Better to eat before or after working out??

It's best to eat before you workout. Complex carbohydrates as well as lean proteins. Make sure you don't have a full stomach, avoid high-fiber, spicy or fatty foods. And after your workout, avoid high carbohydrates!

Hi.

Both. Your body will need energy to burn to make your workout as effective as possible, a snack like a banana and a cup of yogurt, or a sandwich with wheat bread and peanut butter would be great. If you're body has no fuel, it will take from stored protein or fat. What usually happens is your body ends up cannibalizing on it's own muscle for energy. After your workout you'll want to give the body protein for muscle recovery, if you're planning on going right to bed soon after, you may not need as many carbohydrates.

hope this helps.

I have tried both but find that I perform better on an empty stomach. When I eat first I tend to get a cramp in my side and feel heavy.

I agree! I tried C25k one night after having a huge dinner & I about puked. It was awful! Empty stomach helps me more.

You might try to find some information about the supposed "after-burn" effect of exercise. If there is anything to it, it's probably not significant. It is pocket change compared to eating right and exercising in the first place.

Meal timing might depend on what kind of training you are doing and what the goals are. If you are spending time on the treadmill for the purpose of burning off calories, it probably doesn't make sense to eat beforehand just so you have energy for the treadmill. It it weren't for the cardiovascular health benefit, I would skip both the treadmill and the meal if they are just going to cancel each other out... ya know?

For weight training, I think the recommendations are for before and after. Before so that you are fueled for the lifts and after so you are supporting your body's need for muscle repair/growth.

And you're right, the same exercise will burn the same calories whether you ate before or after. Unless you were really nit-picky and counted the weight of the food you ingested as requiring more energy to move around. If you were worried about it at that level, you might have OCD.

So, my abbreviated answer is: Cardio - who cares when you eat as long as it works for you. Weights - probably before and definitely after.

I can't eat a sizable meal before working out. Feel weak and sick if I'm digesting a lot.

Can snack before working out. Can do mild activities after a large meal.

May be a definitional issue - how much food, and what sort of workout.