eating before exercising???

I usually have my skinny bagel and peanut butter and a bottle of water before I exercise. Gives me the energy to get through it I think. I tried it once without eating first..bad idea. I was SO light-headed.

I dont think it is harmful; unless you feel you need it to get you through your workout. I've always read that it is best to eat afterward b/c your body is still burning calories after you workout, to help burn what you eat after your workout.

I always thought that if you ate before exercising you would get cramps. So I wouldn't eat much, maybe a slice of toast and a small glass of orange juice or something. Then have a nice omelet after or something.

I think it depends on the exercises you are doing. If it's aerobic, you should be fine.

I exercise before breakfast. I know some people swear by it (burn your fat instead of food you just consumed) but I do it because I feel ill if I work out on a full stomach and I don't have two hours to make breakfast, eat and let it settle before I start getting ready for work. I was really hungry one morning though and I had a handful of almonds half way through my workout just because I was getting distracted by hunger pains.

I always exercise after breakfast as I too get light headed. Checking by blood sugar and it gets too low if I don't eat before I exercise.

You should definitely eat before exercising if not you break down muscle instead of buring fat...because your body goes into save mode from being "starved" overnight.


Eat Before Exercise?
Saturday, November 10, 2007Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N

I have heard it way too often lately…."My trainer (or someone else) told me not to eat before I exercise in the morning because I will burn more fat if I exercise on an empty stomach." This is simply not true! In fact, the opposite is true. You should eat before you work out to lose weight.

When you wake up from overnight, your glycogen stores (carb stores) are pretty low. It seems logical that since your glycogen is low that you should then use fat for energy if you go and work out. If only it were that easy we would not have the epidemic of obesity that we have! Instead of your body using stored fat to fuel your workout, your body decides to use muscle instead of fat. It wants to hang on to fat, just like you like to hang on to your savings account. Your body treats your fat stores like savings and does not like to have to use them.


In addition, whenever you put your body into significant low energy, it thinks it is starving and that just teaches the body to go into survival mode and hang on to fat. Not only will you store fat, but you also won’t get a good workout. If you have ever hit the wall or felt really low on energy during a workout, it is very likely due to improper fueling before you worked out.

If you are exercising first thing in the morning, I don’t expect you to eat a large amount. Just a small pre-workout snack is enough to tell the body that it has some fuel coming in. As long as the body knows that you are giving it some fuel to work with, it will respond with burning small amounts of body fat. However, it is when the deficit is large (no food after overnight fast) that it will conserve fat storage. Even eating 100-200 calories will do the trick.


If you are not exercising in the morning, but rather at lunchtime or after work, have a small snack before your workout if it has been more than 3 hours since your last meal or snack. Again, a 100-200 calorie snack should be plenty to get you through that workout. Follow the workout with your next meal within an hour or with a snack if it will be longer than that until the next meal.


You will actually lose more body fat and perform better if you eat before working out. If you are still skeptical, give it a try for a few weeks and let me know how it goes!



Read more: http://www.healthline.com/blogs/diet_nutrition/2007/11/eat-before-exercise.html#ixzz1DNqZxn1F
Healthline.com - Connect to Better Health

Not eating before exercising can put an extra strain on your body and it will not workout so efficiently. Grabbing something (a banana is VERY easy to digest) before you workout is probably best. Ease your stomach into it, sometimes going from eating nothing to eating a lot before working out can actually make you feel sick.

Try something simple (banana) and then maybe add some carbs. Thomas Light English Muffins with Natural Peanut Butter is healthy plus it gives you energy for the workout. Hope this helps!

I USUALLY EXERCISE ABOUT 5 AM (BEFORE MY BOYS WAKE UP) AND I FOUND THAT IT HELPS TO EAT SOMETHING LIKE A PIECE OF TOAST W/ PEANUT BUTTER OR A BOWL OF MULTIGRAIN CHERRIOS BEFORE I START!!! FIRST OF ALL IT HELPS ME WAKE UP ALL THE WAY, SECOND I DONT FEEL LIKE I AM STARVING HALF WAY THROUGH MY WORK OUT....I SAY EAT LIGHT AND LOTS OF WATER!

You will probably get lots of responses to your question, and just remember everyone is different! All I can tell you is what works for me. I HAVE to eat something before I work out, if not I get sick to my stomach, light headed and usually end up quitting half way through. Sometimes work requires me to work out in the am. When I do I try and have something small like a small banana, or half a bagel with some peanut butter or almond butter, or I have a 1/2 of granola bar (the ones that come two in a pack). I eat then wait about 30 mins doing things like checking my email, going through the mail / bills or getting lunch ready. Before you know it 30 mins is up and I can work out. Now the intensity and length of my workouts dictate how much I eat prior. If I'm doing a 45-60 min class then I'm eating double what I would above, but waiting twice as long to start (1 hr compared to 30 min.). This way my body has a good fuel source to work off and keep me going. I DO NOT recommend working out on an empty stomach! Some people think that if they do this the body immediately turns to the fat cells for fuel, from my schooling and what I read is that body will go for protein then fat. Hope this helps....K

I have a friend who is going to school for sports medicine, and he is very knowledgeable about this stuff. He told me to have protein before a workout. I don't know if it matters where it comes from, but i find it easy to have some water with a special k protein snack bar. Then after my workout, I usually eat my regular breakfast, egg white omelet or oatmeal. I hope this helps you:)

I really think this is a personal preference based on what your particular needs. I drink a 3-4 oz glass of orange juice before my workouts in the morning. It's worked for me but may not be for everyone.

I would say only eat before exercising if you're hungry. Otherwise, do your workout, take your shower, then eat your breakfast. When I ran, I would do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I would get stomach cramps if I had too much in my belly so this worked for me. Just do what works for you. Don't worry about what other people say.