To eat or not to eat before AM exercise?

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I eat low carb also and avoid bread, and limit my sugar intake in general. What I like to do before lifting weights at the gym is eat an hour before, and then eat some protein after returning home.

The rule I've been told by every personal trainer I've ever seen or worked with is: Complex carbs before for energy, protein after to rebuild muscle. Do both within half hour to hour of working out. So say you work out at 9am like I'm going to. About 8:30 I'll grab a rice cake, something like that, maybe even a waffle or two (whole wheat) if I'm hungry enough. When I get home, a cup of yogurt usually does me just fine and is great for the protein boost, or like I said if really hungry, sometimes I'll even make a chicken salad. Now I know this works great for me, i lost 30 lbs like this before, sticking with it is the fun part LMAO

always eat before you workout, or else your body will catabolize muscle for glycogen. This is the last thing you want if you're trying to get healthier. You don't have to have a heavy meal, a handful of peanuts and/or raisins will do the trick. You can eat a heavier meal after you finish working out. This will help your muscles recover. My point is you should never exercise on an empty stomach. You won't have enough energy for a decent workout and you will screw up your metabolism.

Everyone seems to have covered most of it, but I thought I would clarify a few things.

* Eating more often and smaller is better for your metabolism and hence losing weight. So splitting meals is smart.

* Eating while exercising puts more strain on the digestive process. This may make you uncomfortable / may not digest food as fully as you could (but in this case you are getting to eat without some of the calories).

the other points relate to GLYCEMIC INDEX and available energy:

* You need to match your intake with output not just in calories but in timing of the calorie release. If you dont then you will have periods of under supply, so your body goes catabolic (eating fat and muscle) along with periods of over supply - your body then puts it in storage (fat).

* Your body keeps some energy readily available (blood sugar) and the rest in long term storage (fat).

* Your aim should be to have your calories releasing as close to your energy profile as possible. So your workouts are spikes in output. Your everyday life is more of a flat constant need.

* The best way to lose weight is to have your energy input timing at a constant, just below your energy output (eg at 98%). Large deficits result in more muscle than fat being lost.

* Complex carbs (ie LOW GI ) foods will release in a slow flat line. The lower the GI the longer it spreads out the calorie release.

* High GI foods like sugar release all the energy in a sudden spike. Therefore they are useful to have on hand while working out if you havent eaten enough and have exhausted all your blood sugar and need a quick recovery.

* The low GI food should be evenly spaced out throughout the day (another reason for more meals) so all the gentle releases happen one after the other to provide constant energy. This will mean each meal would be no more than a snack. (After all in evolutionary terms our body is still expecting us to be grazing all day on the fruits in the trees etc)

* Protein is needed for rebuilding, so it is important to have some around workouts to maximise recovery and keep muscles healthy.

Exercise intensity:

* Fat is long term storage. It cannot be burned as instantly as blood sugar (or ATP cycle). So it will provide some slow release energy. Therefore it does not make much sense to do intense workouts where you need large energy for short bursts. You are better doing less intense exercise for longer.