Exercising: when to eat

jammer1963

I just joined the gym and I was wondering what peoples thoughts were about working out and eating? Specifically, when to eat. Right now, I restrict my calories to 1300 a day. My plan was to do that until I lost the last 5-pounds. I have plateaued but I don't want to eat any less because I am hungry most of the time as it is. So I thought if I joined a gym, it would help me to lose the last of the weight, and then I can continue working out, but go on a maintenance diet.

My question to the group is, what are your thoughts on when to eat... before working out or after? I get out of work at 3:30 and I normally eat around 4pm. My wife will be joining me at the gym, but she doesn't get out of work until 5pm. I don't want to go to the gym on a full stomach, but I also don't want to go into the gym with a empty tank.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

godlikepoetyes

I eat something before, a couple of peanut butter crackers w/ banana, a protein bar, a string cheese. I also have something in the car in case I'm going somewhere after the gym or feel myself crashing. I'm usually in the water for an hour and burn around 400-500 calories. I've been hitting the water for months and have gotten used to how my body works. There will be some trial and error as you figure this out.

jammer1963

godlikepoetyes wrote: »

I eat something before, a couple of peanut butter crackers w/ banana, a protein bar, a string cheese. I also have something in the car in case I'm going somewhere after the gym or feel myself crashing. I'm usually in the water for an hour and burn around 400-500 calories. I've been hitting the water for months and have gotten used to how my body works. There will be some trial and error as you figure this out.

Awesome, thanks!

SezxyStef

meal timing is irrelevant for all things.

the fact you are restricting to 1300 as a man is a bit scary. Min for men is 1500.
Plateaus are when you are eating at maintenance.
you don't need exercise to lose weight you need a calorie deficit.
When to eat is a personal preference.

My suggestions are log accurately and consistently using a food scale and correct entries. Eat more food too...I eat more than you do and I am a woman and I still lose weight.

sijomial

You won't have an empty tank - you are carrying a huge amount of energy around with you.
When to eat is one of the least important things to worry about as long as your performance isn't compromised.

For a regular workout having just eaten (and probably not even digested) something or not shouldn't really be a factor for energy.

Eating only 1300 calories as a man is likely to be a far bigger factor in having awful exercise performance and recovery! Focus on the big ticket items (the entirety of your diet and excessive deficit) rather than the minutiae of what/when to eat before a workout would be my advice.

jammer1963

SezxyStef wrote: »

meal timing is irrelevant for all things.

the fact you are restricting to 1300 as a man is a bit scary. Min for men is 1500.
Plateaus are when you are eating at maintenance.
you don't need exercise to lose weight you need a calorie deficit.
When to eat is a personal preference.

My suggestions are log accurately and consistently using a food scale and correct entries. Eat more food too...I eat more than you do and I am a woman and I still lose weight.

I was at 1500 calories when I started dieting. My weight didn't budge for a month and I am meticulous as to what I log and eat. That's why I dropped down to 1300 calories and I lost 6 pounds. My goal is weigh 165 and maintain it. I have 4 more pounds to go.

So SezxyStef, you don't exercise at all? I disagree that you don't need to exercise to lose weight. That may be true when someone first starts dieting and cuts their calories of what they eat. Weight loss has to happen but at some point, some sort of exercise is needed to drop additional pounds. It doesn't mean someone has to join the gym, but getting up off the couch to take even a 20-minute walk will make a difference.

When I get in the gym, I'll bump my calories back up to 1500. Thanks for the advice

jammer1963

sijomial wrote: »

You won't have an empty tank - you are carrying a huge amount of energy around with you.
When to eat is one of the least important things to worry about as long as your performance isn't compromised.

For a regular workout having just eaten (and probably not even digested) something or not shouldn't really be a factor for energy.

Eating only 1300 calories as a man is likely to be a far bigger factor in having awful exercise performance and recovery! Focus on the big ticket items (the entirety of your diet and excessive deficit) rather than the minutiae of what/when to eat before a workout would be my advice.

Great, thank you.