Exercise before breakfast?

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rebeccaj822
rebeccaj822 Posts: 92 Member
in Fitness and Exercise

Has anyone read the recent article (or the actual study) about the benefits of skipping breakfast before your morning exercise. I’m curious to hear any opinions or personal experiences.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/well/move/a-possible-weight-loss-strategy-skip-breakfast-before-exercise.html

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  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    A lot of people have thought that "fasted cardio" is the silver bullet. Unfortunately it's not, if it was everybody would be doing it and skinny.

    I ride, hike, or ski before breakfast a lot, because I'm not ready to eat first thing in the morning, and I'm excited to be on the trail. I've been doing that for years, and I still had to control calories to lose weight and to keep it off.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Fasted exercise does not work well with me. I have no issues losing weight. Unless it somehow showed significant benefits to target specific fat in areas worked, I'm going to pass on it.
  • meganpettigrew86
    meganpettigrew86 Posts: 349 Member
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    When I was training in Thailand I would 2-3hrs hard training before breakfast. I still managed to gain weight the first week as went crazy with all the yummy food.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    Only reason i work out fasted is because i have found i do best exercising first thing in the morning and i find it easier to eat within my caloric range by starting to eat later in the day. Admittedly i dont generally do anything super hardcore, So i find it easy enough to just get through it and then come home to eat happy i earned my meal and all that jazz. I dont believe in any of the "benefits" people spew about it, Honestly i doubt theyd even really matter. Whatever gets someone out and moving and feeling their best. If eating first lets you work out longer/harder/happier eat...if not dont... seems simple enough
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    edited June 2019
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    rebeccaj822 wrote: »
    Has anyone read the recent article (or the actual study) about the benefits of skipping breakfast before your morning exercise. I’m curious to hear any opinions or personal experiences.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/well/move/a-possible-weight-loss-strategy-skip-breakfast-before-exercise.html

    Hi Rebecca,

    I have done this for many seasons during the last 11 years of fat loss and mostly maintaining (8 years of maintaining). While there are HGH benefits working out fasted like there is with daily and intermittent fasting, it always comes down to calories and macros in a 24 hour period. If your daily calorie intake is under TDEE, your minimum healthy fat for hormone and brain function, and at least 1 gram of protein per goal body weight on average daily that's the bulk of SUCCESS. Any slight help with HGH hormone production or enjoyment of fasted workouts is an added plus or slight edge. The bulk of fat loss success is always calories in a 24-hour block, extend that out 7 days, 30, 60, 90 days and waiting while trusting the process and being consistent.

    Best of luck!

    Roberta

  • JennBona
    JennBona Posts: 255 Member
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    I recently starting working out before breakfast because I dont have alot of time and seem to work out better this way. But I do eat my breakfast right after my workout so Im not eating anymore or any less . It just works for me !
  • JohnPaulEightyOne
    JohnPaulEightyOne Posts: 127 Member
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    I fell into 16/8 intermittent fasting because eating before my morning workout left me feeling nauseated and the two times I am able to eat comfortably just happened to fall within an 8 hour window. It's been fantastic. Was losing about an extra pound every week for the first few months. When I dropped back down to about two pounds a week, I decided to try OMAD. It boosted my weight loss again but because of how much food I was eating in one go I was ending up feeling very tired and sleepy and just kind of gross. So I settled for slightly slower fat loss
  • NadNight
    NadNight Posts: 794 Member
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    When I wake up in the morning I’m so ready for breakfast I can barely make it downstairs 😂 I think it’s completely down to the individual though. I’m a big breakfast but eat less I’m the evening kinda person, whereas my mum rarely eats much in the morning but eats most of her food later in the day. She can function fine in the morning like this whereas if I ever eat less or nothing in the morning then I feel faint and irritable. I definitely couldn’t do a workout without a bowl of porridge!
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    I ran before breakfast yesterday(and regularly train before) but no way could I manage totally fasted, had to have a small banana. And then still found i was extra hungry all day yesterday
  • emilysusana
    emilysusana Posts: 416 Member
    edited June 2019
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    The thing about this study, besides the small sample size (which, I agree, gives one pause) is that the individuals being studied were not weighing and recording their food (it was being done for them, but they were not keeping track or getting feedback on the calories they were consuming). They were just eating based on hunger or whatever.

    So while working out faster may have this or that effect on hunger throughout the day, if you are tracking your intake you are allowed to customize your plan to what you want, and what works for you. If you’ve used calories before working out, and you use more after, you will know this and can adjust accordingly.

    I think this article and study may be more helpful for people who aren’t counting calories but are trying to manage their weight.
  • jrh_this_better_work
    jrh_this_better_work Posts: 92 Member
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    It's not an intentional choice for me. I roll out of bed, get straight into my workout clothes, and hop on the treadmill. If I eat much more than a stroop waffle before I run, I feel nauseated, so it's just easier to go without. To echo a previous poster, however, if I'm running longer than 45 or so minutes, I will eat a little something first to get through the workout.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    I run before breakfast on weekdays (and most weekend days) just because if I ate I'd have to wait longer to run again (exception would be something like a banana or yogurt, but I'd rather skip that and have a bigger breakfast after). For a run of much more than hour I'll usually have a little something before, however.

    It's not difficult but not magical. I don't find it makes a difference to my hunger, but if I weren't logging I can see eating the same throughout the day whether I ate before or not, and thus whatever I ate before could be extra cals, I suppose.

    Hunger after exercise depends a lot on what specific exercise I do much more than whether I do it fasted.
  • CharlieCharlie007
    CharlieCharlie007 Posts: 246 Member
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    I workout fasted, but I workout at 3am. I do drink my bcaa drink which is (supposed) to prevent muscle breakdown, or some such.
  • DrizztGirl82
    DrizztGirl82 Posts: 85 Member
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    I doing my workouts in the morning right before breakfast, but not to lose weight faster. It's just easier for me to get my workouts in before heading to work. I have noticed that it helps me stay focused the rest of the day a lot more than if I would have slept in that extra hour though. :smiley:
  • rebeccaj822
    rebeccaj822 Posts: 92 Member
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    emilysusana wrote: »
    The thing about this study, besides the small sample size (which, I agree, gives one pause) is that the individuals being studied were not weighing and recording their food (it was being done for them, but they were not keeping track or getting feedback on the calories they were consuming). They were just eating based on hunger or whatever.

    So while working out faster may have this or that effect on hunger throughout the day, if you are tracking your intake you are allowed to customize your plan to what you want, and what works for you. If you’ve used calories before working out, and you use more after, you will know this and can adjust accordingly.

    I think this article and study may be more helpful for people who aren’t counting calories but are trying to manage their weight.

    Yup...that is a very, very good point.
  • justKayRowan
    justKayRowan Posts: 3 Member
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    Depends on what it is. Some things I need to hydrate with coffee then I'm good to go. Other activities I'll need at least half an apple (baked to mush in the microwave, with cinnamon on top) plus a ryvita and the coffee before I can even contemplate it.

    I do feel like I get faster fat burning from fasted exercise, but only if I have the energy to do it to the same intensity as I would otherwise. And, overall, I just can't override my general belief in calories in calories out, balanced out over the entire measured weight loss/gain/maintain period.
  • maura12345
    maura12345 Posts: 1 Member
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    I always work out in the morning fasted, mostly because I am trying to sleep as much as possible before I need to head out for the gym by 6:30am. I am also not a person who is starving when I wake up so it doesn't bother me.

    I usually eat about an hour after I finish my workout and feel energized.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    edited June 2019
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    When I workout in the morning, I do it fasted. Only out of convenience though. I don't do it because I think it's going to do something special for me. I just don't want to eat that early. I still had to control calories to lose weight.

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