Is it healthy not to eat before exercise in the morning?

I can't, but my husband does PT every weekday morning before breakfast and he's fine. I think it's about an hour and a half.

I wouldn't suggest doing intense exercise on a completely empty stomach, first thing in the morning. I'm sure some people probably CAN, I just wouldn't suggest it. If you can force yourself to eat something small, I would do that - There's no good reason to exercise on empty.

Exactly right! Can you get a good workout on an empty stomach? Sure.

The question was: Is it "healthy" not to eat before "intensive" exercise. The answer to that is no.

Can you explain why it isn't healthy? I'm not being a smart a** either - I really do want to know because if not eating before I work out is harming me than I want to see if I can change up my routine. I've tried to eat before and unless I wait a hour to exercise, I get really queasy. I've been working out 5-6 days a week for 4 weeks now without eating before and feel it works for me. Help?

Posted it earlier in the thread....

"Your body needs the fuel - if you've just woken up, that means you've just fasted for 8-ish hours and you've got nothing to go on. A light workout or getting ready in the morning without eating first - probably fine. But if you're going to go burn a ton of calories, you need food. Otherwise your body could start eating away at your lean muscle and put your fat on lock-down (making it harder to lose weight, if that's the goal).

I would say at least have something simple - like a high protein shake (even slim fast or something similar) or a cup of greek yogurt with fruit, etc. You don't need to eat a whole meal - but you do need to get something in your system."

I find I can go to an hour class or so without food in my stomach. I too find that I get an upset stomach if I do eat within 1.5 hours of working out, which makes work outs after work hard. My husband eats a banana before he works out and I find that it OK for my stomach. When I ran my second marathon, I ate raisins throughout the run and they were also very easy on my stomach. They give you that quick energy and help you make it through the exercise. Keep experimenting and find out what works for you. Even a small glass of milk might help and then you can give that work out your all.

Please please please, read some of the science first. Don't go trying to force yourself to eat breakfast just because you think you should - that's how I put my weight on in the first place! I have no problem people eating breakfast if you want to, but you're not going to cause yourself harm if you don't!

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

There are studies that say not eating before breakfast burns more fat than if you do. Then there are studies that say that it affects the muscle.

I can say from my experience I burn more fat not eating before breakfast. How do I know because instead of listening to this person and that person I paid attention to my body.

Each person is different. When it comes to weight loss its mostly trial and error. Do your own research. Follow through with what the research says and make note of your own results. If you aren't getting the results you want then make the changes needed.

Love this - thanks!

Eggwhites in the microwave, less than two minutes. Boom nice handy protein either before or after your workout!