Pre/During Work Out Snacks

If I do not eat something within 30 minutes of waking up I get a nasty stomach ache and cranky. To avoid this at all costs, when I am going to sleep at night I am already looking forward to what I will have for breakfast. When I wake up at 5 for an early work out like swim practice I need to pick a food that will satisfy my stomach without weighing me down for practice. In an attempt to stay away from the more processed foods I have tried bananas, Larabars, peanut butter and a variety of different bars. None of these options were sitting that light in my stomach at 5 am so I kept on experimenting.

I did come across the Clif Kids bars and they actually work really well. They are 110 calories which is just the right amount of fuel for the morning.

They are also pretty organic (like 70% or something, whatever that means) and don't have an insane number of ingredients or any ingredients that my grandmother wouldn't know. They are pretty inexpensive and can be found at Kroger.

I was still longing for something a little more pure but just as convenient and thanks to a recommendation from my mother when I was sick during college I started buying baby food again. This sounds weird but it really is so good and I have started to us it during some of my work outs over the past few years. I only buy the fruit flavors and thanks to my choices and coupon targeting I now get coupons for diapers and formula. So now I find it necessary to hint to the check out person that I don't have a baby, and that the food is just for me, so then I just sound like an idiot but I can't help myself. There are no added ingredients since they are for babies so it really is just pureed fruit in a very convenient to go container. Basically exotic apple sauce.

Peaches is one of my favorites. I also love the apricot and mixed fruit but DO NOT buy strawberry banana; it is nar-nar. The best part is that they usually run about $1.00 for 2 and contain 50-60 calories apiece which is great towards the end of a bike ride when all of a sudden I am starving. An even more convenient take on the baby food is Buddy Fruit!

 

These can also be found at most groceries and they contain only pureed fruit. The packaging is so convenient. It is just like a gel! They of course do not have any electrolytes or any of the fancy ingredients I might want when racing but they are perfect for training over the winter. I have liked all of the flavors so far. These run about $1.00 apiece but I think it is worth it for the packaging. That's not very environmentally conscious of me but until I start making my own gels this is what I got to work with.

So now on the way to practice or before a work out if I need a snack I have one of these guys and some dark chocolate and I am ready to go.