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Pre/Post Workout


mavenly30

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I need some guidance on meals I should be eating before and after workouts. 

I typically work 8:30-6pm, Mon-Friday. I have a compliant size breakfast, compliant lunch, some fruit and nuts for snacks around 3pm, and then workout. I have a boot camp style (high intensity training circuit training) from 6:15pm-7:15pm, on Mon, Wed, Fri. I usually have to make dinner when I get home around 7:20 (I live very close to the gym). I finish dinner around 8:30. I also workout on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday spin classes for cardio. I listen to my body with the spin classes, and if I'm not into reaching high intensity, I pull back.

I don't feel like a pre or post-workout snack is necessary. I'm always energized when I know I need to workout but I know my body needs the fuel. I feel more energized by staying hydrated (drink 4litres a day) throughout the day and then having a really big dinner, and then go to sleep around 9:30 or 10pm. 

Completely lost on what I should be eating when I'm training that much!

 

 

 

 

 

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I eat breakfast around 7:30-8am, and lunch 12:45pm on average. The last week I've been eating dinners closer to bedtime with my work and training schedule. Even if I prep ahead, I'm still eating later than 8pm and in bed by 10pm. Breakfast I usually do 2 eggs, 4 pieces of bacon or leftover 6oz chicken/pork tenderloin, avocado, and a half a plate of mixed veggies (salad, grilled cauliflower). For lunch 2 cups salad mix + 6oz of pork tenderloin, sausage, or chicken breast. I have at least one serving of fruit at breakfast and lunch. For fats I usually add avocado or table spoon of olive oil if I"m coming up short or a handful of walnuts. For dinner I usually have the same thing as lunch. Often I stir fry mixed frozen veg with coconut oil. I add fried plantains, sometimes serving size of potatoes or yuca, or sweet potato. 

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Your breakfast really is big enough to stretch your lunch out a little later if at all possible - and if you've adequate protein and fat in your lunch you could forgo the preWO (& any mid afternoon snacking)

You DO need the postWO though - you're training six days a week (which incidentally is probably a little much - you might want to read >this article< and consider dropping a day) and your muscles need that extra protein for recovery & repair. Without it you'll start to feel fatigued & achey. It doesn't have to be a full meal - just a few bites of a lean protein & an optional starchy carb AS SOON AS you're done training (I eat in the locker room before showering if I'm training in the morning before work, or in the locker room as I grab my bag to head home to shower if I'm training in the evening) then you can go home & have your dinner.

The favourite option for postWO eating is roast chicken & sweet potato, but any lean protein & starchy carb will do. You don;t want fruit pre WO as it gives your body an immediate source of fuel to burn when you want it to tap into it's fat stores, and you don't want fruit postWO as it replensihes liver glycogen rather than muscle glycogen. Fat postWO will slow down absorption of the nutrients to the muscle so you'll want to avoid that too.

Hope this helps  :)

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Thanks so much for the feedback and the link to the recover/resting article. I have a lot of energy on the Whole30 diet. Working at a desk for 8+ hours a day at the desk is hard because I feel like I have so much physical energy. I'm going to try adding more walking  and stretching throughout the day. I had my a rest day yesterday and I felt restless and irritable on the couch watching TV. Stretching out really helped shake that restlessness!

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