Eat before exercising?

[Katie T]

I meet a group to do intense exercise at 5:30 am 3 days a week. I normally don't eat before because I am not hungry yet. I am wondering if that is ok or if it is making my body think it is getting starved so not burning as much fat as it would had I eaten before.

I am very new to all this working out stuff lol.

[MrsGregory]

Whenever I'm about to do something crazy (like Crossfit type of exercise) I have a banana or a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter on it about an hour prior.  I find if I don't, I have the shakes very badly afterwards.  But if it's something like power yoga, I can do that on an empty stomach. 

[ziesha001]

Well I guess that's not correct to eat before

[Katc8910]

If you feel ok while exercising, not light-headed, weak, and you have enough energy to exercise, then don't eat. Exercising in a fasted state means that your body will use fat stores for energy. Just refuel well after your workout. Check out Mark Sisson's posts about this. If you do feel too weak to exercise, try a whey protein shake - it digests quickly and won't interfere with working out.

[lorijds]

I think most hard core exercise gurus will tell you to eat about 30 minutes or so prior to a hard workout.  My friend sees an exercise endocrinologist, and he swears that not only must you eat before, you should consume certain calories during, as well.

I personally don't eat during exercise, except for runs beyond one hour, then I much on energy gummi blocks.  I hate drinking anything but water during runs, so I can't really do the gatorade thing.  I don't really like the gummi blocks, but I can tolerate them, and particularly during the hot weather, I can see a huge difference in how I feel if I have a gummi block every 2 miles or so.

At first, I wasn't into eating before exercise, but now that I've been doing it for a while, I'm completely used to it, I see the benefit, and I really feel rotten during and after if I *don't* eat before exercise.

Before most exercise, I typically eat a piece of whole wheat toast with honey and an apple;  or some greek yogurt, an apple, and a little granola.  Total calorie consumption is probably around 200.

Before yoga/pilates, I eat a piece of fruit, usually an apple or half a grapefruit.

Ultimately, like in most endeavors, listen to your body;  it'll tell you what you need.