[ebeth2210]

Hi, everyone. I just found this awesome website.
I have a question that has been bugging me. I am on my third week of BFL.
Haven't noticed any changes yet, but I feel great. Bill Philips says that for optimum weight loss you should exercise on an empty stomach. Since I usually can't get to the gym till about 10am, its kind of hard for me to do that. How much difference are we talking about here? Are there any of you that have had to eat before exercising and did you still see the results you are supposed to?

Thanks

[Meg]

Hi and welcome to LWL! We've got lots of folks here who do/have done BFL and I'm sure they'll be along to answer your question in the context of BFL. My personal experience with exercise has been that I was able to lose 122 pounds despite not being able to exercise first thing in the AM on an empty stomach. So I can't say that I was unhappy with my results!

We have a weekly thread that we use to discuss all kinds of issues about cardio and weights and clean nutrition and we'd love to have you join us on it. There you'll have a chance to meet all the BFL'ers and ask away about the program.

Congratulations on starting your challenge!

[Ilene]

Hi Beth ...

Here is my experience with exercise... Before Christmas '03 I exercised at 5AM on an empty stomach... Did weights and some cardio... In decent shape...

Starting in January '04, I have been working out in the afternoon around 2PM, with 2 meals under my belt... Weights and daily cardio

Here is what I have noticed.... I have lost 5-10# ( I fluctuate A LOT and very easily over nothing, so it's hard to tell how much weight I have lost) This is also the FIRST time in YEARS that I have lost any weight!!

What is different, I think, is not necessarily eating before, during or after exercise, BUT the INTENSITY, the CARDIO and the EXTRA 15 minutes, if that, time spent in the gym... LAST but NOT least, really, really watching what I put in my mouth... YES I admit when I fluctuate it's when I've had too much or too many FREE meals or even bites...

Bottom line, calories IN, calories OUT, do the workouts when you can, but just DO IT!!

I have done BFL and really like it, what I have learned from that program is to 1) eat 5-6 meals and 2) eat a clean protein AND carb at every meal.... which I still do... I don't do Challenges specifically but that program is what started me going and feeling better than I have felt in years....It's a lifestyle now...

OH and last but not least this group support!!

[MrsJim]

Ahhhh the eternal empty stomach question...

I'd say it really comes down to what works for ya. Some people (including Bill Phillips and Tom Venuto) swear on the empty tummy while working out theory, others don't.

Now for me, it's all about timing. I am an early bird in the gym...generally there before 5 am so I wake up at 4:00 most days (depending on how noisy our kitties are at night...this was one of those days...arrggh). So yeah, I've always worked out on an empty stomach. However - I do eat my last meal shortly before bedtime so I'm not hungry or feeling faint.

However if I was working out at 10:00 am, I'd probably eat around 8 am or so.

BTW I'm like Ilene - totally a lifestyle thing (although I tend to eschew complex carbs in the late afternoon/evening hours...but that's just me...)

[Ilene]

I agree with Karen, my last 4th and 5th meals are usually carb free and I don't eat before bed...

[Mel]

I still have the scars from the one time I tried to do weights on an empty stomach. Never again! Sometimes I go directly from food to weights, but I have a cast iron stomach. I've seen the results of people who really can't do that. Do what works for you!

Mel

[Topaz]

I've never done BFL but I can't do any sort of workout on an empty stomach; I end up either feeling faint or just plain quitting too soon. I think the most important thing is that you are able to keep doing your workout regularly and completely - that's what will get results.

[BfL_Cat]

One point to remember about the empty stomach thing is that Bill says if you're not exercising first thing in the morning, you should try to wait at least 3 hours after your last meal before working out, and this mainly pertains to cardio. So, I'd think that if you aren't working out until 10am, there's plenty of time to eat something for breakfast at 7am or so.

Don't forget, he also recommends that then you wait an hour after finishing cardio before eating again. Both of these things are supposed to promote fat burning during and after your cardio workout, and are not such a big deal for weight lifting.

I've always adhered to this during my Challenges, even when I worked out after work, and now when I work out before work, so I can't comment on the difference it might or might not cause. I do drink a glass of milk in the morning now, before my weight work outs.
Cindy

[Sweetmel]

So when you do cardio on this program you have to up the "INTENSITY" on it. So, would Cathe Friedrich's step videos do the trick?