Even at low to medium intensity, Zumba burns 200-300 kcal per hour – more than the body can just replenish from stored reserves over 26 hours! Therefore everyone should aim to consume 100 to 200 kcal per hour of activity during the activity breaks.

Most of us don’t usually eat before a workout and it is important for everyone to get yourself used to eating before a workout and finding out which food keeps your stomach happy and your feet moving.

Below is a list of food options which are well suited to eat before a Zumba class – but feel free to try anything that works for you! In general, for this particular event, we recommend food which is

• high in carbohydrates (quick fuel)
• not too high in sugar (which can cause insulin spikes, followed by energy-draining crashes)
• low in protein (a lot of energy is needed to digest proteins, and this energy should go to your muscles instead) – no blocks of tofu!
• Low in fat (fat digestion makes you tired) – no large amounts of chocolate
• Low in fibre (movement during fibre digestion can cause stomach cramps) – no big salads

See a few suggestions for food and needed quantities below:

	100 calories	150 calories	200 calories
Grapes	145 g	217 g	290 g
Bananas	1	1.5	2
Fruit pouches	1 pouch		2 pouches
Watermelon	330 g	500 g	660 g
Fig bars	1/2 bar		1 bar
Granola bars	1 bar	1.5 bars	2 bars
Rice Crispies	30 g		60 g

If you find something that works really well for you, let us know here and we’ll aim to add it to the meal plan!