Does exercising on an empty stomach hinder weight loss? Or will it help with weight loss?

In order to maintain good body shape, it is not only necessary to squeeze out time for exercise, but also important to eat carefully. This time, let's take a look at Huanhuan's "Brief Talk" on the application skills of sports nutrition. The concept emphasizes what to eat, when to eat, and how to match training.

Some people choose to exercise on an empty stomach because they are afraid that the intensity of the exercise is too high and they may vomit during the exercise. Or they may choose to exercise in the morning but are not used to eating early in the morning and have no appetite (or no time to prepare). If you are in either of the above two situations, it is recommended to choose "easier to digest" food. For example: steamed egg custard with soft rice, toast with jam, sports drinks, hard candies, sugary drinks, etc. No matter what you eat: please avoid greasy food, and it is important to buy it in advance.

Exercising on an empty stomach will affect your concentration, endurance, strength, and explosive power during exercise. In addition, many people usually limit their starchy diet, and the glycogen reserves in muscles are low. Exercising on an empty stomach at this time can easily break down the protein and fat in the body to provide calories. If you cannot exercise for too long due to hunger and do not burn many calories, you may feel that you should burn more calories if you exercise on an empty stomach. In this case, you may be more likely to eat high-calorie foods after exercise and reward yourself with an indulgent diet, which will cause you to gain weight the more you exercise.

Low exercise intensity

You can exercise before eating breakfast, such as taking a walk, running on a treadmill, or doing simple and short-term strength training with light weights.

High intensity exercise

For team competition sports, special training, long-distance running, high-intensity and medium-to-high-intensity training, you need to eat breakfast before training.

Eat a sandwich containing eggs, cheese, toast, and lettuce 30 minutes to an hour before exercise. If the exercise time is at least one hour, you can also drink water after exercise and eat some fruit, bento, sugary soy milk with white toast, banana with chicken breast, or salty soy milk with brown sugar buns to help you recover after training.

(Photo source: Nutritionist Guo Huanfen)

Fasted Exercise Low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise performed in a fasted state results in higher fat oxidation. There were no significant differences in fat oxidation between the fasted and fed states during moderate-to-high-intensity aerobic exercise. (Source: doi:10.1017/S0007114516003160)

Assess the intensity of your exercise and see if there is any way to prepare food in advance and make appropriate arrangements.