Eating Before Or After The Gym

[honeydip]

Is it better to eat before you go to the gym in the evening or after?

[ummmm]

You need to eat before and after.

[honeydip]

Tonight is the first time I am going to the gym for 1 year!

[tenrec]

I think you should find a happy medium. Don't go on an empty stomach, but also don't go on a full one either. So have a light snack about an hour before.

[MadMen]

After. You burn more calories on an empty stomach.

Don't go shoveling one of those kebab meat sarnies into your gob afterwards though!

[honeydip]

What do you mean like a snack such like a bag of crisps before to get energy and then a propper meal when you get home?

[anneasquith]

a banana, or cereal bar before .

[MadMen]

Maybe have something really light a couple of hours before you go. Some fruit perhaps?

[Old_Geezer]

I don't think it makes much odds.

If swimming then I know one is advised to avoid cramp by not eating immediately prior to the exercise but I've never heard of a similar warning for normal gym activity. Do whichever you feel suits you best.

That said I think one refers to building up an appetite.

[honeydip]

Well we all usually have a portion of fruit before we brush our teath and go to bed. It has become somewhat of a familly tradition

[MadMen]

Also, make sure you eat straight away after the gym. Lots of protein.

[Mick-Talbot]

Yeah a crisps snack , isn't that obvious?

[ummmm]

Eat something like a baked potato before.

see how you feel after.

Surely your memory goes back further than a year?

[honeydip]

I dont want to eat too much fruit as it contains a lot of sugar so I have read.

[MadMen]

"What do you mean like a snack such like a bag of crisps before to get energy"

You're not really doing yourself any favors, you know...

[Mick-Talbot]

Take some money for the vending machine and treat yourself to a can of coca cola for being a good boy.

[honeydip]

Hi last time I went to the gym I ate after I think but I was never down to my fighting weight. Thats the thing. I have transformed my eating habits immensely from junk food ansd such and now its time for the work outs to happe. I want to do them so they both help each other.

[joggerjayne]

Don't eat during the one hour before you work out. You might get indigestion.

Up to an hour before, eat "energy food" like a banana, or pasta. Go for slow release energy. Avoid "buzz energy" thing like chocolate.

After the gym, you need to help your body repair and stressed or damaged tissue, so you need "building block" food ... protein, like chicken, or meat, nuts, milk, etc.

If you use the gym in the evening, avoid eating carbs afterwards. Your body won't use them, and you will just store them. ie you will put on weight.

[ichkeria]

It depends what you are going to be doing at the gym. But a light snack of a banana and/or cereal bar beforehand is good advice, particularly if you are going for a hard workout. You will be much less efficient trying to exercise on a full stomach (and possibly rather ill!)

I wouldn't worry about the sugar in fruit: it's the processed sugar in coke, biscuits, etc etc that are bad news

[honeydip]

I will try fruit before and then some home made veg soup when I get home then. See if it works.

[ummmm]

Then eat 'non junk foods' an hour before you go...and eat 'non junk foods' when you've finished.

What do you eat with your family?