Not Eating Before Early Morning Workouts...HELP!

Rinkydink84

Hi,

I try to be as informed and educated as possible when it comes to making diet and fitness choices. However, when it comes to this question, the answers seems to be all over the board. I'd love to hear what my fellow Myfitnesspals think. I workout at 5:30 a.m. every weekday morning. I normally do this on an empty stomach, and do not really have any problems with it. If I do eat before I workout I tend to feel very nauseous the entire time. I have read various sources that suggest that not eating before a workout causes your body to feed off of muscle tissue and decreasing results. I have also read that not eating before a morning workout causes your body to use reserved fat sources as fuel thus causing greater weight loss and overall results. I think they both make sense, but I am not a nutritionist, dietician, or fitness expert in any way. The last two days I have been drinking a protein shake before my workout but it is only about 20 minutes before because I am not getting up at 4 or 4:30 to eat a meal. However, I heard eating too close to a workout will counteract your efforts as well, so I am really at a loss. I want to do what is best for my body but as always "there is more than one way to skin a cat". Can anyone share their experiences or direct me to a reputable source where I can further my research?

agentphantom

For the past several weeks, I've had great success with intermittent fasting and not consuming anything while I workout other than a Branch Chain Amino Acid drink. My feeding window is from 11 am to 6 or 7 pm each day and I workout at 5 am. My energy levels are through the roof and I feel fantastic throughout the day. I lift 4 days (2 upper and 2 lower) a week and have 1 cardio workout each week with 2 days of rest. I had to reduce the cardio because of the significant weight loss and right now I am trying a body recomposition. On my lifting days I consume calories in surplus; on my cardio day, maintenance; and on rest days, caloric deficit. My cardio is limited to no more than 40 minutes at a nice and steady pace. I may occasionally do 15 minutes of cardio immediately after lifting to help reduce DOMS and help recovery. Bottom line is don't overthink it. As long as you are putting in the work, you will achieve your goals. Good luck!

TylerJ76

If you feel good working out on an empty stomach, GREAT
If you don't feel good working out after eating, then don't do that.

It really is that simple.

agentphantom

If you feel good working out on an empty stomach, GREAT
If you don't feel good working out after eating, then don't do that.

It really is that simple.

Very true, guess I could have used fewer words, lol

mustgetmuscles1

http://www.machinemuscle.com/interview-with-nutrition-expert-alan-aragon/

robertk1966

It's an issue of stored muscle glycogen. If you ate properly the day and evening before, you should not struggle with an early AM workout, nor should you be catabolizing muscle mass.

I do a lot of 4:15AM bike rides on a set of rollers in the garage. I've never had a problem completing demanding training sessions (2000kj, or 2200kcal, in 2 hours) first thing out of bed.

Maintain adequate CHO intake the day before, and stay hydrated during the night. Getting up to pee a couple of times is actually a good thing if you're working out at 4AM.

DavPul

If you feel good working out on an empty stomach, GREAT
If you don't feel good working out after eating, then don't do that.

It really is that simple.

This

dorothytd

If you feel good working out on an empty stomach, GREAT
If you don't feel good working out after eating, then don't do that.

It really is that simple.

I agree. That was my routine for years before I started to mix it up a little with some stuff at night. No issues. Do what works!

Perfectdiamonds1

I workout at 5am and only have coffee and maybe some water to get me going in the morning. I just can eat before a workout that early, it tends to make me feel ill. After my workout, shower and getting into work that is when I eat. But as I have learned on the lifestyle journey, everyone is different so do what works for you. Best of luck on your successful journey:drinker:

heybales

I try to be as informed and educated as possible when it comes to making diet and fitness choices. However, when it comes to this question, the answers seems to be all over the board. I'd love to hear what my fellow Myfitnesspals think. I workout at 5:30 a.m. every weekday morning. I normally do this on an empty stomach, and do not really have any problems with it. If I do eat before I workout I tend to feel very nauseous the entire time. I have read various sources that suggest that not eating before a workout causes your body to feed off of muscle tissue and decreasing results. I have also read that not eating before a morning workout causes your body to use reserved fat sources as fuel thus causing greater weight loss and overall results. I think they both make sense, but I am not a nutritionist, dietician, or fitness expert in any way. The last two days I have been drinking a protein shake before my workout but it is only about 20 minutes before because I am not getting up at 4 or 4:30 to eat a meal. However, I heard eating too close to a workout will counteract your efforts as well, so I am really at a loss. I want to do what is best for my body but as always "there is more than one way to skin a cat". Can anyone share their experiences or direct me to a reputable source where I can further my research?

A lot has to do with the type of workout.

You are in fasted state of course in morning, in as good a fat-burning state you'll get already. But also low on liver/blood glucose stores depending on when you ate last and how active after that meal, which either are replenished from eating, or muscle breakdown if more is needed.

So lifting usually won't call on much more carbs than what is already in the muscle, so that is fine.
Active Recovery HR zone (aka "fat-burning") cardio is mainly going to use fat anyway, and this state will encourage and train it even more.

But once you go intense cardio, where your body does have to use more glucose for energy, you not having much liver/blood glucose doesn't really matter, muscle breakdown will contribute to blood glucose levels to keep them where they need to be, even though your muscles are getting plenty of glucose from the muscles.
So the breakdown is only for the amount needed to keep blood sugar level correct. Your muscles are still using the glucose in them.

This is different than "the wall" in endurance events like marathon for recreational runners that went too fast. That is a matter of using up the muscle glucose stores also along with fat burning, and now muscle is being broken down for overall energy needs - that's a real hit.

Eating before of course takes you out of that fat-burning state, but if doing cardio, now you need to do it at higher intensity if you want to burn the same ratio of carb/fat you were going to do anyway.
So if you eat (protein shake isn't nearly as bad) and do cardio, if you keep the effort at 68% of VO2max, or 73% of HRmax then you won't have an effect from it basically.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-myth-of-cardio-before-breakfast-debunked.html

http://www.alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html

babyxblue101

I personaly have to eat before a morning workout. usually if i do workout in the mornings i go on a jog.. and wheather or not i eat makes a big difference in how long/fast i run.