captainbea
New member
yay or nay. lay your facts on my baby!
Waking up and working out without breakfast
- Thread starter captainbea
- Start date
It's fine to do so, and it actually works great for most people due to your blood sugar being low in the mornings, but if you're doing it on a regular basis, I'd limit it to cardio, limit the intensity to moderate, and limit the time to only 30-40 minutes, then eat soon afterwards, including some protein.
captainbea
New member
im on day 2 of not eating before my workout, it was brutal. i'm so getting some food in tomorrow.
The whole idea behind exercise from a weight loss perspective is to burn extra calories. If you're having trouble losing anything though, it's often beneficial to do exercise first thing in the morning. The idea is that your blood sugar is bottomed out. Your carb stores in your liver have been depleted overnight. So basically, when you exercise in this state, you almost immediately start pulling energy from fat, as your body has no other choice, there's nothing in your bloodstream to burn.
As for the above car analogy, sure, that's right from a performance perspective, especially strength training. BUT, from a weight loss perspective, the idea would be that your "car" has a reserve tank (fat) and you're trying to burn the gas in THAT tank.
So basically the analogy would be more like, you have a race car, and you're trying to make it lose weight so you can go faster. You've got the basics, and even have a small 1-2 gallon fuel cell to save weight on gas, which is full of high octane fuel (your carb stores). But, you're overlooking this 100 gallon reserve tank, which is full of cheap low octane fuel (fat). This tank is connected in such a manner that your car won't burn gas from it until the fuel cell is out, and if you start on high octane then immediately try to switch over to low octane in the reserve, there is a switchover period and your car doesn't run too well during that time. Without siphoning the gas or major mechanical work (surgery), the best way to lose the pounds from that gas is to burn through your fuel cell, then let your car putter around and burn off the reserve tank, right? So with that in mind, if that's the goal, do you think it would be easier to fill up that high octane fuel cell every time you drove your car, burning that good fuel first then having an awkward switchover period, assuming you even GET to the stage that you have to switch over, or do you think it would be easier to just take off with an empty fuel cell and start burning your reserve tank immediately? Just remember that even then you're burning cheap low octane fuel in a prized race car, so you have to be careful and not try to drag race during this time, take it easy, and limit the intensity.
Same exact thing with your body. If you start with no carb stores in your liver then do medium intensity cardio that works your slow twitch muscles, you'll be pulling your energy from fat, which is exactly what you want to do from a weight loss perspective. Just don't strain yourself. Straining, strength training, etc., uses fast twitch muscles, and you will have no fuel for them to use. This is why you would feel light headed. Your blood sugar would already be low enough, don't abruptly do anything that would bottom it out even more, it could get dangerous.
As for the above car analogy, sure, that's right from a performance perspective, especially strength training. BUT, from a weight loss perspective, the idea would be that your "car" has a reserve tank (fat) and you're trying to burn the gas in THAT tank.
So basically the analogy would be more like, you have a race car, and you're trying to make it lose weight so you can go faster. You've got the basics, and even have a small 1-2 gallon fuel cell to save weight on gas, which is full of high octane fuel (your carb stores). But, you're overlooking this 100 gallon reserve tank, which is full of cheap low octane fuel (fat). This tank is connected in such a manner that your car won't burn gas from it until the fuel cell is out, and if you start on high octane then immediately try to switch over to low octane in the reserve, there is a switchover period and your car doesn't run too well during that time. Without siphoning the gas or major mechanical work (surgery), the best way to lose the pounds from that gas is to burn through your fuel cell, then let your car putter around and burn off the reserve tank, right? So with that in mind, if that's the goal, do you think it would be easier to fill up that high octane fuel cell every time you drove your car, burning that good fuel first then having an awkward switchover period, assuming you even GET to the stage that you have to switch over, or do you think it would be easier to just take off with an empty fuel cell and start burning your reserve tank immediately? Just remember that even then you're burning cheap low octane fuel in a prized race car, so you have to be careful and not try to drag race during this time, take it easy, and limit the intensity.
Same exact thing with your body. If you start with no carb stores in your liver then do medium intensity cardio that works your slow twitch muscles, you'll be pulling your energy from fat, which is exactly what you want to do from a weight loss perspective. Just don't strain yourself. Straining, strength training, etc., uses fast twitch muscles, and you will have no fuel for them to use. This is why you would feel light headed. Your blood sugar would already be low enough, don't abruptly do anything that would bottom it out even more, it could get dangerous.
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changeforlife
New member
Here's an answer I read at sparkpeople...
"In the morning, your body has gone 8+ hours since eating or drinking anything. Your blood sugar levels are lower at this point, and your body doesn't have adequate fuel to workout optimally. Usually, experts recommend eating something—even if it's just a small snack—within 2 hours before working out. When your body doesn’t have proper fuel in it, many problems can result, the lesser being that your workout performance suffers, and the greater being something like passing out during exercise. Some people say that it will burn fat stores, but overall, the number of calories your burn during a workout (regardless of where they come from) is much more important. Plus, fat burns in the carbohydrate flame. This means if you exercise without eating (such as after "fasting" during sleep) your body does not burn fat efficiently, or sometimes at all."
"In the morning, your body has gone 8+ hours since eating or drinking anything. Your blood sugar levels are lower at this point, and your body doesn't have adequate fuel to workout optimally. Usually, experts recommend eating something—even if it's just a small snack—within 2 hours before working out. When your body doesn’t have proper fuel in it, many problems can result, the lesser being that your workout performance suffers, and the greater being something like passing out during exercise. Some people say that it will burn fat stores, but overall, the number of calories your burn during a workout (regardless of where they come from) is much more important. Plus, fat burns in the carbohydrate flame. This means if you exercise without eating (such as after "fasting" during sleep) your body does not burn fat efficiently, or sometimes at all."
I'll agree with, alot of that...
Really, if you can even remotely call it a "workout", it's probably too intense to do this. Usually the only things you want to do are things like walking or riding a stationary bike. Never, ever, strength train, push yourself, or ANYTHING like that.
The only reason I'd even recommend this at all and say that it's "probably" ok is that this is the one thing that I was most successful with. Four years ago I let myself get up to 196, which is huge for me. I had already started cycling, but the weight was being stubborn, as I biked fairly often through a summer and fall with little to no results. Once it got cold, I started using my bike on a trainer in the mornings and I melted away 37 pounds that winter just by spinning before work. I'd just roll out of bed, gulp a glass of water, and hit the trainer. So based off of that, I feel compelled to say that if you're already working out properly yet are experiencing that same stubbornness, you might want to try it, but just realize that you've got to watch out because it could be dangerous.
I just can't discount it and say it doesn't work or works poorly or anything like that due to my success with it.
Really, if you can even remotely call it a "workout", it's probably too intense to do this. Usually the only things you want to do are things like walking or riding a stationary bike. Never, ever, strength train, push yourself, or ANYTHING like that.
The only reason I'd even recommend this at all and say that it's "probably" ok is that this is the one thing that I was most successful with. Four years ago I let myself get up to 196, which is huge for me. I had already started cycling, but the weight was being stubborn, as I biked fairly often through a summer and fall with little to no results. Once it got cold, I started using my bike on a trainer in the mornings and I melted away 37 pounds that winter just by spinning before work. I'd just roll out of bed, gulp a glass of water, and hit the trainer. So based off of that, I feel compelled to say that if you're already working out properly yet are experiencing that same stubbornness, you might want to try it, but just realize that you've got to watch out because it could be dangerous.
I just can't discount it and say it doesn't work or works poorly or anything like that due to my success with it.
