No way. While this may burn more fat, the difference I notice between snaking (granola bar) and not snaking is too much. If I go at 6 pm on an empty stomach I feel like I have the flu 10 minutes into the workout.

Eating less burns fat.

Absolutely incredible observation!!!

If your stomach is empty your body will consume fat first and then muscle when the fat is gone. If you stomach is full of food your body will consume the food first then the fat after the food is gone. This is really difficult to figure out although some people cannot think on an empty stomach.

The only surprising fact is that they actually wasted time and money on this study.

I'm calling major BS on this article. Would you run a car on no gas? Eating raises your metabolism and gives you the energy needed for powerful workouts.

Personally I can't be too hungry or too full while working out or it impacts my performance. If you eat something healthy pre-workout and are able to last a half hour longer, or push yourself harder, I'm pretty sure you come out ahead of burning a small amount of fat instead of what is currently in your system. Total calorie expenditure matters a lot more than what exactly your body burns when you are exercising (for weight loss).

Really?????????

The article has merit as I found out many years ago when diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Although a small snack an hour before exercising or waiting at least an hour after eating to do exercise works best for diabetics. The benefit of waiting to eat after exercising, is that your metabolism is still in high gear after you stop exercising, so when you eat, there goes all those calories. Probably doesn't work for athletes who put in a strenuous exercise workout or need to compete, but for us regular (somewhat lazy) folks, it works great. You get a bigger bang for the exercise. By following this routine, I lost 85 pounds in a year.

I am disappointed that the researchers are so narrowly focused on burning fat without considering other ramifications.

Brain and neveous system require carbohydrate as the fuel. Four to five hours after dinner, the blood glucose is supplied by the carbohydrate stored in liver, which may be enough to supply glucose for brain for another eight or nine hours.

If one should take an intensive aerobic exercise for 30 minutes, the carbohydrate stored in liver and muscles could be depleted to the point that the protein in muscles would be used to convert to carbohydrate to feed the brain. If the feeding of carbohydrate to the brain is not sufficient, the brain will get dizzy.

What the researchers achieve is the burning of fat and protein. It is nice to burn the fat, but terrible to burn the protein in the muscles. When one exercises, one of the important goals is to build muscles, not to burn it unnecessary.

I believe the researchers have measurement techniques to monitor whether protein is consumed when one pursues intensive aerobic exercise without a small snack first.

I am disappointed that the researchers are so narrowly focused on burning fat without considering other ramifications.

Brain and neverous system require carbohydrate as the fuel. Four to five hours after dinner, the blood glucose is supplied by the carbohydrate stored in the liver, which may be enough to supply glucose for brain for another eight or nine hours.

If one should take an intensive aerobic exercise for 30 minutes, the carbohydrate stored in the liver and muscles could be depleted to the point that the protein in muscles would be used to convert to carbohydrate to feed the brain. If the feeding of carbohydrate to the brain is not sufficient, the brain will get dizzy.

What the researchers achieve is the burning of fat and protein. It is nice to burn the fat, but terrible to burn protein in the muscles. When one exercises, one of the important goals is to build muscles, not to burn it unnecessary.

I believe the researchers have measurement techniques to monitor whether protein is consumed when one pursues intensive aerobic exercise without a small snack first.

If you do ANY heavy weightlifting, I would recommend you do NOT take the advice of this article. You burn a lot of calories under the strain of repetitions of heavy weight.

Just go light on what you do eat. And taking in carbs in the morning time is not a bad thing, as you'll probably burn them off in your workout.

Wow, they tested 14 whole people and came to this conclusion. Who can't believe that?

Despite what all you naysayers think this has been a staple of military training for decades, and it does burn more fat. We got up at 0 dark 00, shaved, and ran more miles than we could count, followed by pushups and situps, and then at about 630 we finally got to walk to the chow hall. And we (as all military) rely on our athletic training and ability to accomplish our mission. As RanMan said above if you do heavy weight training it is a good idea to load on carbs a bit before. I always ate a carbohydrate bar or a couple of bananas before a lift. One thing I did not do is eat before running long distances. It reduces the urge to throw up while Im running and the body will do just fine if you wait to eat afterwards.

Let's be honest: Most folks REALLY don't exercise SO very much that they NEED the extra carbs pre workout anyway, nor do they need the sugar-loaded electrolyte solutions that they guzzle to rehydrate. A lot of folks are enamored with being 'athletes' but don't really perform at any level of performance demand that merits the extra caloric intake- before or after the workout.

The dizziness/lightheadedness which they're ascribing to 'needing' pre-workout carbs more likely reflects inadequate hydration prior to the workout.

They need to ingest more WATER prior to their workout, not carbs/food, and again, WATER, not sugarloaded electrolyte solutions.

I just can't imagine that a handful of nuts or fresh fruit could ever be a bad idea whether calorie counting is involved or not. I always try to eat healthy whole foods and it actually really helps me from eating too much of the bad stuff. I avoid processed foods, drink more water and I take my Vidazorb chewable probiotic everyday to ensure that I am getting all the nutrients that my body needs. Plus I have read that probiotics can help with weight anyways :) Seems like a win-win!

I think it depends on what you are doing for exercise, many people commenting are saying you need to eat before a workout. From this article I don't see them saying eat before you blast the weights, I see it as don't eat in the morning before a run. Of course if you are throwing around iron, no one is going to say don't eat. This is strictly cardio.

I am going to start running 3 times a week before breakfast, and this article has helped me to choose no snack before going. Then eat breaky after I get back and shower.

Wow. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Honestly, if you're going out for a run and you haven't eaten at least like dried fruit or something, it's not going to make you burn more fat!! Your body will take the nutrients from your MUSCLES. Not burn FAT. Oh my. I mean really, if you're going out for a run, you need to eat something before or you're not going to have enough energy to train hard enough during your workout! Any runner knows that! Oh the things ppl come up with these days...

Not eating before cardio is a prudent idea if one is to exercise at a lower, to moderate intensity. If one is planning on exercising at a higher intensity, whether it be steady state, or interval training, then consuming a small meal beforehand wouldn't be such a bad idea.

However, insulin levels are lowest in the morning, by virtue of overnight fasting. This phenomenon does enhance fat oxidation. There are studies that have been done to corroborate this fact. Not eating before exercise allows the body to tap in to the fat stores more readily, enabling one to burn more fat, versus carbohydrates, during and after the exercise.

With that said, the most important thing to remember is to burn more calories than you consume. If you perform cardio in a carb depleted state, but don't practice portion control the rest of the day, you will not lose any fat. Calories are the most important aspect of fat loss.

Quality of calories is vitally important, but too much of anything can get stored as fat. This goes for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats. Burn more than you consume and over time the fat will disappear.

WHile there is a grain of truth to this, it is a bad idea, especially for those who exercise early in the morning, before work. I won't be surprised if somebody in my gym falls out next week and than sites this study as FACT instead of theory.

While there is a grain of truth to this, it is a bad idea, especially for those who exercise early in the morning, before work. I won't be surprised if somebody in my gym falls out next week and than sites this study as FACT instead of theory.

Actually getting ready to work out now...on an empty stomach and get mainly protein and a few carbs after. I think it depends. If I am going to do an intense workout, I have to eat beforehand. However, this morning, before I start my son's lessons, I am going to do a non-stop 20 minute work-out, but that's not much, so that doesn't really hurt anything. If I was working with my trainer for an hour or more, or going outside or hiking or something, I have to eat food to have the energy to sustain the workout.

I want to know what the author of this article or these "researchers" will say about my diziness or shaking? I eat breakfast every morning super early but on my days I have morning classes I can't go to the gym until about noon, many hours after eating. I have less energy during cardio, and when I am weightlifting (which I do heavy weights for a female, but not bodybuilding by anymeans) my knees shake and buckle, my hands and arms shake, and I need longer breaks in between exercises. I am plenty hydrated, I used to be in the army and have myself and seen others perform under dehydration, that isn't what is causing your exhaustion or diziness during workouts. Sure maybe I'm burning more fat, but am I perfoming at maximum peak? Am I able to build muscle effeciently without energy to fuel my workouts? Maybe it burns more fat but it just doesn't make sense you need fuel if you're going to be highly active, you are risking getting seriously injured!

I have been doing my workouts on an empty stomach and am getting great results. I always load up on carbs after my workouts as well. I found some other great tips at

I have been working out on an empty stomach and am getting great results. I also load up on carbs right after my workout. I found some other good tips at

I have found that I have actually GAINED strength while working out in a fasted state. I started doing this after reading some tips at getridofbackfat.org

After my workout I do the same as Gale..Load up on carbs and eat 50% of my calories for the day. Seeing great results!