Pre and Post Workout Snacks

sarahisme18

I've been following this for my pre- and post- workout snacks for awhile now:

Pre: Larabar
Workout 1 (30DS on M-W, 30min jog, bike, whatever on other days)
Post: Shake with almond milk, whey protein, sometimes a banana
Workout 2 (55 min Zumba on M-W, 30DS on other days)
Dinner

I've been reading a bit about replenishing glycogen, protein after cardio, etc. and wondering if anybody has input on how effective this is going to be for me? Should I workout empty and replenish after only, swap the snacks, or? My goal is to lose weight (last few pounds!) but my bigger goal is to tone and build lean muscle. If the scale doesn't move much but I'm toning up and getting stronger, I'm happy. I plan to continue circuit/strength training on most days after 30DS is done.

sarahisme18

bump....

FullOfWin

Well it mostly wouldn;t matter if you are eating throughout the day before, but when working out 2 times per day you probably do need something in between. That said you probably don't need to work out 2 times per day. If you just want to look better then doing real lifting 3x per week full body with compound lifts and eating a small deficit until the last bit of fat is gone and then switching to slight surplus would be all you need. If you want to increase cardio endurance for some reason, throw in some cardio after lifting and\or on non lifting days.

holmesd450

You don't actually need post workout shakes/food. As long as you hit your macro count for the day you would be fine.

Mighty_Rabite

I sometimes have a mix of whey protein with Greek yogurt, I think ideally every time before a workout (especially a resistance workout), I would have some of that about two hours in advance. I like to follow a workout with some protein as well, but like stated above, the body is pretty smart and if you can get it all in the day, it should be fine regardless.