How much to eat before the gym? The answer is not unique, it all depends on both what you eat and how soon you eat . In this article we see what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat before the gym, on a case-by-case basis.

HOW MUCH TO EAT BEFORE THE GYM?

1. If you have the gym two hours after meal time.
   If you hit the gym at three in the afternoon or mid-morning, you can have a full breakfast or a light, balanced lunch about two hours early.
   The important thing is not to eat too much to prevent digestion from compromising our training performance.
   For example: two hours earlier if you work out in the middle of the morning you can eat complex carbohydrates from toast, oatmeal or puffed cereals, a low-fat Greek yogurt or protein shake and a small amount of fat.
   This way, twenty minutes before hitting the gym, all you need to do is drink a sugar-free orange or pineapple juice or eat a small sugary fruit and you’ll work out well.
   If you work out in the afternoon, you can indulge in a balanced lunch two or two and a half hours earlier with basmati rice or wholemeal pasta, white meat or fish, vegetables .
   Avoid foods that generally cause digestive problems , such as broccoli or potatoes or legumes, and also avoid too much fat if there are already carbohydrates.
   Because fats slow digestion for hours.
2. If you have the gym half an hour after the time of the meal.
   Many people use their lunch break to go to the gym.
   Nothing wrong with that as long as the following situations don’t occur.
   Fast from breakfast.
   Lunch with a sandwich or pasta dish half an hour before working out.
   In the first case we have not fueled the body, and this will affect both the strength and the duration of the training. Many people think that working out without eating for hours is helpful in burning fat.
   But burning fat for energy doesn’t mean losing weight.
   On the contrary, a stressful situation such as that of the absence of food (obviously subjective: there are those who train very well on an empty stomach, but it is infrequent) can compromise both our training and our health, stressing the adrenals and ending up slowing down. the metabolism.
   A very important study on this aspect can be read here: the hormone that slows down the metabolism runs out of energy. 
   You can find a denial on the idea that training fasting makes you lose weight here: does the lipolytic band make you lose weight? 
   In the second case we simply go to train with the meal on the stomach.
   At this point there are two ways.
   A. Limit the meal to one snack and then have a second reinforcement snack afterwards. For example, a (non-low carb) protein bar and an isotonic drink. Or a protein shake and a sugary fruit like a banana. For the after a bar or a glass of milk with some protein powder and we are ok. Or even a small wholemeal toast with bresaola and tomato.
   B. Or postpone the meal by making a small snack earlier: in this case a piece of fruit is enough.
   And after training, lunch or dinner, starting the meal with proteins and vegetables, followed by complex carbohydrates.