Breakfast and morning workouts?

I got up a little after 8 today, and went immediatly to the Y (about a 10 minute drive). I worked out for about 40-50 minutes, and came back about 9:45. Then I went walking with my backpack and that was a really long time, I didn't get back and showered until 11 and I hadn't had breakfast yet! Should I try to eat before I go? And if I do, how long should I wait?

I keep hearing from other people that you shouldn't work out on an empty stomach.  I personally have issues while working out with food in mine.  so my guess is maybe it depends on how fast your stomach empties. 

i think it depends on what you do. i know if you ever do yoga, they say don't eat for 2-3 hours before since you do a lot of twisting and it can make you throw up. i say it depends on how you feel. your stomach probably shouldn't be rumbling the whole time you're working out but you shouldn't be so full you can't move. 

A Fitness RX mag once told me this schedule:

get up: 5:30 (yipes, i have a hard enough time getting up at 7...)

before working out: drink 16 ounces of water, and add 200mg caffene and 30-40 grams protien isolate shake to said water (im not that hardcore yet that i want to use protein shakes, and caffene has no effect on me whatsoever.....id just take a cold face cloth to the face)

exercise: 6:00 (id be spending that 30 mins just knocking the cob webs outta my head)

End exercise and eat: 7:00


I tried this once, and it was fine, and then the afternoon hit and i wanted to go back to sleep.

My point.  You can take it one way or the other, its up to you to find what works best for your body.  If you dont feel hungry until the time you eat and you dont get exausted later from lack of fuel in your body so early in the day, then i say power to you.  If your worried, try getting rid of the worry by taking some light snacks to tie you over, but wont add to much to your calorie intake. (someone else may be able to give you help there, since i wouldnt have a clue)



Fitness RX - we work out more before sunrise than the average person does all day.  LOL

I exercised ONCE in the morning.  I got up, ate breakfast, then
went jogging about half an hour later.  I hated it.  I had no
energy, I was sluggish, and my stomach hurt.  I just don't think
its a good idea to go so close after waking up cause your body hasnt
had a chance to get going.  I prefer in the evening after
dinner...my body is awake and energized then.

tarngold - that is INTENSE! Sheesh. I could do that like once. Well, actually, during the swim season I get up at 6ish. But that's very different.

finewine - Yeah, it's just that later in the day I like to be more relaxed, so it's hard to get myself to workout.

I always eat before exercise, but you have to make sure that you are eating food that is easy to digest: Luna bar, or bagel, or oatmeal, or banana... I eat a bowl of Kashi Golean about an hour before I head out.

Exercising first thing in the morning on an empty stomach actually helps burn fat. The problem with eating and exercise is people try to eat right before working out... try to eat at least two hours prior to exercise so you dont feel weighed down or like you'd throw up. exercise causes your blood to be diverted from your intestines to your muscles, giving you a feeling like you ate a rock for breakfast. if you're the type that exercises first thing then i would suggest eating a high protien meal within an hour after exercise, or as in your case take something along on your walk if its not too strenuous.

When I started dieting I reversed lunch and breakfast and lost a lot of weight so far. It's really weird for a lot of people but it worked wonders for me, a nutritious breakfast and a light lunch.

I find it best to eat something very light before I work out, then something else light after. You could break up the calories you normally spend on breakfast and have half before and half after your workout.

I get up at 5 and eat, then exercise at 7, drink a whey protein shake with some nuts at 8:30, and then eat lunch around noon. It seems to work out pretty well for me.

I'm usually starving when I wake up, so I have to eat something. I usually eat some plain nonfat yogurt with special K or cheerios ontop and a banana about 45 minutes before I go for my 2 mile jog. If I don't eat, I don't have enough energy to complete my workout, if I do it, the I'm awake, my metabolism is already going and I don't feel dead afterward.

CAN WE STOP THE MADNESS!!

Some of these replies are so upsetting!  Does anyone have real credentials?

Here's one thing I always noticed about endurance athletes. They always refer to a bagel or a banana as a light breakfast. Please. I'm Sicilian and I love my pasta and all, but I'd be nauseous so quickly.

Can we deal in facts?  As I learned in Myology and Kinesiology this year (B+ and A-, respectively btw), muscles requires sugar to act. It's simple. Muscles are made of proteins; they are contractile. But sugar is necessary for internal respiration and the conversion of nutrition molecules into energy.

When we wake in the morning, we have essentially fasted for as many hours as our last meal. THAT is significant. Even though our metabolism was low as we slept, reserves of glycogen in the muscles and liver were being depleted. Obviously we have enough to get us through, but not without problems like fatigue, or confusion (because the brain needs sugar too!)

In my late 20s, I wasn't eating breakfast. I was the lounge around with a couple of cups of coffee for four hours type. A nutritionist/life coach made me promise to eat within two hours of waking.  And I kept that promise, and it works. I feel the effects of hunger, not just the hunger, if I don't keep to that rule.  Also, I was to drink a glass of water just about immediately (I brush my teeth first). A pediatric hematologist at NYH-Cornell also stresses this to her patients.  We are dehydrated upon waking as well. Water also initiates peristalsis in the am, which can be annoying when you want to head out the door to walk or whatever, but your compelled to hit the bathroom.

The word Breakfast informs it's purpose, and it is my opinion that we break fast as needed.  I get up and walk too. What could be easier than a cup of juice? Either after or instead of water. I don't like OJ because of the acid and the sweetness so I would water it down. But now I've taken to carrot juice as my drink. Anything with at least 8 gms of sugar. Milk works! And if it is nonfat, it is not going to feel like a belly bomb. Liquids move through us quickly.

So that's my two cents. Wake, drink, get some sugar in you, then walk (or poop), yoga/pilates, whatever.  And then a decent brekky ASAP afterwards (preferably within two hours). At least you won't have starved yourself.

PS Brekky itself requires a protein, a carb (complex preferred) and a source of vitamin C. So this could be as easy as 3 egg whites and a cup of strawberries.

I welcome a challenge to what I've written. If, that is, the knowledge is culled from more than "fitness magazines" and not education or allied health professionals.

Thank you.

Original Post by urbanwayfarer:

CAN WE STOP THE MADNESS!!

A great way to start would be to not create new accounts for the sole purpose of criticizing posts from 2 years ago...