One of our illustrious Femme Fitale Fit Club members posted this question to the group “Do you eat before your workouts?” Now I must admit I do not. Not because I think I will burn more fat or anything, but because I either get sidestitches or nauseas and queasy. Sounds like good reasons to not eat before an intense workout right? Well she presented an article by Jillian Michaels titled “Myth Buster – Should You Eat Before A Workout“.
You can read the full article for yourself here.
Excerpt from the article…”You need sugar to exert energy. Your body needs a certain amount of sugar for fuel when training. When that blood sugar is not there, your body will convert your own muscle tissue into energy.”
Basically what she is stating as science vs. fiction is that our body uses sugar for energy during intense workouts. If we do not have any sugar to burn for energy then our body will use protein (i.e. our muscle mass) to fuel our workouts. This means we stand to burn and lose muscle we are trying to build because we have not filled our stomachs with enough clean fuel to sustain us.
The article offers up a few choices for quick, easy, simple and small snacks we can eat 40 to 45 minutes before our workouts to minimize any impact on our performance and muscle mass. Honestly some of these choices look pretty durn good such as apples and almond butter, bananas and cottage cheese and berries and low-fat yogurt.
I decided to run my own experiment using my body as a guinea pig. For the next 2 weeks I will eat a little something such as these choices before my workouts (I rise at 4:30 am and to date have only consumed 16 oz of water before any early-morning workout) and will journal how I feel. Can’t swear I’ll do it on a daily basis but I will try my best to do it as often as possible so you all can see how I am progressing. Cross your fingers for me. 🙂
11 Replies to "To Eat or Not To Eat - That's The Question"
GiGi Eats Celebrities February 4, 2014 (1:00 pm)
The only way you can see if eating prior to a work out works for you, is to test on yourself! I used to eat prior to working out and it would make me feel very sluggish, and a little bloated too, so I stopped and I feel so much better working out on an empty stomach. Eating after working out feels amazing too because my body feel replenished! 🙂 I hope your find what works best for you!
DSTPRL February 4, 2014 (1:23 pm)
Thanks for sharing you experience Gigi. I tested today – day 1 and I did ok. I probably should not have had the pineapples. That was a bit much.
GiGi Eats Celebrities February 4, 2014 (1:25 pm)
From my experience, fruit tends to give me some digestive distress, so it wouldn’t be a good option for me prior to working out. Pureed pumpkin and eggs is a pretty good pre-work out meal if you’re looking for something else 🙂
DSTPRL February 4, 2014 (9:42 pm)
Those sound like good alternatives Gigi.
Lindsay February 4, 2014 (1:33 pm)
Ooh can’t wait to read about how this experiment goes! I always eat a banana before I workout, and if it’s going to be a hard or long workout I add peanut butter. Before races I have toast with PB and banana. I totally psych myself out- if I don’t have a banana I’m convinced I’m going to die during my workouts!
DSTPRL February 4, 2014 (4:56 pm)
LOL are you serious? You are funny. Welp I definitely plan to document my experiment so please visit back and stay tuned. 🙂
Pre-Workout Snack Experiment Day 1 February 4, 2014 (6:35 pm)
[…] you read my article yesterday about whether “To Eat or Not To Eat – That is the Question” before a workout, I stated I would do an experiment on myself and start eating a light snack […]
Becca February 5, 2014 (2:01 pm)
I’ve heard of eating after a workout, but wasn’t sure about eating before. I can’t even eat before I go for my walks without getting a side stitch…
Joyce
Twitter: It\'s Your Life
February 5, 2014 (7:08 pm)
I’m with Gigi, eating before I work out is not good for me. However, we are all different, can’t wait to see how it goes. Guess pineapple is out, saw your post on the Humble Bumble Healthy Tuesday link up.
DSTPRL February 5, 2014 (7:34 pm)
Oh yeah – pineapple is definitely OUT!!!
Pre-Workout Snack Experiment Day 2 February 11, 2014 (12:30 am)
[…] you read my article the other day about whether “To Eat or Not To Eat – That is the Question” before a workout, I stated I would do an experiment on myself and start eating a light snack […]