losing weight: breakfast before exercise or vice versa?

[CharLit]

ARGH! For the past ten years or so I've stayed at exactly the same weight/body shape without having to make any kind of effort: not toned, but slim enough that I was perfectly comfortable with it. I don't own a set of scales, but recently I wanted to wear the only pair of tight jeans I own (all my other clothes are baggy... soooooo comfortable! ), and to my horror I can't for the life of me get into them anymore! Then I realised I also seem to have developed a slight 'jiggle' here and there.....

So, this process needs to be reversed! I don't want to go on a diet, I don't want to do anything I won't be able to keep up for the rest of my life. I've always eaten healthily and drink loads of water, so I'm just going to keep that up, and just cut out the unhealthy snacks I occasionally indulge in (my boyfriend and I get through 1 300gram bag of crisps a week, and sometimes my food-lust gets the better of me and I'll get a brownie with my cup of coffee).

I should definitely start exercising more though, it would be good for me to get fitter anyway as I've never been very sport-inclined. I do cycle about 30 mins per day just getting from a to b, but not extremely fast because I can't show up at work all covered in sweat. So, my plan is to start exercising three mornings a week, alternating between jogging, rollerblading and cycling (fast) depending on weather & mood.

Though any other tips and ideas anyone has are also very welcome, my main query is this:

I've heard two opposing theories about breakfast and weight loss, and I'm wondering whether anyone knows which is correct:

a) You need to eat breakfast within an hour of getting up to get your metabolism going for the day

b) You should exercise before breakfast to burn fat

I can't get up, dress, exercise, and make it back home within an hour of getting up, so doing both is not an option. So what should I do? Exercise first and go over that one hour limit, or maybe eat something light (like a piece of fruit) as soon as I get up and then have breakfast after I get back from running? Obviously exercising on a full stomach is not an option so I won't have a full breakfast first.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!

C

[JJRadical]

The answer is b. You will burn 3x more fat if you do it on an empty stomach. Even though your body is in a fasted state the exercise tricks the body's metabolism into not going into a catabolic state so you will not lose any lean mass during this time. Keep a moderate pace and do it for 20+ minutes...hydration can help facilitate this and is an important part of this process so make sure you drink some water on the empty stomach...also spread your meals out over 5-6/day if you can...

[underdog]

2 jobs can make you lose weight i dont even have time to sit down and eat and realise i only had 1 meal and coffee in between very bad i take bus everywhere that alone is a work out lol

[Mr Mister1]

That can backfire though, if you skip too many meals you run the risk of binging which results in a net weight gain.

Exersise before breakfast is the best way to go, everything JJRadical said is right. Also try to have at least 2 hours between when you have dinner and when you go to bed.

[RayKay]

Actually, you should eat before you work out. Contrary to popular diet advice, and for some valid reasoning.

Why? Well, when you are low on energy (ie have not eaten since the night before) your body has now gone several hours without fuel. While you can exercise, you will NOT be able to exercise to your greatest ability/max. So, the net result is you will be not burning as much, or building as much muscle, and so forth, by doing that. Your body will be low on the fuel it needs, and you will possibly "bonk" or at least tire out earlier, therefore be less effective when you DO work out.

As long as you are eating the proper amount of calories through the day (over 5-6 mini meals), exercising after you have a bit of something to eat really is wise if you want the overall benefit of becoming fitter and stronger, because you will be able to push your body much further then it woudl if you did not eat beforehand.

If you are only doing something for 15-20 minutes, you'll be alright without eating beforehand, but if you are going in excess of 30 minutes and up, I highly recommend eating at least something like a banana or/and oatmeal or yogurt beforehand. Before morning runs or yoga or hitting the gym, I usually eat only a banana or something, as too much makes me very queasy if I am running, and nothing makes me even more queasy. Then I follow up with rest of my breakfast within an hour of work outs (to replenish muscles). Don't forget to hydrate!

[JJRadical]

She's not trying to join the Olympics. She wants to lose fat...if she was preparing for a competition i'd say eat a breakfast..."Bonk out" huh? Thats your valid reasoning. You will not bonk out and thats why it should be done at a moderate intensity...and 2 weeks in when she can see she lost fat and didn't lose any muscle she is going to be more motovated than ever...

[RayKay]

Originally Posted by JJRadical

She's not trying to join the Olympics. She wants to lose fat...if she was preparing for a competition i'd say eat a breakfast..."Bonk out" huh? Thats your valid reasoning. You will not bonk out and thats why it should be done at a moderate intensity...and 2 weeks in when she can see she lost fat and didn't lose any muscle she is going to be more motovated than ever...

She said she wanted to get fitter, not just lose fat. She also wants a lifestyle change. I geared my response to that.

If you eat dinner at 6-7 pm and don't eat breakfast, you are working out after fasting for 12 hours, and you are going to be operating on depleted stores. You are also going to be working in starvation mode, and your body will often take nutrition away from muscles. In females especially, fat is conserved in starvation mode, and the muscles are depleted for energy. If she wants to improve fitness (which includes muscle strength & tone) it does not do much good to be working out on an empty tank.

If you read my post, you would also see I said if she was only exercising for 15-20 minutes, she would be fine, but if she is going to be running for an hour or something, and she has relatively active day in addition to that (ie riding bike to and from work or whatever) she should be eating something small (ie a banana) beforehand. As long as her calories for the day are appropriate, a banana or small bowl of oatmeal before a workout is not going to hinder her goals. In fact it will also help her by allowing her the intensity she may desire as part of her increased fitness, and she will probably also feel more awake while doing it too.

And while moderate exercise is good for overall health, intensity has also been shown to further boost fitness and metabolism, and to burn more calories in the same amount of time. More research has shown that the "fat burning zone" of the 80's is really not as effective as putting some intensity in there. It is good for recovery and building endurance, but the intensity is what gets your heart healthy (by having it be able to react to sudden increases for example) and boosts your metabolism.

You don't have to agree with my advice, but there is not need to critique my reasoning. My "valid reasoning" was also based on more than "bonking out". Your advice is not any more "right" then mine, it depends on what works for the poster, and her goals. There are schools of thought that say eat before, and others that say don't. Some people NEED to eat beforehand or they feel nauseous and tired. So whom cares in that case what advice says. Others CAN'T eat before as they throw it up. So again, all the fueling up beforehand does no good if you are going to leave it all on the pavement. She needs to figure out what works better for her.

She does not need to be going for the Olympics, but that does not mean she might not decide to try for a half-marathon either, and there is nothing wrong with putting some fuel in first. I never said she had to eat a full meal, I recommended something small, and then finishing a breakfast POST workout. You would not leave your driveway with an empty tank of gas, it's the same thing with your body.

[AwdreeHpburn]

look this up, go to a gym and talk to a trainer -

If you want to lose weight, eat more.

Not bigger, not more food, just more often.

Humans, for maximum efficency, should eat 4 small meals a day with smart, healthy snacks in between.

NOT eating or skipping meals makes your body go into starvation mode and store fat for the impending times of not eating.

You wanna lose fat, eat healthy foods more often, don't skip meals and excercise regulary.

[JJRadical]

The body will not go into a catabolic state and breakdown muscle if she trains at a moderate intensity...the body will break down fat...must i start sourcing my information?...she will be fitter...be she will lose fat at a greater rate...I've been training in mixed martials arts competively for 8 years...i can't afford to lose muscle...but i do have to make weight sometimes...

[RayKay]

Originally Posted by JJRadical

The body will not go into a catabolic state and breakdown muscle if she trains at a moderate intensity...the body will break down fat...must i start sourcing my information?...she will be fitter...be she will lose fat at a greater rate...I've been training in mixed martials arts competively for 8 years...i can't afford to lose muscle...but i do have to make weight sometimes...

I am not sure why you are so opposed to me having a different perspective on it, I said your points are valid, but that it is not the ONLY school of thought, or the ONLY thing that will work for her. My entire point is that if not eating beforehand does not work for her, she should not feel she MUST do it that way. If she feels low on energy that way, and miserable doing it, having something small to eat beforehand might be beneficial to her, and won't derail her from her fitness goals.

Yes, well, I have been a competitive athlete since I was 13, first in wrestling for many years (at national level), now in running and mountain biking and road cycling (at provincial levels). I also weight train and practice yoga, and have also been under the guidance of trainers and nutritionists at several points in my life. So how about we don't get into a whom does what? We all have our own training methods and what works for OUR own bodies, so that does not help for what will help for HER body.

You are again still sticking to the training at moderate intensity alone, which is what your post is based on, my post however was not based on training at moderate intensity alone, which I disclaimed several times. And why I emphasized she has to determine her goals.She said herself she would be doing faster workouts in the morning, which may mean more intensity then moderate, so I am not operating on the assumption alone she is going to be going out for 20-30 minutes.

Having a darn banana before she heads out the door is not going to cause her to retain fat, whether she is working out moderately or intensely if it is accounted for in her overall daily diet. It's about 100 calories, and will provide her not only some needed carbohydrates, but it also contains potassium which eases lactic acid build up. If she has not eaten for 12 hours, and is planning on working out for an hour at moderate to intense levels, having a piece of fruit before heading out the door is not going to be a bad thing! It will give her an extra bit of boost to perform, and it is not going to affect her ability to get fit. She is not going for a short term weight loss to make weight here, she is going for something she can live with, and that means part of a lifestyle including regular fueling.

If she feels she is fine without eating for a 30 minute session, that is fine for her. But if she finds she is low on energy after such a long "fast" and needs a bit of fuel and is getting lightheaded if she works out without anything, there is nothing wrong with that either. Eating before or after won't affect the calories she burns, overall. So as long as she is eating an appropriate amount during the DAY, her net "burn rate" will be the same whether she has something or not.

This is why there is so much more division, and there are as many "sources" whom will also recommend eating before. Just as there are those whom believe in not eating before, there is some "dents" in the theory that not eating before burns more fat, while it does, there are some questions as to whether in the end that is a good thing. Here is an example of why (From Muscle & Fitness) of why even for women trying to burn fat, eating before exercise is important:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Excerpt, of which relates to my main point:

"One client told me she believed she'd burn more fat by exercising on an empty stomach," reports Anne-Marie Nocton, RD, a sports nutritionist in Knoxville, Tenn. "Her reasoning was that if no food was available for fuel, her body would tap into its fat reserves."........Although your body burns some stored fat when you exercise, its main fuel is carbohydrate that's been stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. When your glycogen stores are depleted, your body will indeed tap more of its fat reserves, just as Nocton's client anticipated--but at what price? Without readily available fuel, you're not likely to feel too energetic. "And you won't burn more of anything if you can't muster the enthusiasm to master your toughest sets," says Nocton. "On the other hand, if you eat before exercise, whether it's a large meal several hours in advance or a small snack only minutes ahead of time, you'll have the extra oomph you need for an energetic and effective workout."

That quote relates to sets (weights) but is equally applicable to running or cycling at anything above low or moderate intensity too.

On the other hand. Here is another interesting article that goes more into the debate about eating before or after (scroll down). This one does have in it the argument that exercising before does burn more fat stores, but then also goes on to show how this does not mean that you will lose more fat overall however, and how even if you work out later in the day, the net calories burned (and weight lost) will be the same. Anyway, it has points from each side, which I think goes on to show there is no RIGHT answer, once again, it is something that the individual person has to find for themselves. This one also discusses cardio specifically.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"The majority of research shows that as far as real world fat loss goes, it doesn’t really matter what you burn. Rather, 24-hour calorie balance is what matters. Because if you burn glucose during exercise, you tend to burn more fat the rest of the day. If you burn fat during exercise, you burn more glucose during the day. The end result is identical. If that weren’t the case, then athletes like sprinters who never ‘burn fat’ during exercise wouldn’t be shredded. Basically, they burn so many calories that they remain in balance and don’t gain any fat. So, while morning cardio probably provides some psychological benefits to bodybuilders who are programmed to do it that way, I can’t say that I think it will result in greater ‘real world’ fat loss, which is what matters."

Bottom line, I respect you hold to the eating on an empty stomach theory. That's great. That does not mean it will work for everyone. I know personally for me that if I work out in the morning on an empty stomach I do get nauseous and queasy and eating a little snack helps quell that (and I am going out for more than 30 minutes too). It then allows me to work out more effectively, and for it also to be more enjoyable as I do have extra immediate energy. I therefore look forward to my workouts more, and therefore am going to also stick to them much easier and regularly than if I felt like I was running with cement shoes on. And in the long run, the most effective method is the one that you will stick to doing. Because eating before or after becomes a moot point if you don't even feel like getting out the door to do it.