Eating before exercising?!?!?
 

OK, here is a question that I've always meant to research, but never have.
If you exercise (swimming, in my case) shortly after your eat (say 10 minutes), is it a waste of time? I'm not worried about getting cramps, but I've heard for years (and it may be a wives tale) that you're really not burning calories if you don't wait for an hour or so after eating.

Would love to hear some feedback on that topic. Thanks.

I have a diabetic friend who swears by the opposite - he says he loses weight most effectively when he exercises after each meal. I don't see why the physics of using energy to move muscles would change based on whether your stomach is full or empty.

Hi guys, how are you all.I think it is not good that you eat first and than take exercise.It will create problem for you.Because in this way your body calories do not burn properly.Hence it has medically proved that you should take exercise before eating.

Sometimes there can be a competion between your digestive track and you muscles for oxygen and glycogen immediately after a meal. My experience, backed up by a cool stable isotope experiement, is that when I run immediately after eating a light meal, digestion slows down as you body focuses on getting O2 to your muscles.

But if I eat a heavier meal first, all the blood rushes to my tummy :D. Leaving me with less O2 and glycogen going to the working muscles. This is pretty common for me during skiing and Mt biking. If I stop and have big lunch, I just don't have much energy in my legs for an hour or so. After that I am good to go.

I cycling to work in the morning. Half the time I don't have time to eat breakfast before leaving (ie. getting the kids ready) so then I eat when I get to work. I haven't noticed a difference in weight gain/loss, appetite, or performance either way. That's probably because it takes a few hours for the digestion process to do its work anyways.

Now if I stuffed myself with a huge meaty breakfast I'd probably be a little sluggish right after.

To eat or not
 

For me right now, because of minimizing my calorie intake to lose weight, I find that if I don't have something light but with protein before I exercise first thing in the morning (I get up at 5:15 am) I will get light headed. Since I am having my larger meal at lunch and a small light meal at dinner, apparently my overnight fast is a bit to much for my body to cope with. However, I usually stick with a slice of toast with light peanut butter and a little honey or half a protein bar. That usually is enough to stop the light headedness but not to heavy as to sit in my stomach.

Based on what everyone has said, it seems that your answer is going to depend on how your body reacts and what it needs.

A lot of my gym teachers would swear up and down that you shouldn't eat before exercise. They say the food just sits there because you aren't digesting at the time. It might be best to eat well before or after you exercise.

I think that a light snack before exercise is good so that your blood sugar doesn't crash. Then afterwards, you can eat more.

You're definitely right. Food consumed before exercise is only useful once it has been digested and absorbed. This means you need to time your food intake so that the fuel becomes available during the exercise period.

Well, It depend upon what kind Format of sports you play. Every sports having a own Instruction. Some amount of food is good for our body, it give a energy and boots our cardioid posture. It work like as biological clock in our system.