To eat or not to eat?

Flamenquera

I have heard from family/friends/fitness instructors that eating breakfast is important before you exercise, but most recently I read about a study that was done about this and the results were that people who didn't eat breakfast before exercise lost more weight than those who did eat. Does anyone know more about this...

azlady7

it is my understanding that eating helps get the metabolism going...warming up the body to get more out of exercise...i could be wrong. either way...i eat before exercising.

atina502

Hmmm...I typically do NOT eat before running or yoga in the morning, mostly because I think I would barf if I did! At most, I have a small banana about an hour before the workout, just to not have to listen to my belly grumbling. But, I do eat a big meal after the workout...I don't think the timing of the meal matters much, what matters is the intensity of the workout and how many calories you bring into your system vs how many you burn...but, that's just an opinion.

SeasideOasis

Ive asked my health consult about this not too long ago. According to him...A calorie burned, is a calorie burned. I guess its to each their own though because he sort of shrugged and said he has read both sides and doesnt clearly know which one he would stand on.

taso42_DELETED

When I do morning cardio, I do it first thing in the morning, fasted, then wait around 1 hour to eat again. The basic theory is this - when you wake up, your glycogen levels are low or depleted, so the body has little or no glycogen to burn through before it dips into the fat stores. Whereas, if you have eaten recently, you will be burning up glycogen rather than fat.

deathtaco

The same people who say breakfast is the most important meal of the day also advocate that the current food pyramid is a healthy way to eat. The body burns calories 24/7. The whole "anabolic window" being within 30-minutes of working out is a load of bologna. Your body's "anabolic" window is 24 hours.

Squats are bad for your knees, deadlifts are terrible for your back, saturated fats make you fat, must have whole-grain to be healthy, vegetable oils are good for you, eat tons of carbs, etc. All these are largely unfounded, not scientifically backed and a lot of studies conducted when these opinions were pushed were 'selected' by health officials to match their personal opinion.

Most of the nutritional knowledge you know, either by your personal trainer, doctors, etc is largely unfounded in science. This is really no fault of their own - and until recently I also believed everything I was told regarding exercise/nutrition. Look around, there's quite a lot of shocking information out there that's actually been scientifically proven that blasts a lot of this stuff out the window.

Suzy12

Just my opinion based on personal experience. If I exercise without eating breakfast my blood sugar plummets and I pass out. So my answer would be NO, do not exercise on an empty stomach. I like to have a little something even before a morning run. But I'm sure you'll get replies here that say it's perfectly fine to do.

amberaz

Even if I workout first thing in the morning right after I get up, I gotta eat something first :laugh: My belly is literally growling most mornings when I get up, and I could never workout like that.

tolygal

I don't know about the science, but I have to eat before I work out. I don't want anything big, but if I don't eat something, I don't do well at all!! I'm weak and can't perform like I can with a little food in the belly. Maybe it depends on the person.... I've also heard both arguments, and they both make sense to me. So I do what my body tells me to do - which is to eat :-)

wysmom2000

It all comes down to what you are comfortable with. There are people that say if they eat they become nauseous and sick, and there are ones who say if they don't they get lightheaded and sick. I am of the opinion that you need fuel for a workout. Use the analogy of gas for your car. You can't drive on an empty tank so how can you power your body on empty? I usually have something small about an hour before exercise. If I don't, I have no energy left in the end to finish.

bmontgomery87

it is my understanding that eating helps get the metabolism going...warming up the body to get more out of exercise...i could be wrong. either way...i eat before exercising.

this has actually been disproven from what I've read recently.

Fasted cardio does help people burn fat easier.
but if you're doing weight training I'd suggest breakfast.

deathtaco

it is my understanding that eating helps get the metabolism going...warming up the body to get more out of exercise...i could be wrong. either way...i eat before exercising.

this has actually been disproven from what I've read recently.

Fasted cardio does help people burn fat easier.
but if you're doing weight training I'd suggest breakfast.

Working out fasted is more reliant on your glycogen stores than current blood glucose levels.

jamievolner

I have initially lost 140 pounds (working on losing 40 gained back) and held it off for 7 years and I learned by working with an exercise physciologist (sp) that eating before working out is very important. It is also important to eat something with carbs in it prior to working out such as oatmeal for instance. When you start working out your body immediately looks for carbs to burn...if there are none there it will go after your protein in your body which in turn eats muscle...you do NOT want to burn muscle. Eating within the first 2 hours of waking is essential in jump starting your metabolism. If you wait longer than 2 hours from rising your body will go into starvation mode and actually start storing fat. It's crazy because my highest was 285 and when I was losing weight I was told to eat more....to keep the metabolism going.....so I eat breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack ....of course your portion control, keeping a food diary and knowing what your caloric intake and fat intake is important.

I hope this helped!

deathtaco

I have initially lost 140 pounds (working on losing 40 gained back) and held it off for 7 years and I learned by working with an exercise physciologist (sp) that eating before working out is very important. It is also important to eat something with carbs in it prior to working out such as oatmeal for instance. When you start working out your body immediately looks for carbs to burn...if there are none there it will go after your protein in your body which in turn eats muscle...you do NOT want to burn muscle. Eating within the first 2 hours of waking is essential in jump starting your metabolism. If you wait longer than 2 hours from rising your body will go into starvation mode and actually start storing fat. It's crazy because my highest was 285 and when I was losing weight I was told to eat more....to keep the metabolism going.....so I eat breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack ....of course your portion control, keeping a food diary and knowing what your caloric intake and fat intake is important.

I hope this helped!

I'm sorry, but this is completely untrue. You do not go into starvation mode overnight. If we did, and we needed food upon waking and every couple hours before we went to bed, humankind would've died off long ago.

Your available glycogen levels can be sustained without carbs, and moderate activity for anywhere up to 24-48 hours.

Flamenquera

Thanks for the information everyone, I appreciate it greatly!

Suzy12

it is my understanding that eating helps get the metabolism going...warming up the body to get more out of exercise...i could be wrong. either way...i eat before exercising.

this has actually been disproven from what I've read recently.

Fasted cardio does help people burn fat easier.
but if you're doing weight training I'd suggest breakfast.

Working out fasted is more reliant on your glycogen stores than current blood glucose levels.

So you're saying that blood sugar doesn't drop after a fasting period??

deathtaco

So you're saying that blood sugar doesn't drop after a fasting period??

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

I use him as a quick reference. All his info is backed by Pubmed journals and other research journals. So if you're skeptical of me, then you can refer to his references at least

As far as empirical evidence: I've fasted 16 hours and lifted heavy squats or deadlift without any lack of intensity or strength or energy. You don't need a constant free floating source of blood sugar for energy, your body has plenty stored - you just need to give it a chance to use it.

Suzy12

So you're saying that blood sugar doesn't drop after a fasting period??

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

I use him as a quick reference. All his info is backed by Pubmed journals and other research journals. So if you're skeptical of me, then you can refer to his references at least

As far as empirical evidence: I've fasted 16 hours and lifted heavy squats or deadlift without any lack of intensity or strength or energy. You don't need a constant free floating source of blood sugar for energy, your body has plenty stored - you just need to give it a chance to use it.

Well then my passing out must just be psychosomatic. Who knew?

deathtaco

Not at all.

But if your body is not used to this type of training and dieting, then it will have troubles adjusting at first; such as during Keto, the first week was unbearable at the gym in terms of energy levels and strength loss.

I'm not attacking anyone's point of views, so I don't appreciate the sarcasm when I'm trying to help people out by offering up alternative methods.

Suzy12

Not at all.

But if your body is not used to this type of training and dieting, then it will have troubles adjusting at first; such as during Keto, the first week was unbearable at the gym in terms of energy levels and strength loss.

I'm not attacking anyone's point of views, so I don't appreciate the sarcasm when I'm trying to help people out by offering up alternative methods.

Sorry for the sarcasm. But it might be better to say you are offering an opinion. One that does not work for everyone, especially those with medical conditions, and such. I see a lot of "black and white" posts here and I think they can be harmful to the people who are asking for help. That's all I'm saying.

kfareed

I agree with @deathtaco , unfortunately anyone who tries to swim against commercial and media 2ry gains is met with sarcasm