Fueling your morning workouts

I often hear my students talking about skipping breakfast and not having enough fuel for morning classes. I can’t even imagine skipping a breakfast! It’s something I made a habit of in my mid 20’s when my fitness life began. Among other things, starting with a breakfast helped me “get in the game” for the day in terms of weight management and health goals. Pictured in this post is something I eat when I have a little more time to spend before classes, or on any given morning. Banana, Blueberries, Chia Seeds, Coconut Shavings, Walnuts, a spoonful of Almond Butter and a drizzle of Honey. MMMMM. I love this with hot black coffee or herbal tea.

While eating breakfast has many, many benefits, as a dance fitness instructor, I need to make sure I have the energy to lead intense dance fitness classes in the morning.  I try to keep it as simple as I can, as I tend to sleep for as long as possible before dragging myself out of bed. I found this awesome article, breaking down the different types of breakfasts you might enjoy depending on the time and type of workout you’re doing.

For my morning workout days,  it’s a banana and a spoonful of nut butter, or a protein shake and a banana, about 20-30 minutes before class. I would almost consider this more of a snack, but it gets me through class #1, without that “too full to workout” feeling. Without my breakfast, there is no way I’d be able to physically or mentally make it through leading a high intensity cardio class such as DancePowered. 

I’m also experimenting with the Whole30 diet, which excludes grains, added sugars and suggests limiting fruit intake. I’ll be posting a few of those breakfasts and meals in general in the upcoming weeks.

So you non-breakfast eaters! I hope you can find some inspiration in this post to help you get your day started right!

I’d love to hear your favorite breakfast? It can be healthful or not….I love hearing about all food experiences!