Ive heard that you shouldnt eat right before cardio, beccause then youre burning off what you just ate as opposed to burning off stored fat.

I usually do 50-60 minutes of cardio in the evenings right before dinner. Is it ok to eat right after working out, and what should the fat-carb-protein ratio be?

I'd like to know this too.

I've heard working out on an empty stomach (first thing in the morning) works the muscles harder but you can't eat until an hour after the workout or your body will change the rate (slower, I think) it burns the fat.

On Excersice DVDs it always says, Do not Exercise if you've eaten a heavy meal in the past 2 hours. So I wouldn't. You'd probably feel a bit sickish anyway. I think your statement about burning food you've just eaten rather than stored fat is true. That's how the first-thing-on-the-morning exercise works.

I'd like to know all this as well because rarely do I find the perfect balance where I can run for hours and not get exhausted.

I've been told that two-three hours before your work-out to eat a snack, like oatmeal or peanut butter and jelly sandwich and that an hour beforehand, you should spike your blood sugar with orange juice or raisins.

I'm not sure about the latter--anyone ever heard of that?

Nutrient timing is a whole book in itself, but the advice isn't all that different for weight training and short-duration cardio - if you're going to be doing 2+ hours of biking or running you're going to need to load up on energy gels and sports drinks in addition to the standard advice as you'll be burning through your body's glycogen like nobody's business.

 You'd want some protein pre-workout as well, for optimal results - the current recommendation for Best Pratice is to have a solid meal 90-120 minutes before your workout, no later. The protein in your food mostly digests in 3 hours, and the whole point of pre-workout nutrition is to have protein available in your system while working out. Therefore, eating more than 2 hours before your workout potentially leaves you without available amino acids in your blood stream at the end of your workout - not good.

 Alternatively, you have a liquid meal in the form of a protein shake 0-30 minutes before starting your workout - I personally feel this is the better option based on David Barr's research, but either way will work.

 Post-workout, a protein shake with moderately fast-acting whey protein taken within 30 minutes of your workout and containing carbs in a 4:1 carb:protein ratio is supposedly ideal for recovery.

 You'd then go on to eat your regularily scheduled meal within 90 minutes of having the protein shake, as whey protein mostly digests that fast.

 As for specifics: Alan recommends
Pre-workout
Protein = 0.25g/lb Target Body Weight
Carbs = 0.25g/lb TBW
Post-workout
Protein = 0.25g/lb TBW
Carbs = 0.5g/lb TBW

Calculate your individual needs based on either your lean body mass if you know it, or your target bodyweight if you don't.

 Drink water before your workout, and if you're doing strenuous exercise, also during. Calorie- and carbohydrate-rich sports drinks are mostly a waste of calories unless you're doing endurance workouts lasting longer than 60-90 minutes.

 I used to think that all pre-breakfast workouts was just crazy talk until Dr. Lonnie Lowery convinced me otherwise - if you stick to cardio in the mythical "fat-burning zone". Normally I wouldn't bother with that as you burn more calories at higher intensity, but if you're working out in a fasted state you're going to be burning muscle protein for fuel if you work out at an intensity exceeding your fat metabolism's capacity. (Well, simplified. You'll always use some protein for fuel, your body always uses all three energy sources, but if you overdo the intensity you're going to use more muscle protein for fuel than your body can replace and you'll lose muscle mass instead of fat mass. The effect will be miniscule for any one session, a few grams here and there, but ten grams a day does add up over time, neh?)

 Considering the lack of intensity in pre-breakfast cardio compared to what you can get up to with HIIT later in the day, I'm not convinced that there's any real advantage to it, unless it's the only way you're going to get any cardio in at all.

It doesn't really matter if you're worried about the calories in, calories out. If you exercuse on an empty stomach, chances are you're burning fat, yes. But if you exercise with a fuller stomach and burn the energy from that food, then at the end of the day your calorie deficit will be less, thus your body will release its fat stores anyway. Some people have no energy without a meal beforehand and others just feel sick to the stomach if too full, so the important thing is to do what suits your body. Anyways, doing any exercise is beneficial so I wouldn't be too worried about when and what time.

I don't know about the science behind my routine but I usually get up at 615am, have a half cup of coffee with a half cup of nonfat milk and something small like a banana, (super-healthy) bran muffin or a nonfat yogurt. I leave the house around 630 and walk/run with my dog for an hour.

After I get back home, I stretch and shower and then eat my breakfast which is usually kashi go-lean cereal, nonfat milk, toast with brummel and brown spread and orange juice OR an egg white omelette with vegies and parmesan, toast and oj.

Don't know if this will help, but I have stamina for my cardio and I can still work out early in the morning. I get hungry again about 3 hours later so everything seems to be working well.