Eating Before/after Exercise - Weight Loss And Recovery

[MrStabby]

Hi All, can someone give me a guide to what i should eat (or not) before and after exercise? Is there some trade off between weight loss/work out intensity/recovery?

Eg if i eat simple carbs before would that help with energy level during a workout, but also mean i don't get into a fat burning phase?

[GTR_JOEY]

Hey mate

What kind of training are you doing? Intensity and length?

What are your goals?

Simple carbs will give you a good kick before training

[MrStabby]

I do 45-60mins of weights then a little cardio. No specific goals other than too keep loosing weight, but bulk/strength is always good. I've stopped eating lunch and that is working well to loose the weight, and i'm not finding it very difficult. I'm only a bit overweight but have some medical conditions that mean i need to be more careful with weight than most people.

[PWND]

from everything what I have read, skipping meals is not a good long term way to lose weight, as your body starts hoarding fat.

they recommend frequent small meals. even if you have a light snack. nuts, even though they are high in fat, are recommended for snacks, as they tend to give you a full feeling for longer.

I am going through a similar phase at the moment, where I am trying to shave off a bit of weight. do my sessions in the morning, with some carbs either before or after the workout, and then trying to lay off the carbs as much as possible for the rest of the day. I am having smaller main meals, but am having snacks in between, such as eggs, cottage cheese and cucumber between breakfast and lunch, cashews, then protein shake between lunch and dinner and usually another egg. usually don't have much after dinner, and I try to eliminate all carbs for dinner.

[r31slpr]

If you're cutting right down on carbs, make sure you get enough fats to fill the gap

[The Bogan]

Me, if I'm training in the morning I like oats or a couple of weetbix with a banana some chia seeds, wheat germ and LSA, all covered in a protein shake about 1 hr prior to training (this is my typical breakfast).

Arvo training is whatever I can get (real food, tin of beans or quick rice and some lemon and pepper or the like) with a shake, again at least 1 hr prior.

If I don't have at least a hour to digest or if I eat to much I feel bloated and my training suffers.

Post is a protein shake with a 1/4 cup of oats at the completion of my session, the quick oats work fine in the shake, just leave it sit for a minute or two then chew and drink your fill.

Technical information warning: Carbs do magic things in your guts when mixed with protein and makes the protein usable or some other black magic.

Don't miss lunch, try to eat every 3-4 hours, eating lots of small meals makes your metabolism work.

Its pretty easy finding food and protein powder is so convenient.

I do admit I find it hard working out size portions, but then I'm a glutton.

[AngryRB]

I'm not expert but id say if you want to loose fat then , maybe keep the workouts shorter and more intense, say 30mins with shorter rest periods and then 30mins of cardio.

Keep the carbs low and increase protein and healthy fats, maybe drop dairy products out. Avoid simple sugars or only have them straight after the workout with a protein drink.

I've found a good meal I have twice a day is a bowl of spinach, 1 tomato, a tin of salmon and some rice, mix this with a little mayo and its a filling healthy meal. You could also try cycling the carbs by one day each week having a lot then the next few days have very low carbs.

oh and you want to drink a lot of water.

Edited January 13, 2015 by AngryRB

[rev210]

Pretty simple.

Lose weight = eat less calories than you use.

Other than that it's all 1%-ers . This includes PWO's and the million ways to eat food and when.

When you work out , you get tired. Understand it is worth it and don't try and get around it.

Meet the fatigue with commitment and learn to push through it.

You will be stronger mentally. Long term you will be stronger overall, because you know what lifts the weight /completes the workout. You. You back yourself. Not the $90 pre workout cordial or some magical food ritual you need to undertake. Pretty much , shedding body mass is going to make you tired. If you aren't tired then it's not working. Looking to make tireness something to drink away is a sure fire way to make your workouts a cop out.

In terms of how many meals and other things. If you are doing the work and your calorie balance at the end of the day is negative, you will lose body mass.

Skipping lunch isn't the best way to do things but, if thats what you need to lose calorie wise for the meals to add up then no drama. You might prefer to down size the portions of the other meals to allow for lunch. This has some 1%-er metabolisim benifits but, mostly you will feel less miserable. Being miserable is probably your biggest enemy so try and change things in a way that you preferably like and would live with permanently.

[Birds]

People over complicate this stuff way too much. Special nuts and eating during a solar eclipse, concoctions of synthesised drug lab fat and protein mixes void of carbs (which actually help you lift weights).

Calories in and calories out; pretty much what rev said.

There are no magic calories that appear on the body without you eating. The body also cannot move without consuming calories. These laws of biology are non negotiable. There are other factors that affect how this process works, the 1%ers rev talks about, but the process itself is static. And people who say they can't lose weight are ALWAYS doing one of two things: 1. Eating crap food or too much food, or 2. Shit exercise or not enough of it. The rest of the little tricks like timing of meals and quantities and all that are just excuses and mind tricks trying to get past the stuff that actually makes a difference - good food and good exercise.

Take shit food out of your diet. You know what this food is, your mother taught you when you were 5. It doesn't taste as good as the bad food. If you're not losing weight after that, then eat less food or lift more and heavier weights. People think just because they're at the gym doing exercise means they're making up for the bad food they've eaten?

Cardio burns fat, but nothing like an intense weights session that puts the body into a catabolic state, using calories long after you stop exercise. People find it hard to believe that I complete on average only 2 x 40 minute sessions of intense weight lifting a week and eat what I eat. Fast metabolism usually gets the credit for it, because I guess it's easier for them to blame fat ass genetics than it is to get off that fat ass and make changes.

[niZmO_Man]

it's easier for them to blame fat ass genetics than it is to get off that fat ass and make changes.

+1 well said. No health issues can be treated with burgers and chips.

I tried the whole 'eat every two hours' stuff (usually a green apple or something like that). Made no difference. Only difference was kJ in < kJ out. Eat less crap, work out more.

[MrStabby]

Thanks everyone.

FWIW I outsource my understanding of contentious science (like climate change and nutrition) and just go with what Dr Karl is saying, because I like the way his brain works. For weight loss, the only thing that's strongly supported by science is eating less calories (assuming excise is constant). Stuff like timing of meals and type of food is less well supported. Since skipping lunch is easy for me to achieve, I think its more useful to me than trying to do the lots of small meals thing, which is less strongly supported by the science and, for me, in unlikely to be something i'll stick to. So the effort/payoff doesn't make sense for me.

Has anyone heard about the "dont eat for an hour after workout if you want to loose weight" idea? I'm concerned that doing that would compromise recovery.

Edit: Interesting that eating every two hours didnt work for you Ravi - I think ill continue to discount that unless there's some strong science to support it. I have a feeling that the slowing metabolism from fasting thing is also way overstated. 5/2 diet is working for a number of people i know, and you would think it could trigger slowing metabolism, if that's really a thing.

[Gts-t]

ive lost 15kg in the last 12-14 months. i was 78 now i am 63. I go to gym 3 times a week for an about 75 mins.

on a usual day i will get up and have a coffee (cant live without it) and then i will have oats for breakfast. about 10 i will have a protien shake and a banana. lunch i will have at 2-3pm, a salad roll i make myself with ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce. Having lunch that bit later means i dont snack on shit before... Dinner i will have chicken or steak and 3 veggies. No desert.

You get used to eating less. dont skip meals eat less more often. eat half what u would normally have and if you are still hungry half an hour later go eat the rest. dont eat so much u feel full and have trouble moving. if you dont load up you dont give ur body the opportunity to put on weight. get used to being hungry before you eat. dont eat after 730-830 at night.

After a workout i will have a protien shake and then wait about an hour to eat. Im not looking to bulk up at all just want to be healthy/fit.

Lastly you wouldnt overfill your car, so why overfill your body?

[AngryRB]

Just watch that "biggest loser" tv show, they do a lot of exhausting training then they get nothing but healthy food to eat.

Its all in the mind, probably easier to do if you play a sport cause then its not such a chore.

[niZmO_Man]

Also with sports, (depending on the sport) constant direction changing movements are better than running at a constant rate IMO. I'm too lazy/unco to do either, so I just lift whatever I can (light weights).

[AngryRB]

light weights like this? http://youtu.be/wMy3uuZResw

lol

Edited January 14, 2015 by AngryRB

[niZmO_Man]

yeah it's embarrassing, so I like to go to an empty gym.

[jangles]

Thanks everyone.

FWIW I outsource my understanding of contentious science (like climate change and nutrition) and just go with what Dr Karl is saying, because I like the way his brain works. For weight loss, the only thing that's strongly supported by science is eating less calories (assuming excise is constant). Stuff like timing of meals and type of food is less well supported. Since skipping lunch is easy for me to achieve, I think its more useful to me than trying to do the lots of small meals thing, which is less strongly supported by the science and, for me, in unlikely to be something i'll stick to. So the effort/payoff doesn't make sense for me.

Has anyone heard about the "dont eat for an hour after workout if you want to loose weight" idea? I'm concerned that doing that would compromise recovery.

Edit: Interesting that eating every two hours didnt work for you Ravi - I think ill continue to discount that unless there's some strong science to support it. I have a feeling that the slowing metabolism from fasting thing is also way overstated. 5/2 diet is working for a number of people i know, and you would think it could trigger slowing metabolism, if that's really a thing.

Like has been said, fat/weight loss is calories in vs, calories out...

For training performance optimization., keep your larger meals with higher carbs around/throughout training and your fattier meals further away.

6meals x 500calories =3000 calories..... 3meals x 1000calories = 3000calories, your body doesn't care.

p.s.That 5/2 diet is a pos mainstream bastardisation of a method that had been researched and put into far better practice well before its time. Of course it works, its calorie restriction.

[Gts-t]

If your having trouble losing weight then it would help to have 6 smaller meals rather than 3 big ones. The more you have at one time the more ichance some is stored as fat

and drink heaps of water

Also get up every morning, take a piss or shit then weigh yourself. do it again the next day. keep an eye on this, and if you want to lose weight eat less than the previous day or different foods and see what effect that had. If you want to weigh more eat more than the previous day.

[rev210]

If your having trouble losing weight then it would help to have 6 smaller meals rather than 3 big ones. The more you have at one time the more ichance some is stored as fat

if you aren't chasing 1%-ers, 1,2,3 or 10 meals is fine. People having trouble losing weight that aren't figure athletes need not bother and stick to the calorie adjustment.

[jangles]

Like has been said, fat/weight loss is calories in vs, calories out...

6meals x 500calories =3000 calories..... 3meals x 1000calories = 3000calories, your body doesn't care.

If your having trouble losing weight then it would help to have 6 smaller meals rather than 3 big ones. The more you have at one time the more ichance some is stored as fat

a deficit is a deficit.