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Exercise after dinner

After coming home and having dinner and putting my little girl to bed, I got out my 30DS DVD and was getting ready to do my workout for today when a friend called. I told her I had to call her back as I was about to do my workout (didnt want to risk losing my motivation) and she said there is no point exercising after dinner because your not really burning fat......is that true??

Kinda zapped my motivation! :(

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Replies

  • Posts: 70 Member
    I've never heard that and it sounds like your friend just wanted you to talk to her rather than work out. It sounds ridiculous actually.
  • Posts: 749 Member
    Don't let her bring you down!

    Exercise will make your body feel and look so much better!

    I am super impressed - I have to work out in the morning because I am too zonked at night LOL!

    Go get it!!
  • Posts: 583 Member
    People like to believe in all sorts of odd rules as it makes them feel better about themselves, physics says if you move it costs energy, no exceptions.

    You would probably give yourself indigestion jumping around straight after a meal though :)
  • Posts: 569 Member
    After coming home and having dinner and putting my little girl to bed, I got out my 30DS DVD and was getting ready to do my workout for today when a friend called. I told her I had to call her back as I was about to do my workout (didnt want to risk losing my motivation) and she said there is no point exercising after dinner because your not really burning fat......is that true??

    Kinda zapped my motivation! :(

    Any excerise anytime would be good, but I think you would have to burn off dinner before you get to the fat..I excerise on a empty stomach much as possible..
  • Posts: 540 Member
    Well, right after a dinner is not good. I would wait at least 30 min to 2 hours to exercise after eating a meal. It also depends how big the meal is.
  • Posts: 583 Member

    Any excerise anytime would be good, but I think you would have to burn off dinner before you get to the fat..I excerise on a empty stomach much as possible..

    I admit my ignorance on the fine details of these things but i would guess its actually the other way round, unless your dinner was some form of sugar the stored fat would be in a more useable state than an undigested meal?
  • Posts: 79 Member
    I had two tacos (made with meat free mince since Im a vego). Total calories 383 and finished dinner about an hour ago.
  • Posts: 540 Member
    As long as you don't vomit. Gooooooo
  • Posts: 1,661 Member
    Sounds like a bit of nonsense..... you will be burning calories - some might be from the dinner you have just had - some from your fat stores.....

    In the end of the day - don't let people sabotage you - there will always be someone with some weird theory - you will feel better for exercising - and you will burn calories - go do it!!
  • Posts: 360 Member
    No matter when you exercise, you're burning calories by doing so. Hardly matters whether you've had dinner or not. Might be a little uncomfortable if you exercise right after dinner, but other than that it's fine.

    Any exercise is better than no exercise, and when I exercised after dinner I found that I was the most successful at losing weight.. but that's just a personal thing I guess.
  • Posts: 1,842 Member
    I find the best time to workout is whenever I can fit it in!!

    Working out > sitting on the couch!!

    Go get it !! :)
  • Posts: 4,383 Member
    you would have to burn off dinner before you get to the fat..I excerise on a empty stomach much as possible..

    you don't "burn off" undigested food.
    Working out on an empty stomach is just going to make you slower and weaker during that workout than if you had fueled properly.
  • Posts: 52 Member
    People who have been taught different ideas (obviously) believe and say different things... My personal trainer at the beginning of the year would say DON'T eat half an hour before or after eating - because that exercise would just burn off the recent food... And then other people believe working out in the morning burns more calories for whatever reason?

    However when it comes down to it it's your daily calorie intake vs however much your body needs/how much you burn.

    And what I think? Exercise is good no matter what time it is! Better some than nothing!
  • Posts: 4,383 Member
    People who have been taught different ideas (obviously) believe and say different things... My personal trainer at the beginning of the year would say DON'T eat half an hour before or after eating - because that exercise would just burn off the recent food...

    It's not "believing", it's basic science. You DO NOT "burn off" what is sitting in your stomach. It is IN YOUR STOMACH!
    Personal trainers do not take nutrition classes. Anyone can be come a trainer with a quick course, and those courses usually don't teach anything about food. At all.
  • Posts: 79 Member
    Thanks guys - I got up and did it and I feel awsome!!! :):)
  • Posts: 3,450 Member

    you don't "burn off" undigested food.
    Working out on an empty stomach is just going to make you slower and weaker during that workout than if you had fueled properly.

    this. personally i like to eat something about an hour or so before a work out, because i can't work out on an empty stomach. i feel like i'm going to vomit, and without anything in my belly... ugh.
  • Posts: 52 Member
    Yes, I agree with what you're saying about personal trainers - that's why I started with people believe different things, thus the variety of replies this initial post got. I was just saying what someone had told me, and then at the end I had my input.
  • Posts: 201
    Tried that the other day, ate dinner and then went on the treadmill - couldn't do it! Was out of breath pretty fast and couldn't get in the "swing" at all. Exercising on an empty stomach works much better for me. Not sure about the calorie burn......
  • Posts: 841 Member
    I usually workout at night after dinner, it's the only time I have free. If I'm doing some sort of cardio or HIIT I try to wait at least an hour, preferably 90 minutes, mainly to avoid vomiting. If I'm lifting weights, I usually wait at least 30-45 minutes. I can't workout on an empty stomach, I feel like I don't have enough energy to really push and give it my all.
  • Posts: 117 Member
    Yeah personally I prefer working out on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, because I don't feel great working out on a full stomach and don't sleep great if I work out too late in the evening (adrenaline at the wrong time!). It's a personal preference really, exercise on an empty stomach (although I do drink fruit juice for an energy boost just before) works better for some, not others.
  • Posts: 583 Member
    That's ridiculous, do what works for you. All exercise is good exercise.

    I have to eat dinner before going to the gym or else I faint. Plus I wouldn't be eating dinner till 10 or 11 at night as I usually go to the gym soon after work and en route to somewhere else. So I end up eating dinner at 5pm or even earlier some days. Not the best but needs must so I do it.
  • Posts: 2,525 Member
    I always exercise after dinner ;) Well a couple of hours after dinner
  • Posts: 17,299 Member
    No, of course it's not true.
  • Posts: 63 Member
    Thank you guys for this! I appreciate this advice so much.

    I’m not a morning person at all!! Ive gotten so heavy and have no energy and feel like I have to start something but was apprehensive about working out after dinner. Not looking for quick results but just looking to start exercising to feel better again.

    I’ve come across some really great you tube videos that look easy and hopefully get me moving a little more.


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  • Posts: 19,809 Member
    @Josyurtos23

    Of course you are burning fat when you exercise, you burn fat 24 x 7 and the proportion of fat to carbs is predominantly due to your exercise or activity intensity.
    Your fat loss over time is governed by your calorie balance and not by when you exercise or by what fuel ratio is being used during exercise.

    For example.....
    While hooked up to a breath analyser setting up for a test in a sports science lab I was burning 90% + fat and under 10% carbs while just sitting on the exercise bike (despite a high carb breakfast and just having had a carby sports drink.

    Once the test started and the intensity ramped up slowly the proportion of fat to carbs changed. Roughly 50/50 at a heartrate of 130bpm. From there upwards as the exercise got very intense carbs became the redominat fuel.

    And for loss of bodyfat over an extended period of time it simply doesn't matter at all.
  • Posts: 8,626 Member
    any exercise, regardless of time of day, is good exercise. and you certainly did more than your friend ;)

    with today's lifestyles, we are all so busy and have so many commitments - get it in when you can. for some its 5 am. for some at lunch, for some 10 pm, for some right after dinner. as far as I am concerned (and I am no one, in the grand scheme of things)... it doesn't matter. you are up, moving, burning calories, and doing nothing but good things for your body (assuming of course, you dont make yourself physically ill by working out right after eating).

    so... go for it. whenever you can fit it in!
  • Posts: 252 Member
    This may be a zombie thread record...10 years. LOL
  • Posts: 75 Member
    psych101 wrote: »
    I find the best time to workout is whenever I can fit it in!!

    Working out > sitting on the couch!!

    Go get it !! :)

    I agree! Something is always better than nothing:)

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