Hey guys, I saw this fitness guy on tv and he said a good way to lose weight was to exercise on an empty stomach, so I thought about it and talked to my friend who is in to fitness. He said it is a good way to lose stored fat and to make sure and eat something afterwards. So im gonna start going to the gym on tuesday and thursday mornings, since I dont have school on thoe days, and exercise for a while before i eat and see if I have any results. I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions on this. I will post if I have results or not in a few weeks if you guys want. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum!

There are many opinions on eating before a morning workout. The one I'm quoting here is from Should You Exercise on an Empty Stomach?

"The problem is that some studies have shown that fat burning doesn't really start until you're 20 minutes into your cardio workout. That means you've wasted 20 minutes without a good source of fuel to sustain you. That could lead to fatigue before your body even starts metabolizing fat, which might mean shorter (and/or crappier) workouts in which you burn less calories than if you'd eaten a small snack to keep you going you. Critics also say you may even burn muscle if you don't have the necessary fuel for your workouts."

Personally, I work out 45 minutes in the morning before eating. But, if you feel it isn't clicking well for you, change it up. I also work out in the evenings, and I haven't experienced much difference in benefit either way.

it depends how hard you are working out too, there is only a certain level you can get to without need all that extra fuel

your body will not take muscle for protein during exercise, it will only cannibalise it afterwards if you do not get protein into your body through food or supplements

I used to workout on an empty stomach too but a trainer once told me that if you have carbs before hand then you have more energy and end up working it harder. So as well as easily burning say the piece of toast or whatever you had before hand you work harder than normal giving a better workout.

Hi all.

I have read a fair bit on this subject recently and the general consensus seems to be that exercising before brekkie does burn more fat, but as previously mentioned the fat burning doesnt kick in until you have been working for 20 mins.

I read that you can maximise results by starting with a light resistance session for 20 mins then aeorobic thereafter. I started this yesterday so we will see how well it works for me. I always make sure i drink sufficient water before i exercise to help with the fat burning.

For brekkie i have a choice of the following:

1. 4 eggs- only 1 yolk, scrambled with a little no fat milk, mushrooms and tomato.
2. Half cup oats with no fat or light milk and 1 scoop of protein powder.
3. Wholemeal/grain muffin with salmon, tomato, a little low fat cheese.

Plus i add some of the following fruits...

Apple, watermelo, oranges, kiwi fruit, sometimes mango or strawberries.

Any thoughts?

all dairy products are pretty bad for you
mushrooms and tomatoes are good, oats again im not a fan of but they are better than most things people eat, protein powder im a great fan of so nice 1 there
bread again isnt great, but wholemeal beats the white crap :P
salmon isnt too bad either, and the cheese again not good

Okay I read through this post and my major concern is that I can only survive about 30min of cardio before I want to kill over cry and die.
So is it them worth the time?
I was also told to eat a fruit before I excersise?

30 minutes is plenty to get benefits, it's totally worth it. It may take 20 minutes to start burning fat, but it keeps burning it after. The only thing here is how much it is worth not eating to try to trick your body into burning fat faster.

Question is though - what in the world are you doing that makes you feel that miserable at the end? Your heart rate doesn't need to be elevated all that high to burn fat. Perhaps you're pushing too hard? Post back and let us know what kind of cardio you're doing, and your heart rate if you know it.

I started a spinning class and it is real hard for me even though I stay on the lowest level possible.
And just to say it: Those seats HURTS your backside!
I also play raquet ball (squash) and that is a real killer but I LOVE it - it realy helps to relieve my stress levels.

Anything in class form is way over my ability. Don't judge your ability to do cardio on a class, those are.....well....hard! Since you have a gym membership, try out the elliptical or treadmill. They will measure your heart rate and give you a good goal, and you'll probably find you can do more than 30 minutes and still be able to move afterward!

haha dont worry, thats just called working hard :P

bananas are great before you excercise

no but id take a strong heart and strong lungs over a little weight loss any day, pushing hard is good, it means your heart and lungs will become much stronger which is always good

ace!

ifu enjoy it then dont stop hehe