suggestions on what to eat before/after hitting the gym

mmowery31

I do weight lifting classes about 3 days a week for one hour and crossfit/cardio workouts as well. Most of my classes are before 5am so it would be a pre breakfast snack if any. My husband always drinks a protein smoothie after his workouts but he does mainly weight lifting and didn't know if it was ok for a woman with the goal of weight loss to do.

Any suggestions on foods before and after that are best?

_John_

it matter far less than what bros will say. Just eat food.

holothuroidea

The most important thing is to eat a well balanced diet throughout the day and get enough calories, fat and protien so your body has the resources to adapt to the exercises you're doing.

It's fine to workout without eating first if that's what works for you. Immediately after a work out it is good to eat something to replace your lost glycogen stores. Common post-workout snacks are bananas, chocolate milk, yogurt, etc. Just make sure you get some carbs in there.

Protein smoothies are fine for women and also for people who are trying to lose fat, but I personally think they're a waste of money and calories. Your body can only absorb so much protein at a time and protein consumed immediately post-workout is usually converted into glucose by your liver anyway to restore muscle glycogen so you might as well just eat a banana. They don't taste great either.