"I wake up at around 6am, get the kids ready for school, do the school run, come back to do my exercise, and then eat my breakfast after so that I burn more fat. But I've been feeling a bit dizzy when exercising?"
^^^ This was a question I got this week.
Now, she was referring to "burn more fat" in the context of losing body fat and getting a flat stomach.
The thing is, exercising before eating WILL use more fat as energy AT THAT TIME!
Think about it, you burn what fuel is available....Fill your car with petrol, you'll burn petrol!
But "burning fat" as energy doesn't mean you'll LOSE more body fat and drop a few dress sizes.
Because it's what you do over the course of the day that counts.
Think about it like using half a tank of petrol in your car and then simply refilling it back up
^^^ You're back to square one
Who cares if you burn more fat in the space of an hour if over the course of the day / week / month / year you end up gaining fat?
Let's consider the following 2 scenarios...
SCENARIO 1:
You exercise before breakfast, feeling tired and dizzy <<< chances are, you don't perform very well and don't burn that many calories.
Plus, it becomes a bit of chore if you're feeling dizzy and tired everyday!
^^^ This USED to be me. Getting up at the crack of dawn and lacking sleep just so I did my exercise on an empty stomach to "burn more fat"... even though it suited me more to do it in the evening!
And it meant I no longer enjoyed it.
Which reminds me, what's the best diet and exercise programme in the world?
The one you can stick to!
SCENARIO 2:
You exercise after eating a balanced meal.
You now have more energy, you're more motivated, perform better, and BURN MORE CALORIES.
Now, if you cloned yourself (scary thought, I know) and one of you did Scenario 1 and the other did Scenario 2 (and burnt more calories by performing better in their exercise)...
Who do you think would lose more body fat?
I explain a bit more in this video here:
But what I'm getting at is this:
It simply comes down to personal preference.
Just because something "worked" for your friend (let's call her Jane), it doesn't mean it'll work for you.
You see, the only "diet" for you is the one with your name on that considers your lifestyle, home life, work, stress, family, preferences, and overall lifestyle!
And it frustrates me because I see people trying to copy celeb diets or adopt cookie cutter weight loss plans...
Only to blame themselves when they can't stick to them or pile the weight back on.
So...
Feel good exercising on an empty stomach?
Well, go for it!
Feel and perform better after eating a balanced and nutritious meal?
Then, don't force yourself to exercise on an empty stomach...
Because none of this stuff is "magic".
Have a great day,
Matt