If you are trying to lose weight, it is important to eat healthy and exercise enough. However, there is a lot of different information about the right balance and ways to adjust your diet. For example, you sometimes hear that exercising on an empty stomach would cause you to burn more fat, but is this myth true?
Losing weight
If you are trying to lose weight, it is important to be in a calorie deficit. Simply put, this means burning more calories each day than you take in through your diet. Some people believe that you can boost fat burning by exercising on an empty stomach. They back this up with the theory that you haven’t yet eaten carbohydrates that your body can use as fuel, which would force it to tap into fat reserves (faster). Is that correct? The answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no.
Burning carbohydrates
When you exercise in the morning before breakfast, your body has a low supply of carbohydrates. Once the carbohydrates are depleted, your body looks for other energy sources, and fat burning begins. In this sense, you can say that on an empty stomach you do indeed burn more fat than when you have eaten. But that does not automatically mean that you also lose more body fat. Burning fat during a workout does not equal fat loss; the overall picture of calorie intake and consumption during the day is much more important. In the long run, fat loss is all about creating a calorie deficit, or burning more calories than you take in.
Protein breakdown
Exercising on an empty stomach can actually lead to the breakdown of protein in your muscles. When you exercise, your body produces cortisol, a stress hormone that needs protein. If you don’t get that protein from your diet, your body will start breaking down your muscles to meet this need. Obviously, you want to avoid this, especially if you are trying to build muscle. Moreover, a lack of energy is a major drawback especially during intense or prolonged workouts. The lack of available carbohydrates can affect your endurance and speed, making you more susceptible to fatigue and injury.
Does this mean that a hearty breakfast is better if you want to achieve good performance? Not necessarily. We understand that exercising on a full stomach is not pleasant. Therefore, it may be wise to have a light breakfast before your workout. That way, you prevent an empty stomach from affecting your performance, but you also don’t run the risk of stomach aches from overeating. Most importantly, do what feels right for you and what works for your body. Working out on an empty stomach as well as after a meal can be effective if you want to lose weight, as long as you are in a calorie deficit.