To eat or not to eat....

finallyproud

Ok so I have a question for all you wonderful MFPers :flowerforyou: With all your wonderful experience maybe I can get some good feed back. I read something a while ago that said to exercise on an empty stomach..so I tried it for a few weeks now and I haven't lost anything :grumble: So what I need to know is do you guys know if it's better to eat before you exercise or not? Does it make a difference? Thanks in advance for any input

isadoraworkman

I eat a little bit before...something small...like yogurt and blueberries, or half a banana...have water, wait about 15-30 minutes...then when I come back from my run, i eat something bigger, like an omelette .
A.

finallyproud

Thanks

pkgirrl

Well, I think it depends what kind of exercise you're doing. In biology we had to learn about all the basic energy and metabolic cycles. Basically, though, Your body converts sugar to ATP, and high energy molecule that it can break down very quickly when needed. That's what your body is going to use primarily whenever you do a moderate to high intensity work out. ( ie going for a run) Your metabolism doesn't have time to break down fat into energy while your doing that level of exercise, so it uses up all the glycogen in your muscles, turns it into ATP, then uses that for energy. Theoretically, this means skipping a meal before a workout in order to burn fat instead of carbs isn't going to help you out much, you'll just fatigue faster. I think the whole don't eat before you exercise rule is mainly for low intesity exercise, like walking and light cycling. Nothing too strenuous, just enough to elevate your heart rate a tad, because then your body actually has time to convert fat stores for energy, as oppose to diving into your muscles glycogen stores.

Basically, if you're not just going for a walk, I'd definitely eat something. Preferably with a good amount of carbs, to help you get the most out of your workout :flowerforyou:

fitgal411

I don't eat too much right before I exercise, or else my stomach starts hurting. A little snack is okay for me. I heard exercising when you first wake up is good, too.

JDHINAZ

I've done it both ways, empty stomach (first thing in the am) and after I've had a full meal....I've not noticed any difference in weight loss. I think there are some factors that play into what your body ends up burning as fuel if you exercise on an empty stomach, and there have been a few good debates over this topic on this board, but I think, bottom line, it's calories in/calories out. And unless you're exercising hard core, it might not make that much difference.

Where's Banks and mfinney when we need them??

finallyproud

Maybe I'll go back to eating something before I walk and see if that makes a difference and budges the scale. I may not be eating enough either. I never eat my exercise calories, and maybe that's why I'm stuck :ohwell: IDK. Thanks everyone for your input :flowerforyou:

9726172000

My hubby and I don't eat anything before we go and work out and usually it is about 2 hours before either one of us can eat anything after we get done working out. cardio will in fact burn more stored fat than anything else. I do 1 hour on the Epi and burn anywhere from 700-900 cals in that time. My hubby will do the tredmill for 45 minutes and burn about 700 cals. Cardio will burn cals like crazy if you do the cardio at a good enough speed (meaning you shouldn't be able to hold a conversation) but be able to answere questions with a short answere. If you don't have a heart rate monitor I do suggest getting one. Before I got my HRM I was over estimating my calories that I was burning. I did take a look at your food diary and it does appear that you are leaving alot of uneattin cals. and maybe that is what is going on with no weight loss. Have you tried doing more of a protien based diet? I had to switch to a protien base diet because more fiber, fruits and vege's wasn't allowing my body to lose the weight, it was holding on to it. My excercise stayed the same but when I went to more protien I started to lose the weight. Don't give up look at how much weight you have already lost. Maybe looking at what you are eatting and twiking it here or there might be just what your body needs.
Good look in your journey

CarmenSantiago

This is a link for a thread of this nature..

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58184-to-eat-or-not-to-eat-that-is-the-question

good luck!

pkgirrl

ps. if your progress is stalling.. EAT THE EXERCISE CALORIES!
your body needs them, MFP already calculates a deficiency into the diet, so you'd lose even if you didn't exercise, so when it tell yous to eat more because you exercise, your body actually really needs it, and might go into starvation mode otherwise

finallyproud

So if your body goes into starvation mode how long does it take to recover and start losing again?

9726172000

Here is a link to starvation mode= Slow Metabolism
http://weightloss.suite101.com/article.cfm/slow_metabolism