is convenient. You might need to cook chicken breasts and eat a few pieces cold as your post-workout meal. That would be light on your stomach. Chicken and cold baked sweet potato is pretty mild. Then eat whatever you want for breakfast when you are ready.

 

http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf

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Thanks for the feedback.  I will try chicken and sweet potato afterwards.  The thought of chicken for breafast sounds disgusting.  I will be forcing myself to eat versus enjoyment.  I will try though and see if I can get past this lull of no caffeine in the morning.  I am loving the taste of all of the food I am eating otherwise.  I can't believe the difference in the taste of real food versus lowfat/low calorie foods.  I just need to fight off the mornings!  I thrive on my workouts and really need to lose about 10 pounds and lean up to be in really great shape!  Thanks for your help this is a very foreign way of looking at food.  Still on the learning curve. :D

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Here's a bit of a perspective for you.

 

Eating is supposed to be enjoyment - right?  When we sit down for a meal - we want to enjoy what we are eating.  And no one here is going to argue with this.  However the way I look at pre and post workout meals are different.  With pre, and post meals I look as food as fuel - not enjoyment.  I'm going to eat what is going to fuel me and keep me going for now.  So for me, I put the enjoyment of the meal on the back burner. Because sometimes pre and post workout meals are just odd combos at weird times. it's definitely a shift in mindset.

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Sorry but that vuka drink is certainly not the "intelligent energy" as described in the site. Vitamins, salt, and questionable extracts dissolved in water to "Perform at peak levels"? Marketing gimmick. And not 'natural'.

Besides, how does zero calorie equate to energy drink? Again sorry if you love it. But I hate seeing stuff like that suggested, especially here in my fave Whole30 forum. You don't need stuff like this. Drink water. Eat real food.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am in day 4 of my first Whole30. I am doing it for Lent, but decided starting at beginning of week is better. I am struggling with two things. One I have always drank Spark from Advocare before working out. It has equivalent to 1 cup of coffee of caffeine. I love the jolt to get me going, I teach hour long spinning at 5:30am. Getting up at 4:45am. I am eating a few macademia nuts before teaching, but need either SPARK or V8 with energy- it has sucralose in it, but only 11 carbs???

 

As Tom wrote, if you need a jolt then your systems are unbalanced. Also, if you ate properly the previous day your muscle glycogen stores are already topped off in the morning. You're only hurting your performance if ingesting any calories pre-workout.

 

FYI, not all carbs are created equal. Sucralose, in fact anything with -ose, is not helping you--ever.

 

And if you want to head back to energy drinks when you're done with your Whole30, look at www.vuka.com - Workout Zero-Calorie is sweetened with Stevia, has more electrolytes than Gatorade and is all natural :)

 

Vuka is not a good option because of the stevia and the HUGE amount of sodium. 

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  • 3 years later...

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