[forestroad]

From Monica Seles' book about her ED (via Lissa on We Are the Real Deal):

Another part of the book that really resonated is when she meets a sumo wrestler in China. When she asks him about his diet, out of curiosity, she has the horrifying realization that she’s been eating like a sumo wrestler, who does everything in his power to gain weight and keep it on … by consuming 15,000 calories a day.

Here are his guidelines for gaining weight and staying fat. (Note: these are NOT recommended!!)
1) Skip breakfast. This slows down your metabolism and keeps it down for the rest of the day, making it harder to burn off the calories you ingest at lunch and dinner.
2) Eat two big meals a day. Starving all morning and then gorging yourself in the afternoon is a surefire way to get fat. It ruins your energy and wreaks havoc on your metabolism.
3) Nap right after eating.
4) Exercise on an empty stomach.
5) Eat in social settings. Sumo wrestlers live in “training stables” and eat all of their meals gathered around a communal table.

[JulieJ08]

That last one is a bit strange. Usually sitting down to a meal with family is much promoted for healthy eating.

[nelie]

I'm not sure any of those are really 100% accurate but I'd definitely say it is ok to exercise on an empty stomach as long as you feel ok doing so. For a while, I was reading a lot of stuff saying to exercise first thing in the morning before eating that way you burned more calories. Overall, it depends on the person.

[kiramira]

Meh -- don't buy it, because the reasons and behaviours for weight gain are so personal...
1. Sometimes I skip breakfast -- I'll have water and go to Hot Yoga. Then I'll have lunch. Hasn't made me fat, cause it is just another way to manage my food intake.
2. 2 meals a day -- often I do this, no impact here...but I control my portions.
3. Nap after eating? I will if I'm tired...
4. BIG BEEF HERE -- I DARE you to do Hot Yoga after eating! You'll barf on your yoga mat. No food 4 hours before Hot Yoga is the rule of thumb, else you'll get sick. Love to see the author run 5km after breakfast!!!
5. I know my secret solitary eating behaviours get me into trouble. I eat with DH, and control my portions...

I think the way sumo wrestlers gain weight is that they eat huge portions, they continue to pack in the food well beyond the point of fullness, and they drink copious amounts of beer. http://www.tinajuanfitness.info/articles/011403.htm

This probably has more to do with their weight gain than exercising on an empty stomach...

[kisskisskill]

If I only ever ate in social settings, I would be skinny. lol I have no problems controlling the amount of food I stuff in my face if someone else is watching. When I am alone is a totally dif. story.

[JulieJ08]

Kiramira, I never knew about the beer

But I do think sumo wrestlers are interesting from a weight, exercise and healthy point of view.

[KatieBell28]

Two meals a day has kept me packing on the lbs, so I pretty much believe it.

[kiramira]

Absolutely Ms Julie! I saw a show on sumo training just a few days ago -- it was a Nova program on obesity. What they tend to do, from what I recall, was exercise for 5 or 6 hours first thing in the morning. Then power eat, then exercise, then power eat. And drink lots of beer. The idea is to build maximum muscle and to make sure the fat is distributed in the healthiest way possible. Food amounts are controlled by the trainers and these guys power-pack the food down well past the point of fullness. And to do that day after day after day means that their body changes. The reason they eat together is that they live in a controlled, camp-type of environment. Easier to sling the food to everyone at once. So it isn't the fact of eating together that makes them overeat. The fact that they have amounts they HAVE to eat makes them overeat. They would eat the same amounts if they were alone, because it is part of the training program.
The way their weight gain is controlled and monitored combined with the exercise that they do (usually multiple multiple MULTIPE reps of calisthenics vice say, walking on a treadmill) means that muscles are strenghtened and that fat is not visceral (which is the most dangerous form of fat accumulation)...
It was a really interesting show!!! Didn't make me want to become a sumo wrestler, though

Kira

[JulieJ08]

Originally Posted by kiramira

. The idea is to build maximum muscle and to make sure the fat is distributed in the healthiest way possible.

Yeah, I've heard they have little visceral fat and are actually healthy. But I also heard they're not so healthy after they retire ...

[forestroad]

Yeah I don't know how I felt about that last one, either. It was certainly true in college; I ate more in social settings and took ridiculously long meals.

If you're skipping breakfast as a way to control calories, I think that's one thing bc you won't be shocking your system late in the day. But if you're just skipping breakfast and then eating to compensate, I do believe the Sumo's advice. I just had it told to me by a trainer who does metabolic testing as well. And statistically speaking, lighter ppl do tend to eat breakfast.

It would be interesting to hear the theory behind exercising on an empty stomach.

[JulieJ08]

I think you have to remember that the exercise we are doing on an empty stomach is nothing compared to what the sumo wrestlers are doing.

[nelie]

Forest - Here is a short article from NY times talking about exercising on empty stomach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/health/04real.html

THE BOTTOM LINE Exercising on an empty stomach burns slightly more fat but shortens your workout.

Of course it really depends how long you planned to workout. If you are doing anything major, I'd say eat something small at least. Anything over an hour definitely requires fuel.