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I crawled around on the site a little bit and couldn't find specific suggestions for what to eat and when before getting my ass kicked at Crossfit. I just did my first workout yesterday and definitely crashed towards the end (which could be due to the intensity of the workout but I want to make sure I'm fueling properly for such demanding activity.)

I'm not totally against carbs in the form of fruit and veggies but I am trying to limit them where I can. I also know a lot of people like to workout and Crossfit in a fasted state but I was light headed after 25 minutes with a decent meal an hour and half before I got to the box. I'm not sure I could do something like that on an empty stomach just yet. Looks like I'll probably be working out at 11:30am most of the time if that helps.

I consider myself kind of skinny fat, pretty lean legs and arms that could use more muscle on them and a little abdominal fat blocking any abs I might have. I'm looking to build some muscle but not really bulk up a lot. Think mens pro soccer physique.

I probably left some important details out but let me know what info you could use and I'll update the question as I can. Thanks in advance!

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3 Answers

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I always trained fasted until summer hit and my CF workouts started to suffer.. just too hot and I was burning through everything that was in my body. Fatigue city. I want to move heavy things, be bigger, faster, and stronger, woo!, and so what started doing was:

Night before CF Right before I crawl into bed I'll have nuts, cottage cheese, a hard boiled egg, avocado and berries, I mix it around.

The morning of CF About 30 minutes before I start I now always have sliced banana with almond butter, coconut, and large flake sea salt sprinkled on top as well as a huge glass or two of water. I drink water the whole time I'm working out. Cycle home and it's iced coffee with milk, breakfast that I try to get in me within 30 minutes or so upon arriving home and that is always veggies, sweet/regular potatoes, meat, and/or eggs, with berries.

Almost done with month one of doing the above and results are spot on - no fatigue and I'm solid all the way through.

You're going to get a wide-variety of answers, will definitely be interesting to see!

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I was going to suggest pretty much the same thing. What you eat the day before will impact the next day. The only difference for me is the amount of time between my last food intake and the workout. If I have anything in my stomach I'm hogging the puke bucket so to be courteous to other people that might need to vomit, I don't for about two hours before my workout! – Jennifer Jul 21 2011 at 19:36
My CF schedule is not set to certain days - I make sure to mix it up so I don't peak. Could be two days on/two off, every other day, etc. So alwaysalways I eat big the day before.. some days it's in a row, tho, oof! I hear you on the puke - that was a worry of mine but for some reason the bites of banana/almond butter/coconut/salt hasn't affected me at all. No belly gurgles. I've wondered if it's because it's all cold so not as sweet.. or the fact that I cycle to CF so I kind of get it working thru my bod before WOD'ing it up. Not complaining tho :) – jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com Jul 21 2011 at 20:32
First off, I'm drooling just thinking about your preworkout fix juba. It sounds like my goals are pretty well aligned with your own and with the heat in NC right now, I definitely need to be worried about fatigue setting in. I'm also not going to be on a fixed CF schedule and after doing a bunch of research, especially over at leangains, I'm no longer worried about eating before bed. I have all the fixins you mentioned and I'm going to give them a try before soccer tonight and see how that works, even though it's a much different workout than CF. I'll let you know what I think tonight! – Nutritionator Jul 21 2011 at 20:55
I never have more than 4 WOD's a week and never less than 2 - it's a good mix. I keep the almond butter/bananas in the fridge and coconut in the freezer so it's all nice and cold - when it's 100F with humidity that cold snack hits perfectly. Definitely want to hear how it goes! – jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com Jul 21 2011 at 21:20
By the way, been using this for weeks now and you're right, it works really well. I don't have it before every workout because I like to switch stuff up all the time but it hits the spot in the right way. Thanks again for that great answer. – Nutritionator Aug 18 2011 at 1:48
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Try an easily digested, mostly protein and carb, small meal about an hour an a half to two hours pre-workout. You can also try taking BCAAs about 10 minutes pre-workout. If crossfit made you light-headed and you're doing low-carb... try upping the pre-workout carbs or carbs in general if you stick with it.

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Yup, I'm similar to this. Right now, I'm working out at 5pm, so if I'm able to have a biggish lunch, it will be protein heavy. If I have a lighter lunch, I'll try to have a protein/carb snack no later than 90 minutes before class. I can't have anything in my stomach during a metcon, I'll hurl. – LadyAdmin Jul 21 2011 at 18:07
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They are right u really have to play with it and see what works for YOU only! Don't be suprised what works for someone but. Doesn't for u. Don't beat yourself up. So that being said I have pre wod or I competitive oly lift too more so than xfit but this has worked for both lean meat ie. Chicken tuna u can tolerate a fattier meat too half cup sweet pootato and almonds post wod lean meat fruit (not too much!) No fat couple hours later no mre than 2 repeat ppre wod. Hope this helps if u need helpp email me passionatefitnesstrainer4u@gmail.com I am a certified crossfit trainer.

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