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xcel360
Feb 5, 2003, 4:27 PM
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Ok, so maybe this has been talked about before, but I don't care. I'm way to lazy to search through all those old topics to find this out when we have so many people on this forum who are way to knowledable and are just dying to share their wealth of information with us.
So what I want to know is, which is better? Eating before or after your workout, and/or the benefits/disadvantages of both. For example, I've been working out to lose weight and get in shape (for climbing of course). So which would be more beneficial to myself, healthwise? Thanks in advance for all your valuable input!
::edited to cite an example of what I mean::
For example, I got home last night at 8:00pm, and I usually eat dinner around this time, and try to be in bed by 11. So should I haved worked out then eat, or vice versa? For those of you dying to know the answer, I worked out first, then ate dinner around 10pm. Was this a wise thing to do? I ask because I got a mean tummyache afterwards...
[ This Message was edited by: xcel360 on 2003-02-05 08:30 ]
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blueeyedclimber
Feb 5, 2003, 4:33 PM
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If I am hungry before I work out then I eat. I feel I have no energy if I work out when I am hungry. Just be mindful of what you eat. I wouldn't go have a Big Mac. I usually eat a little before then eat again after.
Josh
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roughster
Feb 5, 2003, 4:35 PM
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Eat a small carbo snack before working out, then eat a heavy protein rich meal after.
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xcel360
Feb 5, 2003, 4:38 PM
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In actuallity, I ate an apple shortly beforehand (not a carbo rich snack I know), then had some grilled chicken afterwards. Chickens high in protien, right?
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sspssp
Feb 5, 2003, 4:43 PM
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Eating at least something both before and after might be a good idea.
The general rule: if you want to lose weight, then eat before working out (the body will tend to burn up the calories). If you want to gain muscle/bulk up then eat after working out (the body will convert the calories into muscle mass).
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mustclimb69
Feb 5, 2003, 4:46 PM
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Eat AFTER. The reason for this is you body uses energy to make the muscles move. If you have food fresh in your system your body obtains the needed nutrients from the food. if you dont eat your body uses reserves (fat and stored carbs) depending on how hard you are planning to work out carb loading may be needed before (pasta or bars) eat at least1 hour before. If your body uses reserves for energy you build muscle and burn fat. When you eat after your workout keep away from fats. Easily soluable nutrients and protien will cut down your recovery time.
Furthermore, if you eat before and are doing a cardio work, acid reflux and heart burn may occur due to continous movement. YOu may also puke b/c your core muscles contract on your stomach making it hard to digest food.
Cheers
EDit here:
Obiosually eat low fat non processedfoods to increase effectivness.
[ This Message was edited by: mustclimb69 on 2003-02-05 08:54 ]
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mustclimb69
Feb 5, 2003, 4:52 PM
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About the sleeping thing..try to have the food consumed with time to digest before bed. your body slows down and this will cause the food to take longer to digest. If you eat justbefore bed. the food sits wholein your stomach and the acid becomes less effective. Not to mention you morning breath would be BRUTAL!!!
HAHA
No offense I found this out the hard way.
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rprp
Feb 5, 2003, 5:42 PM
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What's your overall diet strategy? Are you counting calories?
If you are trying to lose weight, you should have at least a sense of what you getting and using. The best idea would be to spread your eating out over the day and avoid big meals. A few carbs (even sugars) before and during your workout are good as is some light eating afterwards both carbs and protein.
But try to eat more of your food early in the day and less later.
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xcel360
Feb 5, 2003, 6:11 PM
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Well, if ya'll really wanna know, here is more current diet plan I have forced upon myself (I say forced because all I would eat before was pizza, burger king, wendy's, cheesesteaks w/bacon, and vanilla coke. As a result, I now weigh 205, whereas two septembers ago I weighed a mere 160, and I'm 5'9").
Currently I eat Raisin Bran for breakfast, 1% milk on the side - I hate soggy cereal, and sometimes a bannana for potassium. I cut bagels out completely and have the occasional english muffin with light butter.
For lunch 1, I usually have a turkey or roastbeef sandwich, with lettuce, tomatos, slice of cheese, mustard, onions, and NO mayo. And a small helping of baked lays chips. Will repeat for lunch 2 a few hours later, or sometimes go to town on some apples, oranges, a bannana, or wheat thins.
I've been trying to eat light dinners, but I'm use to eating so much, that cutting back makes me hungry, so I've been slowly leveling myself off. I eat chicken most nights, prepared different ways. IE; fajitas, fried in fat free pam, broiled, grilled, sometimes marinated. Once in awhile I'll have a flank steak or a hamburger cooked George Forman style. For sides, always a salad, sometimes mac and cheese. I always hated veggies, but will eventually try to work them in.
Now for my workout routine, it varies. I'm in classes m-f till noon, and ALL day on tuesdays. I work p/t at blockbuster so the days I do work, I usually go in at 4 (minus tuesdays of course) So this makes working out the same time for me every day extremely dificult. And I also live a solid hour plus from a climbing gym. So for workouts I've taken up yoga, I surf, and I mountain bike, plus I've been jogging. I have a homewall with no holds, and I'm building a campus board for training at home.
That about sums up my "strategy"...I hope it makes some sense, and it's not perfect yet I know, but it's a HELLUVA lot better than what I did before!
Edited to say I haven't started counting calories yet. My overall plan was just to eat better, so I'm not so tired all the time, and to gradually lose my fat and get a better strength to weight ratio.
[ This Message was edited by: xcel360 on 2003-02-05 10:13 ]
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data118
Feb 7, 2003, 7:42 PM
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Do not eat a lot before, especially if you're doing squats. You'll be sorry if you do.
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daggerx
Feb 7, 2003, 9:32 PM
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must climb got everything right, listen to him/her.
Daggerx
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bakedjake
Feb 7, 2003, 9:50 PM
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I read in a lifting magazine that carb's convert into muscle readily after a workout.
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jt512
Feb 7, 2003, 9:55 PM
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Quote:
I read in a lifting magazine that carb's convert into muscle readily after a workout.
Well, they don't.
-Jay
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climblouisiana
Feb 7, 2003, 10:06 PM
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Forget about eating beore or after a work out. Eat some delicious pudding right in the middle of the work out followed by some greasy fries.
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esimhs99
Feb 7, 2003, 11:56 PM
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since you are eating sooooo close to your bedtime, i would say eat something LIGHT!!! otherwise it will just sit in your stomach, but you do need to eat esp. if you are working out prior to this. but try and eat something (PB and J sandwich, or something semi substantial) around 5 or 6-ish to give you energy and therefore you wont be as hungry afterwards, but will have given your body time to digest. hope this helps.
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vegastradguy
Feb 8, 2003, 12:02 AM
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i eat when i'm hungry. mmmm...food.
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farasnyl10
Feb 8, 2003, 12:27 AM
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bananas-- the perfect pre-workout food...
digest easy, taste good, not too heavy.
i usually need to have had some sort of snack within two hours before i do anything too strenuous, but i'm generally not hungry for at least two hours after, either. pre-eating works well for me, provided there is at least a half hour interval between eating and the activity.
try out different things, see what works for you. everyone seems to have different tricks that they swear by.
basic rule, though- eat when you're hungry, eat lots of veggies, and get enough water.
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ggraham
Feb 8, 2003, 9:17 AM
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If you can be bothered read the research....
http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/ResPre.htm
-Gareth
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kimgraves
Feb 8, 2003, 6:20 PM
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If you’re trying to loose weight, you should workout in the morning before you have breakfast. You body is coming out of a mini-fast and the exercise will suck up the fatty acids in your blood stream if there’s not a lot of glucose present to supply energy needs. Then come home, shower and then eat. You want to give yourself an hour after exercise so your body continues to burn fat before feeding it. Eat your carbs during the day when you need them; no carbs after 6pm – you don’t need them – you’re going to sleep - they’ll only be turned into fat. Eat six small meals per day rather than three: the idea is to keep your blood glucose levels constant. I eat something every three hours. You should eat a little protein at every meal, but for dinner eat only protein and vegetables. You grow/repair muscle fiber during sleep so you want the amino acid supply late in the day. Get a good nights sleep. Do it again tomorrow.
Hope this helps,
Kim Carleton Graves
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jds100
Feb 8, 2003, 7:14 PM
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When you get more serious about the question, and about actually trying to set and achieve some goal pertaining to working out and/or losing weight, you could find some good info on diet (eating right) and working out by searching the Forums, using a few different keywords including looking under jt512; he knows whereof he speaks. If you're not motivated enough to search the Forums, I doubt you'll be motivated enough to do what it takes to achieve whatever goals you may have.
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dlintz
Feb 8, 2003, 7:39 PM
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Carbs are stored in the muscles (among other places) as glycogen, they do not convert to muscle. Proteins convert to muscle.
I don't eat before a workout, I usually drink a small glass of fruit juice. Nonacidic juices such as apple or cran/grape are my favorites and reduce reflux/heartburn during workouts. The small amount of simple carbohydrates from the juice are easily absorbed into the bloodstream and help to reduce the first "bonk". This is a short period of fatigue that occurs usually within the first five minutes of moderate to intense cardiovascular activity as the blood glycogen is used up and the body begins tapping the muscle glycogen stores. Marathoners and distance athletes are familiar with the more pronounced second bonk ("hitting the wall") that usually occurs after 30 minutes to several hours as muscle glycogen stores are depleted and the body begins to use fat reserves. At higher levels of activity (> 60% maximum heart rate) converting fat to usable glycogen is a terribly ineffeicient process.
You can train your body to store more muscle glycogen and delay the second bonk. Eating carbs immediately following cardio workouts is the best and most efficient time to replace the low muscle stores. Being consistent with workouts followed by immediate carb intake can improve the body's endurance (increased muscle glycogen storage) and ability to use those carbs.
Eating prior to relative inactivity (evening hours/night) give the carbohydrates no where to be stored easily so they are converted to fat.
Hope this helps.
Doug
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