Do you eat before or after your workout? Both? What and Why?

Hey Jacreasy!
It took some getting used to as I was a person that never drank more than 3-4 glasses of water per day.  The 1st thing I did was give up all drinks including anything lite or diet.  I only drink water and sometimes water with Crystal Light or Mio or something like that but most of the time it's str8 water. What I do is sit 2-3 bottles of water next to my night stand before I go to sleep at night so that it's right there when I wake up (drink 1 bottle before I even do anything else).  Then another 1 and a protein shake 1 hr before I go workout and the same routine (2 bottles of water and a protein) within an hr after my workout.  I also keep 4-5 bottles of water in my car as well as my office so that it's readily available.  It takes a while for someone like me that wasn't a heavy water drinker before but it got easier when I gave up everything else. I'll have the occassional diet/lite drink whenever I'm craving something sweet and it seems to work for me.

I hope this helps. By the way, I saw your pictures and you look great! Congrats on your amazing success! Take care!

That's amazing. I have found I can drink more at once. I can take at least 3 gulps at a time. Wait a few seconds and 3 more. I just have to make myself do it. I have never been much of a liquids drinker. This has been the hardest thing for me. You look (drop the "F" bomb here) awesome BTW!!

I just had my 3 month follow-up appointment where my nutritionist told me about this.  She said to get some form of protein in within two hours of working out.  She mentioned a protein shake, cottage cheese, or lean protein.

I do half a banana 15 minutes before my workout.   Then a 30g protein shake within 30 minutes after my workout.

Thank you everyone! It seems like some protein before and some protein after is the thing to do. I want to start cycling and running so I'm trying to figure out a course of action!

If I'm hungry before a workout and it's been a while since I've eaten, I will have a little snack. If it's an intense workout, I'll do a recovery snack after. This is 100-200 calories with 3:1 carb to protein ratio. I usually have Fluid Recovery Drink because it's convenient and I have it within 30 minutes of the workout.

During a workout I only consume calories if the workout is going to last longer than 90 minutes.

Be careful of snacking around workouts. People seem to think you have to "fuel" your workouts and then next thing you know they are taking in 500 calories and burning 200. You don't really need to do special fueling unless you are working out super-intensely and/or every day. If you workout a few times a week and no more than an hour at a time, then your regular eating is fine and you should only consume workout fuel if your body tells you it needs it -- i.e., you are getting ready for a workout and it's been over 2 hours since you've eaten or you are hungry or you find yourself getting faint during workouts.