Exercise before eating, or after?

Male 4ANy ins6   SW  257   CW  236   TW  160

I started on my journey on 9/10/09, and have shed 21 lbs thus far.  Loss is starting to slow, which is fine...I understand the reasons, etc

My question is this:  I walk 3.5 miles every day....after work on the weekdays, and mornings on the weekends.  Which is preferred?  Morning exercise, or afternoon?  Does it matter?

Also.....should I have a yogurt or something before I walk in the afternoon, or after I am done?   Which is preferred?  Does it matter?

Your insight is valued.

Thanks

First off congrats on the weight loss.

I don't know the answers to many of these questions but I read the other night that eating before running caused side cramps pretty bad.Thus I avoided eating before I run for at least a hour.I would imagine that depending on how brisk the walk is you might not have this problem but I just wanted to point it out.I am gonna look back at this I would like to know the answers as well.

Time of the day doesn't really matter, and really is a person preference. I like to exercise in the morning because in the evening I am too damn tired and I find other things that "need" to be done. As for eating, again personal thing. If it doesn't effect the quality continue doing what you are doing now.

UD

As already stated, it's generally what works for you. Some people find eating before working out a horrifying thought, but make sure to eat within a half hour after. Others find they have no energy during a workout if they don't eat beforehand.

As for exercise times, there is some evidence that early afternoon is slightly better for creating an increased burn of calories beyond the workout. But really, it's way important to exercise than to try to hit the "peak burn" hours in any case.

Congratulations on the weight loss to date -- particularly great that you are adjusting to the slower pace of loss (some folk find that hard to take)!

well from what i know there are two schools of thought out there.

the first one is often promoted by oxygen magizen- eat something small before a workout to give your body fuel so your workout will be more successful.  so yogurt, toast with peanut butter, ext.

the second is promoted by the body for life work out program which was designed by bill phillips- the owner of EAS.  he says work out first thing in the morning without eating because your body is in fasting mode and will have no other fuel to burn then the fat in your body.

so i figure its your choice.  personally i work out harder if i have had some food- but the are plenty of days i work out before i eat.

oh and bill phillips also says dont eat for 30 min after a work out cause your still burning caloies- which says to me, take a shower then eat.  :)

If I eat anything before a vigorous workout, I will throw up, so I always eat after.  I've heard that after you exercise (either cardio or weights or both) you should wait a bit before eating a meal, but should get some protein immediately... like a handful of nuts, a piece of cheese, or a protein bar if you want something more substantial.

I found some research that suggested that you actually burn less calories and build less endurance if you exercise first thing in the a.m..  For me, it seems valid because I don't have near the energy to exercise as I do if I wait until later in the day.  I get a much more vigorous workout if I wait til I have some energy.

Another perk of afternoon exercise, in my opinion, is that you can make up for any naughtiness earlier in the day.  If I gave in and grabbed a couple of cookies at lunch, it is easy to just add an extra half a mile.  Just a thought.  Good luck! 

It really doesn't matter, but I find that if I eat an hour or two before a workout, all the fresh carbs in my system give me more energy.

If I don't exercise shortly after getting up in the morning, I never will. There are other things I wanna do during the day, so I like to get the exercise "out of the way". I know you're not supposed to view it as a chore, you're supposed to find something you ENJOY doing, but as the weather gets colder all the enjoyable forms of exercise are taken away from me! *cries*