Excercise before or after breakfast?

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Replies

  • maceycarey
    maceycarey Posts: 143 Member
    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
    cubbies77 Posts: 607 Member
    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
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
    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
    AmbyrJayde Posts: 257 Member
    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
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    I would really base this on personal preference and performance.
  • cubbies77
    cubbies77 Posts: 607 Member
    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
    mellypeters09 Posts: 35 Member
    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
    shrinkingbrian Posts: 171 Member
    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
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
    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
    JoRumbles Posts: 262 Member
    Thank you everyone. The consensus seems to be that it is personal preference