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Meal timing for later workouts


sharonm

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I have been following a paleo diet for several months, and am about to embark on my first Whole30 with my husband. My question relates to timing of meals, as well as post-workout.

I train in taekwondo several days/week and my classes are from 7:15-8:15 p.m. Some days I am able to get home early enough to eat dinner (or Meal 3) around 6:15, but that is about the best I can do. Other days, even that is not possible. If I wait to eat until I get home, it is usually 9:00 before that happens. (I also do cross-fit style training a couple of days/week, but thankfully I get home much earlier from that.)

I am no night owl. I'm not sure how to balance my nutrition in the evening hours around my workouts and still finish eating several hours before bed. Any advice?

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Working out late and eating late can definitely be a hassle. I don't like eating that late either. On days that I have a similar schedule, I would pack a large snack or meal to have at work. Eat around 4 or 5 so I have plenty of time to digest it. Then after my workout I would eat another snack...grilled chicken and sweet potato. I recommend bringing this with you to the gym. That way you are able to eat as soon as you are done. Because the last two meals of the day will be smaller, its important that you are getting enough calories in during breakfast and lunch.

I know this takes more prep time on your end, but try it out for a week.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a similar question. I eat at 5ish most days but CF days I would wait until after to eat dinner. I hit class at 5:30 or 6:30. Should I have a "pre work out meal" and then a post work out meal and skip dinner or make dinner my post WO meal? Do I leave out the fat if I make dinner my post work out meal?

Dammit. I think I'm over thinking this stuff again, but my motivation for not eating before CF was that I hear people puke.... ;P

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Hi Patti!

I do believe you'll want to eat both a pre and post workout "meal" (smaller portion sizes of course) and then an actual meal 3 (dinner). I know it sounds like a lot, but you'll be surprised how much food (energy) your body can accommodate when CrossFit/any other strenuous exercise comes into the picture. Your body will use the food you give it before and after the wod to fuel your efforts and recovery. The food you eat for dinner is just your normal maintenance food.

PS: I've been CrossFitting for 2 years and, while I've come close, I've never puked. Still waiting on my t-shirt...

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I have just been playing around with it. I eat a pre workout snack no matter what exercise I do. If it's primarily cardio (tkd) I skip the post workout snack and just have dinner. When I cross train (cross fit style) I pack my post workout snack and eat it immediately and still have dinner. So far so good...

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I agree it's a pain! I have a Crossfit infant <g> class (I'm a Crossfit infant, I mean) three days a week that starts at 7 and often goes until 8:30. The class is in the same town where I work, but I live 25 miles away. Ergo, it's not practical to go home for dinner, and it's usually 9 before I get home. I've played around with it too, and posted a question on the Whole30 Facebook page. Here's what I've settled on, and it seems to work well, so far:

I up my protein on CF days. These are the few days I allow myself a snack, though I'm still figuring out whether the snack should be just protein or the "small meal" discussed in ISWF.

I take an extra full meal to work (the biggest pain!). I eat about 5:30 or 6. I go to the box early because I'm trying to strengthen my shoulders for pull ups. Once I get home, I eat a serving of salmon or chicken. This usually works well for me...I think you have to experiment and see what does best for you!

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  • 1 month later...

Glad I found this. I'm okay on my CrossFit days with eating pre/post snacks and then dinner. But when i do yoga it's at 7:45-9:00pm. I'm not wanting to eat my dinner before becuase I don't want to be full (it's Hot yoga). I'm goign to try some of the suggestions and see how it goes. Last night I had a regular meal at 10:15pm and then went to bed at 11:30pm. Uhhh!

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