Best foods to eat before and after a workout

LisaGaimadi

I have really upped my workouts, but I feel dumb about how to eat before and after them - which resulted in my fainting after a 1/2 hour weight lifting followed by an hour long zumba class. I don't want to eat a meal before this (I hit the gym at 6, and the class at 6:30pm), but I don't know what I should be eating. If there is a better place to ask this, please point me in the right direction.
- Many thanks in advance!

esjones12

You will get a bunch of different answers. But really - every body is different. Some people can handle meals before and after, others can't. I've done hour long intense personal training sessions at 5:30am with eating nothing before. I can also eat a snack before or a meal before if I give myself enough time to digest. I can also eat certain foods in the middle of 2-3 hours of playing soccer or running a long obstacle course race.

For your specific example I would try eating a 50-150 calorie snack about 30min prior to hitting the gym. The amount will depend on when the last time you ate was. If you last ate lunch at 12, I would suggest a larger snack, etc. Something like cheese and grapes or a healthy granola bar will be easy to digest and give you energy. And then have your dinner after the workout with a good amount of protein. Make sure you stay hydrated during your workouts! And as always, tweak it to what your body needs.

martyqueen52

Like esjones said, it's person dependent. For example... what my body can handle, yours might not be able to.

I skip breakfast, other than coffee with cream and splenda

I eat lunch at 11:30 am daily... usually 6 - 8oz. of chicken or steak with 2 greek yogurt cups.

Powerlift at 2:00pm for about an hour, or until my sets are finished (usually an hour)

after that, I just eat to fill my macros up, literally anything I want. There's nothing you can eat before or after that's going to make you lift 100 more lbs. or run 10mph faster.

970Mikaela1

If I eat before its a tablespoon of peanut butter on a slice of toast.

dlvuyovich

Try a protein shake or bar on your way to the gym, or at least some BCAAs for right before to during your workouts. Keep an extra shake on hand to sip on during those extra long workouts. Zoomba to lifting - that is a lot. Consider splitting that up if you have the time.

Make sure you are hitting your macro/calorie targets for the rest of the day.