Excercise before or after breakfast?

lmarshel

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

Your body has no concept of time and burns just as many calories at 7:00 PM as it does at 7:00 AM.

I think there might be more to the dietician's stat that just the time of day. I believe it is helpful for people who lead busy lives and MIGHT come up with some excuses and skip a workout if they wait until the end of the day.

Personally, cardio early AM on an empty stomach works. But I always eat breakfast first before hiking. Just depends on the activity.

Dauntlessness

Almost every day I drink a dole fruit smoothie shaker and eat a protein bar. I need my foodz! hehe

profesorakate

Interesting, I've been wondering the same thing. Re: weight loss/fat burning exercising on an empty stomach.

moustache_flavored_lube

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

This is true only because it is shown that morning exercisers tend to be most consistent over time, because they don't let the day get in the way of their workouts

otterish

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

Your body has no concept of time and burns just as many calories at 7:00 PM as it does at 7:00 AM.

That comment may have been more about habits than the body's reaction to exercise.

moustache_flavored_lube

When I followed the Body for Life Program, the book recommended exercising in the morning on an empty stomach. The reasoning was that you would be burning off your stubborn fat stores instead of what you just ate. I followed Body for Life to the "T" and it was very effective for me, but I think it depends on what works for you!

This has the same basic fallacy as working out in the fat burning zone. From a weightloss perspective you should be concerned only with overall calorie expenditure. If your body burns carbs for fuel during the workout, it will burn the same fat stores for energy later in the day.


Similarly if you work out fasted, and your body burns up some fat, then you eat a calorie excess your body will simply re-store the fat

Zekela

I never exercise when I'm hungry. When I'm hungry I have to eat. With that being said, on weekdays when I get up, Id run before eating since I'm not yet hungry. On weekends, I don't get up as early and have to eat down the place before I even think about running. I wait an hour or two after eating (depending on the distance). My runs on the weekends are faster though (I think because fuel is in my body). However, I have over eaten before (having a meal that over 1100 cals) and the two hour wait is too short. However, Ive noticed that if I consume less than 500 cals, I can wait half an hour then go run.

moustache_flavored_lube

If it's cardio, do it first thing in the morning before breakfast. You want to do cardio when glycogen levels are low, so either fasted in the morning or after weight lifting (which depletes glycogen stores).

What is the goal of always training in a glycogen depleted state? While useful to simulate the late stages of a long race (1/2 marathon plus) it severely limits your performance, and makes you feel sluggish and tired.

It is usually better to train when energy levels are highest thus you will put out a more intense workout

danimalkeys

I like doing cardio on a nearly empty stomach. I'll wake up, have a coffee or 2, do some work stuff, then do my cardio. Then I'll eat.

For weights, I do that in the afternoon after work is done, but before dinner. I need to be at least 2 hours post meal for lifting- too many times my lunch has been coming up a little too high during heavy squats and deadlifts, so I try not to eat anything after 2pm if I'm lifting at 4ish that day.

mfoster1019

It's really a personal choice. Whatever works for you.

For me personally, I drink a protein shake right before working out. I end up eating my actualy breakfast about 1.5 hours after working out. That is just works for me and my schedule. I've been doing that for about 2 months. I used to not eat anything before working out because it was just too early for me to eat anything and did fine on an empty stomach.

Maybe try one day doing it with a something in your stomach. Then try the next day on an empty stomach. See which method makes you feel better during/after your workout.

maceycarey

I eat a hour before I work out or drink a protein shake depends on what time my work out is, this is what my personal trainer taught me to do anyways and it seems to work : )

cubbies77

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

Your body has no concept of time and burns just as many calories at 7:00 PM as it does at 7:00 AM.

That comment may have been more about habits than the body's reaction to exercise.

True, but I'd hate for people to misintepret that as they will lose weight faster if they work out in the morning. The forums are full of fallacies like that.

jkestens63

I always exercise first thing in the morning. I have to eat breakfast beforehand. Its not a huge breakfast -- usually a homemade egg/veggie fritatta (I make then in muffin tins so that is one serving with either a whole or 1/2 multigrain english muffin, and a 8oz of skim milk. I would never be able to exercise without eating first.


However you have to experiment and see what works for you. Some people get sick exercising with anything in their stomach.. so figure out what gives you the most energy.

Always have a snack that includes protien within 20 min of finishing exercising.. I usually have a sandwich thin with 1 tblsp of natural peanut butter. If I am really hungry I have an apple too. A protien bar that is 200 cal or less is another good choice,

Good luck!

AmbyrJayde

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

Your body has no concept of time and burns just as many calories at 7:00 PM as it does at 7:00 AM.

Yup.

I don't agree with the "Before 7am" part, but I have noticed that if I get up and get my a** moving within a half hour of waking up I am much more likely to get up and work out and stick with my calories that day. So yeah my body doesn't care if I wake up at 7 am or 12 noon but If I wake up at 12 I better be working out by 1230-45 or I aint gonna do it.

Erm, but to the original question, I usually eat a piece of fruit, or a rice cake pre run/walk then eat real breakfast after.

SideSteel

I would really base this on personal preference and performance.

cubbies77

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

Your body has no concept of time and burns just as many calories at 7:00 PM as it does at 7:00 AM.

Yup.

I don't agree with the "Before 7am" part, but I have noticed that if I get up and get my a** moving within a half hour of waking up I am much more likely to get up and work out and stick with my calories that day. So yeah my body doesn't care if I wake up at 7 am or 12 noon but If I wake up at 12 I better be working out by 1230-45 or I aint gonna do it.

Erm, but to the original question, I usually eat a piece of fruit, or a rice cake pre run/walk then eat real breakfast after.

Right, that's why it's important to make it clear that it's more about habits than time of day. I have a hard enough time getting out of bed as it is, so if I decided to work out in the morning, I'd never go. I always work out after work since it's on the way home and I have no excuse not to go.

mellypeters09

I am working with a dietician to help me develop better habits. She said that people who exercise within a half-hour of getting up or before 7:00 am tend to do better with weight loss.

Your body has no concept of time and burns just as many calories at 7:00 PM as it does at 7:00 AM.

I dont really think its the body knowing that makes the difference, I think at night may just have more negative factors. Such as if you had a rough day you may not want to work out or if some unforeseen event happens. Not very much happens in the early AM, at least for me. I also feel like if I work out at night, I do not get to sleep as easily, therefore making my next day's exercise a little less bearable. But everyone is different!

shrinkingbrian

I drink water before and during my morning exercises (lifting weights and lap swim) but I wait until later to eat breakfast. I get up at around 4:30 am so it's a little early to eat I think for me. I eat breakfast around 7:30 am with my family so it's also a social thing to be together with my wife and kids.

Cyclink

I eat before I work out.

I'm going an hour on the bike with some form of intervals, most commonly at VO2max or FTP intensity.

If I don't eat first, my power drops noticeably, probably from not eating for nearly 12 hours.

JoRumbles

Thank you everyone. The consensus seems to be that it is personal preference