Eating Before or After Morning Exercise?

I haven't worked out in while, like 6 months worth of a while (shame, i know) and I am just about to go work out for the first time this morning and I have always worked out on an empty stomach, but I was wondering what the "correct" way of eating and working out was....should I eat before or after a work out? I also find if I eat after I work out, I am not as full as before I started working out. I am going to do cardio on my elliptical, which im sure I will only be able to do about 5 mins worth of it(I am REALLY out of shape) so does the legnth of the workout effect your choice to eat before or after? Because I have heard you are supposed to wait no longer than an hour to eat breakfast after waking up to get your metabolism going?

IMO, both. If you are going to work out for more than 45 mins and you are doing cardio eat something like a slice of toast with a tbsp of Peanut Butter. Your meal after your workout is the most important. You need to have lean protein and good carb to replenish your body and help with recovery. jmo.

I always have something small before, like a banana or a handful of granola. Then I eat a larger breakfast with protein and whole grains afterward.

Personally, I break up my breakfast because I usually work out at 7am when i'm not all that hungry yet, but I know my body needs SOMETHING to go on. So I'll generally have a banana or slice of wheat bread with a 1/3 cup of milk before I work out and then some oatmeal and fruit when I get home. I usually work out for an hour so by that time my body's definitely ready to eat lol. But I definitely wouldn't try working out on an empty tummy it's like trying to run your car without putting gas in it lol.

I just read this article from Fitness Magazine about charging your metabolism and the importance of eating breakfast ( ):

It will switch your metabolism from idle to high speed. That's because your level of cortisol, a hormone that helps you use calories to build muscle, is highest just before you get up in the morning. When you eat an a.m. meal, your body is primed to turn those calories into muscle pronto -- the only time during the day this happens. Take advantage of the natural torching process by having a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs, low-fat turkey bacon, and a piece of whole-grain toast.

If you’re going to workout soon after, I’d scale their recommendation down but keep the basic principle: slow-burning, high fiber grain + lean protein. After the workout, you’ll need something similar, which is why many people choose to have a protein shake. I like apples with peanut butter.

I always used to eat on an empty stomach with a goal of at least 30 mins cardio. But it was really tough to make it that long. When I started using mfp on a more regular basis in Sept, I was told you should at least eat something, and then try to wait a bit before starting your workout (15-30 min). But I have also heard that you should eat within 30 min after your workout too. Somedays are different for me but what I normally try to do is, have my coffee and creamer (cant go without that!) then a bowl of multigrain cheerios with skim milk (or eggs ans toast if I am more ambisious) then I try to exercise about 30 minutes later. If I wait too long it seems I dont have enough energy to complete as long of a workout. Within 30 minutes after I have a snack (usually something around 100-150 calories). Hope this helps! Everyones bodies are different and you may have to try a few different ways to get to where you feel best.

I am in no way an authority, but I would suggest that it depends on the type of exercise you are doing. If you are lifting, I would eat before and after. If doing cardio, I always eat after and I wait a good while after if possible. Consider that when you wake up in the morning, you have nothing in your stomach to burn and no random calories floating around waiting to get used up. If you get on the elliptical or treadmill and you work, really work, you will burn through sugar stores, available calories, and then start hitting fat. The more calories readily available, the longer it will take to hit fat. After I do cardio, I make my body wait it out before I give it more fuel. I generally wait an hour or so before I eat anything. That gives me extra time in the fat burn to get rid of things and focus on burning calories, not digesting new food.

Also, breakfast is super important, but if you are getting out and working up a sweat as early as you can, that should be jumpstarting your metabolism.

If you are lifting weights, you want to give yourself some carbs and protein to help get you through your workout and then you want to give some nourishment afterwards to help everything heal and rebuild.

I have had many fitness experts say this also, I agree 100% .. I never eat before my AM cardio workout, I just have water. After 1/2 hr to an hour I will have a healthy breakfast!

For people that are doing high intensity interval training...really busting their *kitten*...working at like 90 percent to 100 percent max, yeah, you need to eat before you put that kind of strain on your body.

If you are just getting back into it and your workout is going to be 10 minutes and you want to shock your body. Don't give it anything but water and then WAIT to eat.

You said you might only get 5 minutes of cardio in. I would suggest that you alot some a time period. Let's say 45 minutes to an hour. You do your cardio for 5 minutes or until you feel your lungs are going to collapse or your heart is in your throat and then you stop. Wait for everything to calm down...get comfortable....then get back on and go again....if you can go for another 5 minutes, then great....if not and you only get 2 minutes...that is fine. Stop...wait....repeat. Just give yourself a chance to do some good. I am not saying beat yourself or kill yourself, but push yourself. You will feel so much better about the accomplishment, knowing that you gave yourself 45 minutes of you time and you took full advantage of it. As time goes on, just fill that whole time period with as much cardio as possible, lengthening workout periods, shortening rest periods.

Ok, I know everyone can google, but after reading what others said I googled: eat before or after workout. I read from 4 different sites and to sum it up, the majority of what I read said for weight loss, to definetly eat something small before then to eat a normal breakfast after. However you need to have disapline and control your after workout eating because your body will want to overeat. The benifit of not eating before is that you will definetly burn more fat because there arent as many carbs to get through, however it is mostly fat within the muscles that will be lost and won't make a big difference to people trying to lose weight. So, after all this, I am going to reverse my eating habits that I wrote in my last post and starting tomorrow, I will have something small (special k bar or fruit), wait 15-30 mins, do 40+ mins of cardio, then have whole grain cereal or eggs and wheat toast or something like that. I'll try to remember to let you know in a week how its going. Hope it works! If possible for you, try to lower the speed or intensity so you can get a longer workout in (I've always heard you need to get at least 30 mins cardio per workout to make it good-not sure how much truth that holds?). Good luck!

I'm no expert, but I have been eating something small such as a banana, orange, or apple before working out. Then I'll eat my full breakfast following the morning workout.

I have a pre- and post-workout meal. Usually my pre-workout is something like a bowl of oatmeal and a slice of peanut butter toast. Just enough to give me some energy to get through the day. After the workout, I normally have a protein shake with some flaxseed. Works well for me!

God Bless!


Shawn