[Juhi]

Hi,

I keep reading these random articles on how exercising less than three hours after food is useless.....and its better just to go for a walk then a power workout.

Most days..i find time to workout only an hour or two after dinner....i'd really like to know what y'all think...

thank you...

btw....Good Luck in meeting all those New Year's resolutions

Juhi

[Juhi]

oops...grammar error in title....sorry

[susannyny]

Hi Juhi ... good luck with your goals as well!

The only issue in regards to excercising after a large meal (like dinner), is that it can cause acid reflux/heartburn.

It takes between 1 to 4 hours for food to move from the stomach to the small intestine, depending on the size of the meal.

For me personally, I have no problem with a rigorous excercise regime following my dinners, as in most instances my dinner tend to be a fairly light meal. I wait about an hour and I'm good to go.

[stacylambert]

You are referring to burning calories, correct? Most of what I've read says it is BETTER to do cardio on an empty stomach either first thing in the morning or at least 3 hours after a meal. However while it does make some difference I don't think it's enough to stress over. If you can only do it at that time there's nothing wrong with that. Just keep doing what you're doing, at least you're doing doing it! Good Luck!

[boarderchick]

No worries about timing of exercise. You may have less than peak performance shortly after eating only because some of your blood flow is shunted to the gut for digestion. This does not affect rate of fat burning or calorie consumption by the body, to my knowledge. Just have lighter meals to prevent reflux and heartburn, which is quite common, as noted in the post above. It's just good that you're exercising, keep it up!

[Juhi]

thank u guys..i was getting a little discouraged...

can't wait to exercise tonite

[Ilene]

If I waited 3 whole hours after a meal before exercising I'd be eating my next meal or get weak for my workout... I eat before going to the gym, unless I am working out at 5am then it's on an empty stomach.. I eat, but never a lot, a portion of carbs (half a cup of oatmeal) a portion of protein (4 egg whites)... when I come back I eat within 45-60 mins, again a portion of protein and carbs...

Don't let those time limits limit your workouts, what's most important is that you workout when you can...

[Miaka]

Exercising on an empty stomach has no advantages. In fact, with some food your actually burn more calories. I think as long as you are not uncomfortable exercising so soon after eating a big meal, you are fine!

[RocksAnn]

I heard never to work out on an empty stomach. Plus, my stomach is never empty!! I eat every 3-5 hours. My job is very physical and I go right back to work after my breaks (after eating and drinking) and I am still losing weight.

[taloola]

like if i eat something b4 a wrk out will i burn more if i eat celery

what are these foods anyone know

ill eat them all the time

[AmberM]

I guess I'm confused (not suprising for me *smile*). I thought you shouldn't eat before you work out because then you were burning the glucose from food that is in your system. If you work out first thing in the morning you go straight to fat burning because you don't have the sugar stores in your system. Is that wrong? I know you should work out whenever is best but I thought if you worked out after eating then it takes at least 20 minutes to get into fat burning mode. Hmmmmmm....I guess I'm confused.

Oh well, I work out at night anyway so it doesn't matter much to me! I try to do weights first and then cardio. I've added a morning routine 3 Xs a week (or that's my plan) so that's why this is an interesting thread for me.

Amber

[srmb60]

Any exercise uses calories. If you are eating less than you are putting out ... you'll lose weight. For starters ... that's the simple answer.

And as for the 20 minutes? If you tell a fella who's circuit for the day is tv-> fridge-> bathroom-> tv-> fridge etc that he has to exercise for more than 20 minutes .... he'll up and quit on ya.

Any is better than none. More is better than any.

[Juhi]

but what abt the athletes/bodybuilders....when they are trying to reduce body fat....they are told to exercise first thing in the morning...before food.

It works.....athletes in college do that all the time before a competition when they are trying to get in shape.

and this confuses me...my goal is to reduce body fat to..i am at 32 % right now on my 145 lb 5'4 frame.....so far i haven't had any success with bringing down the body fat %..could this be it......that exercising with food in ur stomach is not very effective for fat loss!

[srmb60]

For athletes in peak shape there may be marginal advantages. But I'm not sure that for folks like you and me there's any measureable difference.
What have you been doing so far? maybe we can get some tips from the primo exercisers or the Ladies Who Lift.

[Juhi]

eating 1300-1500 calories.....weightlifting 3x cardio 6x weekly....

i haven't lost a pound in over a months.....sob sob