Trouble Tolerating Food Prior to Exercising

Question from KN: Thanks for these tips on pre-workout eating for cardio. My biggest problem with properly preparing for a hard cardio workout is that I have trouble eating and/or drinking before a workout as it gives me terrible stomach cramps once working out- even if I ate something (healthy) or just drink water even a whole hour before. Therein I dont have the energy I should have to get through the workout well. Is there any correlation that you have heard of between the kind of pre-workout snack you have and getting stomach cramps? or does it really just vary by person?

Answer from Martha: Yes, tolerance depends upon person to person. Years ago, I once saw my aerobic instructor inhale a jumbo slice of pizza 30 seconds prior to teaching an very intense aerobic class. Not recommended (or tolerated by the average person!). The best kind of meal/snack to eat prior to cardio is something that is easily digested; something that is low in fat, low in fiber, high in carbs and moderate in protein. Examples would be pretzels, nonfat yogurt, a slice of bread with jam, low fat crackers, low fiber cereal with nonfat milk. Since it sounds like you have a more sensitive gastro-intestinal tract, you may want to avoid fruit prior to exercising as it contains fiber. Even some of the energy bars may bother you. Have you tried to eat this snack 1 1/2 hours prior to exercise? If you still have trouble tolerating that, just make sure that you eat a good meal that contains carbs and protein several hours prior to exercising. And make sure you drink water throughout the day so you will go into your workout session being hydrated.