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How to get energy for early morning exercise

A run first thing in the morning
A run first thing in the morning
Because of time constraints, some people don't eat breakfast before they start exercising. Others skip breakfast intentionally in the erroneous belief that exercising on an empty stomach after an overnight fast will help them burn more fat.

If your work or study schedule forces you to exercise early in the morning, you need to do the following to ensure sufficient energy levels:

Get up a bit earlier to have a light breakfast (oats with fat-free milk or yoghurt, a fruit such a banana or apple and a glass of fruit juice).

Use an energy drink while you're exercising (there are a variety of such drinks to choose from, e.g. Powerade, Energade, Lucozade etc. Do a little experiment to figure out which energy drink agrees best with you).

Have some more of the energy drink immediately after exercising to refuel your body and brain.

Take a packed snack along to work to eat between 8am and 10am, when you start feeling hungry (e.g. fat-free yoghurt with high-fibre cereal and honey, or fresh fruit and fat-free cottage cheese, or Provitas/wholewheat or rye crackers or wholewheat bread with lean sliced meat or canned tuna packed in brine with salad vegetables such as cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, gherkins or celery).

Have a light lunch that contains some complex carbohydrates (baked potato, brown rice or pasta made from 100% durum wheat), small portions of lean meat or fish or a boiled egg, vegetables such as listed above or carrots, peas, corn on the cob).

Pack a lunch if you don’t have a canteen at work or if the canteen only provides fatty meals.

Read more: About starvation diets and exercise and why the two don't mix
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