Hello hello! If you don’t already know, I am a huge Jillian Michaels fan. I have four of her workout DVDs, I try to catch the Biggest Loser whenever I can, and her newsletter is delivered to my inbox on a daily basis. 🙂 Laugh if you will, but I truly believe motivation comes in all different forms, and Jillian is definitely one of mine. 🙂
Anywho, in one of her newsletters this past week, she addressed the question of whether it is better to eat a meal before or after a workout. She says that training on an empty stomach in order to burn more fat is absolutely FALSE! Our body needs blood sugar to help fuel our workouts in addition to what it uses from our fat stores. If you don’t have any blood sugar present, your body will turn to your muscles for energy (glycogen or stored glucose). Low blood sugar will also make you feel tired and lethargic during your workouts. Jillian suggests eating something 45 minutes prior to working out. She also states that 45 to 60 minutes after a workout is the golden hour, where muscles absorb the most nutrients, so eating a small meal, protein and carbs, during this time is crucial.
I am currently transitioning from PM workouts to AM ones, so I (try to) get up at 5:15 every morning to workout. If I were to follow Jillian’s advice, I would have to be up by 4:30 AM, so that I could eat a pre-workout snack. I don’t know about y’all, but that just isn’t going to work for me! Personally, I find that my body is ready and energized for morning workouts when I eat a substantial, nutritious dinner the night before. I understand the science behind what Jillian is saying, but I think (and this is just my opinion) that not eating something before an early morning workout is ok, AS LONG AS you properly fuel up the night before and you eat a hearty, well-balanced breakfast afterwards. It’s all about listening to your body and giving it what it needs when it needs it.
See, I don’t blindly follow everything this woman says!!! But I still love her. 🙂
What are your thoughts on this topic? If you’re an AM workout person, do you eat something beforehand?