<p>What is the prevailing wisdom on eating before working out? When I read about exercise, I get conflicting information: "No, don’t eat before a workout or you will be burning circulating blood glucose for energy instead of fat! Or “Never ever ever work out on an empty stomach! You will burn muscle tissue instead of fat, and your workouts will be inferior without taking in energy before hand!”</p>
<p>I can usually get through a cardio workout before eating (do drink a cup of coffee, though), but I get very shaky if doing a strength training routine on an empty stomach, so I’ve been having half an avocado with 1T of fresh salsa on it before hand. </p>
<p>Should I be eating more? Any experts care to weigh in?</p>
<p>BTW, my current goal is to regain fitness lost from months of neck issues which culminated in surgery in October, as well as to lose weight from the inactivity and comfort food consumption which resulted from said problems and surgery.</p>
<p>I think it’s very individual. Before an early-morning run, I would eat an apple. Some people said that was a bad idea because it was difficult to digest the skin. It worked for me. YMMV.</p>
<p>I try to eat way before I work out: a PB&J plus a few snacks about two hours before usually does the trick. Some fruit snacks (or other small, sugary treats) might work well beforehand, too, if you’re feeling a bit weak or shaky.</p>
<p>This fall I had the good fortune to spend a week at Canyon Ranch and I posed this same question to the nutritionist and exercise physiologist. They told me to eat a small amount of carb and protein both before and after my morning workout. Here are some examples of things they suggested I eat before exercise:</p>
<p>12 almonds, 20 peanuts or 7 walnut halves with 1 apple
1 Tbsp natural nut butter with 3-4 whole grain crackers or 1/2 a banana
1/4 cup granola drizzled with milk or yogurt
1 hard boiled egg with 2 whole grain crackers</p>
<p>After exercise they suggested either a protein/fruit smoothie or a scrambled egg with an apple. I must admit that most mornings I only eat a banana on the way to the gym, but I do find that my performance is better when I take the time to put a schmear of almond butter on the banana.</p>
<p>My S1 is a workout fiend. He’s a military officer so it sort of comes with the job.
He drinks a some sort of carby drink before working out and always drinks a protein shake when he’s finished. He alternates lifting and running daily.</p>
<p>OP - you may have answered it for what works for you. There are many web sites and books with detailed information on nutrition for every possible combination of exercise and sport out there. </p>
<p>3+hr sessions are not unusual in endurance sports (running, tri, cycling). Most people have to have something along the way to keep going. How much/far/long depends on the person, level of training, intensity of activity, etc…</p>
<p>I eat a bunch of carbs before 1-hour cardio workouts but try to take most of them at least an hour ahead of time. For tennis matches (2-3 hours), I load up on electrolytes the night before and the morning before and bring along one electrolyte drink and another drink, either sugar/electrolytes or just electrolytes - total of two liters of fluid. I also eat about 200 calories in an energy bar during the match.</p>
<p>You kind of have to work out what works for you for which exercise.</p>
<p>I attend a weekly 6am boot camp class and the trainer has told us all to have a small amount of carbs before the class to give us the energy to make it the full hour. I typically have a small bowl of cereal with a splash of milk.</p>
<p>You could make the answer simple - let your stomach and body do the talking since we’re all different. Try eating something light at some point in time before the workout and then try some days where you don’t, do the workout, and see how you felt - i.e. whether your stomach didn’t feel good with the food in it, whether you had more or less energy, etc.</p>
<p>I avoid eating much of anything before a workout (about a 1.25 hour elliptical plus 5 mile run/walk) since I do better without much of anything in my stomach although I will have had a breakfast bar a few hours prior to the workout (as opposed to doing a big workout first thing in the morning without having eaten since dinner the night before). </p>
<p>Everyone’s different so you just have to find what works best for you.</p>
<p>Thanks to those who responded. I guess right now my focus is not so much on performance, but maximizing fat burning. I don’t want to interfere with that by eating the wrong thing or even eating period. I put on weight after having to stop working out in July when my whole right side went numb, and it does not feel good! </p>
<p>The good news is that my surgery cured my ills and I did my first strength training work out today after doing my first treadmill workout yesterday. Felt good to get off the sofa!</p>
<p>Whether you should eat before a workout is a very individual choice. Most experts agree that it is not necessary to eat before a workout of 90 minutes or less duration. I personally find a Luna bar, banana or fruit smoothie works well for me for morning workouts. My daughter, a D1 athlete, does not eat before morning workout because it upsets her stomach. I have several triathlete friends who get up two hours prior to their workout time to eat and then go back to bed for two hours.</p>