I am embarrassed to have to ask this question after exercising for over 20 years, but here it is! This is the group I trust most to answer this one:

Over the years I had come to hear and believe that if you exercise first thing in the morning (I do) you should just go without eating because your body would go right to burning fat. I came to believe the order was you would burn carbs, then fat - if there was no carbs for your body to burn you would go right to fat burning, and first thing in the morning this would be intensified.

Just lately as people have become aware of my habit - which gives me no real problem btw after these years - they have begun telling me that I will be burning muscle, not fat, unless I eat something. One person was a trainer who did not embrace a LC way of eating, the other person was my mom who is overweight and refuses to try a LC way of eating. She got the info from a diabetes class that also refuses to teach a LC way of eating. So I wondered if they were right given they didn't even seem to have the right way of eating to burn fat.

Hence I come to you all here. I am researching it on my own but do you know - should I be eating before I exercise? I work out at 5 AM and I hate eating that early. Usually I drink a cup of coffee and work out for an hour. I either run for 3 miles, or do the elliptical machine, or swim, or do weights (2x a week) - it depends on the day, with 2 days off.

Any advice would help!

Donna

I workout at 5am too and have done a lot of studying on nutritional needs, cardio, etc.....

Ideally, you should eat about an hour before lifting weights. You do need to fule you muscles for proper growth. However, like you I just can't get up at 4 or 4:30 just to eat. I'm lucky to get my ass out of bed at 5am.

On the other hand many trainers recommend cardio first thing in the morning on and empty stomach. The thought is that you will burn more stored fat on an empty stomach vs if you eat your body will use the new food first and then stored fat. You should also eat immediately after a workout to help fuel muscle growth and take advantage of an increased metabolism.

So....here's what I do. It works for me; your mileage may vary.

Cardio Mornings: 16oz ice cold water as soon as I get up - the cold water shocks your system and gets your metabolism going while rehydrating your body after going 7 or 8hrs without anything to drink. I'm a coffee drinker so I pour myself a togo cup and I'm out the door to the gym. As soon as I get home I have my normal low-carb breakfast.

Weight Lifting Mornings: The water....and a small cup of yogurt. I prefer Fiber One by Yoplait. And don't forget the coffee......

It's just the right amount of calories, protein and carbs to fuel my muscles for my workout and it digests quickly so it's not like I'm lifting heavy weight 15min after a big breakfast. As soon as I get home I have my normal "egg and bacon" (insert your normal breakfast) low-carb breakfast but I add a bowl of quaker oats with some mixed berries.

No you will not burn muscle if you do not eat..that is a ridiculous statement..there are tons of people who do not eat and do extremely well..build muscle, burn fat etc.

The reason people believe you should work out on an empty stomach first thing, is because you have predominately fatty acids in the blood stream.

The question is, how do you feel? Do your workouts progress without food? Do you feel better with a little food in your belly when you workout? Does preworkout nutrition cause you to "bonk" in the middle of your excercise??(Like it does for me)

It really is a personal preference. Listen to your body.

If you feel you may need a little food, how about a tbls of Almond Butter just to have a little something in there?

I am glad to read these replies. I did try to eat before exercise for a few days to follow their advice - I just didn't know what to eat that early. I tried a banana or granola-type Atkins bar. These didn't work - it was too much and you know the bars are bubbly in the stomach
I think yogurt or almond butter might be a good choice if I feel I have to eat something. For these short morning work outs though, when everything is working the way it is, I guess "If it ain't broke I won't fix it." I never had a problem burning muscle. Thanks for answering.



Thanks!
Donna

I eat before I work out. And after. Is there a difference between working out and working? It doesn't make sense to advise to not eat before a workout yet we should eat a good hearty breakfast before we go to work. As if working was fundamentally different from working out.

The advice to not eat in the morning before a workout probably comes from the assumption that if we eat, we will eat some form of carbs such as breakfast cereals or toast or pancake all of which loaded with extra sugar. In that context, it makes sense that we will preferentially burn fat if we don't eat. Because as soon as we eat carbs, we switch to glucose for fuel and stop using fat. This switch doesn't happen if we eat fat and protein. In that case, we continue to use fat for fuel.

In my opinion, the body needs a reason to lose muscle. Fasting can be one such reason. Eating carbs can be another reason. Combine the two, do it for a while every day, and muscle should be lost at a regular rate.

Concerning not eating in the morning. If you're not hungry, then maybe you don't need to eat. As I understand it, hunger is simply what we feel when we need to provide nutrients to our cells. If our cells have everything they need, we're not going to be hungry. Still, I'm not hungry in the morning but I do become a little hungry after a couple of hours or so. Fasting cuts hunger as fat is released from fat cells. Exercise would do that too. Are you hungry after your morning workout? You should eat when you're hungry.

I would not do anything other than low intensity cardio if you are not going to eat anything. I personally like to get up and do some low intensity fasted cardio some mornings. If you are wanting to run or lift weights, get at least a light meal in before.

As cleave said, make sure your getting plenty of water!