eat-train-repeat

When it comes to eating around your training sessions, let's try and keep things simple.

Ideally you should be looking to have a full balanced meal, including carbohydrates, fat and protein (20-40g approx) in a 3-4 hour window of your training.

Eat at 4PM	Train at 7PM	Ideal window to eat again before 8PM
Eat at 5PM	Train at 7PM	Ideal window to eat again before 9PM
Eat at 2PM	Train at 7PM	Not ideal and you may not perform as well as you could. A quicker post training food intake is more important here.

If this doesn't work for you everytime, don't stress, just do what you can and if you feel hungry before your training then of course have something light, such as a banana, handful of nuts, even a couple of squares of dark chocolate, as working out hungry doesn’t always feel great.

If fat loss is your goal then over the course of the week (I like to use a week rather than focussing on 1 day) you need to be in a calorie deficit. You need to expend more calories than you consume. This can be just a small amount, 200-300 calories a day. The small deficits will help in achieving long term fat loss, hunger pangs and overall adherence to your change in diet or activity levels.

If you are happy where you are in terms of weight or body composition then stick with what you are doing and tweak when you need to.

Here is some bones of the matter. The ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) has seen evidence that a protein intake of between 1.4-2g per kg of bodyweight for individuals who participate in resistance training is optimal when looking to build or maintain muscle. This depends on how many times a week you train and to what intensity. This is also noticeably higher than the Reference Nutrient Intake of .75g per kg bodyweight but, this is not based on someone who trains.

What does this mean?
Weight = 80KG
80x1.6(taking it in the middle range)=128
128g protein daily
Split over 3-5 meals, roughly 25g in each

This could be achieved through:
3 eggs
100g chicken
100g lentils
120g tuna

Regular resistance training plus protein consumption helps you build muscle. The more lean muscle mass you have the more efficient you are...in essence you can consume more calories relative to your bodyweight as you need to fuel more muscle.