the pre-workout meal thing took me ages to figure out

Right so I spent probably two years eating either too much or nothing before training and wondering why my sessions felt like actual garbage. The thing that actually made a difference — timing more than anything. I eat about 90 minutes out now. Enough carbs to not bonk halfway through a heavy squat set, not so much that I feel like I'm pulling 180kg on a full stomach. Which, trust me, is grim. Protein before matters too but honestly I stopped obsessing over the exact grams. I just make sure there's something — bit of Greek yogurt, a couple of eggs, whatever's quick. The consistency of eating at all before lifting made more difference than optimising every macro. Creatine obviously stays in the mix, that's non-negotiable for me. But the timing on that I've genuinely stopped worrying about — pre, post, whatever, just take it.