Nutrition Myths - Exercising on an Empty Stomach Burns More Fat

Another common myth is that exercising on an empty stomach (such as first thing in the morning before you have had breakfast) will stimulate your body to lose more fat. Unfortunately, this will not work - and in fact will more than likely result in a poor workout. The reason is that your body requires energy to work and your body can only obtain that from food or from energy stores in your body (fat and muscle tissue). Your body can only break down fat and muscle at a specific rate to create energy, so depriving yourself of food before working out will not cause your body to burn more fat. What will happen is that you will lack the energy necessary to do an intense workout, thus resulting in poor performance and fatigue. Weight loss is impacted by the calories you consume versus the calories you expend over an extended period - several days to a week. Thus, make sure that you have had something to eat within 1-3 hours of working out so that you'll have the energy to make the most of that training session!