How close to training should I eat?

This totally depends upon your goals but to max fat loss, it has been shown that you should have a serving of lean protein (probably a whey shake is best) as soon before the session as your stomach can tolerate. The problem is that some people can eat 10 minutes before training and some people have to eat an hour or more before training...so you have to work this out for yourself via trial-and-error.

For max muscle gains or recovery, additionally add essential amino acids. About 6 grams of these before training. See the previous article on the following link for details...

(@musclemodeltobe) Do you take BCAA's before or after working out?

Hello, i think everyone is different when it comes to this, i am a boxing instructor and i find my body needs at least 2 hours to let my food settle before a high intensity workout! i personally recommend at least half an hour to an hour. i am a big fan of just eating natural products to get my protein intake so i do try and eat some protein prior to any workout i do!!

That's fine. It depends upon how big the meal is - it takes longer for a full, normal-sized meal to settle than for a protein shake with a banana.

Also, as a boxer, getting hit in the gut with too much food or fluid left in your stomach is never a good idea.

By the way, whey protein is every bit as natural as butter or bread - it is just one of the proteins found naturally in milk...with butter the processing technique removes just about everything but the fat and with whey protein, the processing removes (mostly) everything but the protein...totally natural!