Thread: cardio in the morning without eating breakfast

where are you in terms of bodyfat right now? what are you trying to lose bodyfat for? are you eating in a caloric deficit presently? how long have you been training?

i love answering questions with questions

eat food. do cardio.

to tired to explain why.....

.....just trust me.

Currently I go to the gym right away in the morning so I can try to maximize my fat lose. My routine in the morning is cardio first and then weight training. I am starting to come to the conclusion to have some form of carbs in the morning to help give me some more energy to burn more fat. It is a vicious circle to eat for energy just so you can burn calories. The thought of having something in the morning is still up in the air. I am currently doing research to prove or disprove this theory and the arrows keep pointing towards not eating right away in the morning for maximum fat lose but to gain muscle, which I want to do, you need to eat for energy. This comes up with the all time question......the fat burning or the muscle?.......I.E. Chicken or the egg?

This also brings back to Yanick's series of questions. Once we have the answers we can then assess the correct solution for you.

how does lifting weights 1st thing in the AM on an empty stomach make you burn more fat? Lifting is anerobic. It doesn't burn fat. It burns glucose.

sprinters run sprints. sprints are anerobic....they don't burn fat. they burn glucose. sprinters are as lean as it comes (and muscular).

Do you see where I am going?

It matters not what you burn (fat or glucose)....what matters is that you burn calories. fat gets burned when you rest and do nothing more then anything.

also, you have the whole....no food + work= catabolization.....

It would appear that fasted cardio is not worth it at all now is it?

Wake up...eat a small balanced meal.....get energy so you can go into the gym and bust you ass real hard and burn a good amount of calories.....and you are on your way to reaching your goal.

the only time i would suggest for anyone to do cardio on an empty stomach in the morning is if that person is at 8% and is dieting for a show, and has like 2 weeks left to get into shape. At that point everything takes a backseat to fatloss, competitors are usually willing to give up a bit of muscle to be in shape for the contest, or else their 12-16 weeks of dieting were worthless.

Otherwise i'll have to agree with Pat. You want to get your serum glucose level up and maybe replenish some lost liver/muscle glycogen overnight, the latter is more of a long term thing (days not hours) but a small meal will help more than hurt.

My questions are there to see if this person is just trying to lean up a bit or is really trying to lose fat for a good reason and therefore might be willing to lose a bit of muscle, and feel like shit for a while. I have a feeling that, as always, this issue is way overblown and the original poster just needs to have more patience to see the results.

Originally Posted by Yanick

where are you in terms of bodyfat right now? what are you trying to lose bodyfat for? are you eating in a caloric deficit presently? how long have you been training?

i love answering questions with questions

I train off and on for almost 10 years, I am in good shape, only there is like a layer of fat on my abs, and love handles, and its so damn hard to get rid of it. Thats the only thing Im trying to get rid off.

My arms, shoulders, chest , back and legs, Im happy with. Im 27, about 180.

Its just this little belly and love handles its hard to get rid of.

P-Funk, you are wise. I just got done reading an article by Chris Carmichael, http://outside.away.com/outside/body...-20060119.html, and he states why it is a good idea to have something to eat in the morning even with a cup of coffee to help promote fat lose.

http://outside.away.com/outside/body...-20060119.html

I am going to need to subscribe more to your threads to learn more.

Well one of the first things that you said that I thought was wrong was you said you ate cereal first thing in the morning! Whats wrong with the good ole eggs and oats? Cereal for the most part has lots of sugar if you are not careful and not to mention has maybe a trace of protein. So first thing I would do is ditch the cereal and cook ya some eggs (the whites).

Originally Posted by Double D

Well one of the first things that you said that I thought was wrong was you said you ate cereal first thing in the morning! Whats wrong with the good ole eggs and oats? Cereal for the most part has lots of sugar if you are not careful and not to mention has maybe a trace of protein. So first thing I would do is ditch the cereal and cook ya some eggs (the whites).

this cereal is not so bad, is it?

http://www.kashi.com/ourfood/GOLEAN/...l/Default.aspx

Start couting calories. Goto the diet section, read the stickies, and then put together a diet. You have to make sure you are taking in less than you are using each day or you won't lose fat whether you do cardio first thing in the AM or not.

I'm with P and Yan; fasted cardio is highly overrated for your average Joe. Good eating habits are highly underrated.

Your cereal looks decent too. Not much sugar, and the sugar in there isn't excessively processed. There's plenty of fiber and a good amount of protein too. As far as cereal goes, that's good stuff.

The ideas behind cardio on empty stomach, not eating after 8pm, etc. have a marginal impact on body composition. Basically what Cowpimp said, 99% of your fat loss results from running up a caloric deficit over the long term. Focus on that as opposed to obsessing about minor details which will just stress you out.

Sorry guys if I am trying to cut up cereal is definitly out. Some good oats would be it along with some eggs whenever I start my day. To each is own though.