QUESTION; IS IT GOOD TO HAVE BREAKFAST BEFORE GOING TO THE GYM?

Hey fitnation, Last week I got an email from a reader asking if it is good to have breakfast before going to the gym, I decided to answer this question on this blog to help other readers because I get asked this question a lot. In fact, this topic has been a subject of argument for many fitness trainers, I happen to have been involved in such arguments a couple of times and the more I think about it, the more I understand why a lot of people easily gas out in the gym.

If you have had a reason to check your blood sugar early in the morning before you have breakfast; you notice that your blood sugar is usually low. Why this happens is because when you sleep, your body doesn't stop working, it has to continue functions like breathing; blood circulation; brain function etc, to carry out these functions, your body uses up whatever food you ate the day before and the left over is stored up. By the time you wake up your body has used up almost  all of the nutrients you ate the day before and is in need of new fuel(calories) to start the day’s function. That is why it is called breakfast because you were on a food fast through the period you were asleep and now that you are up you need to break the fast in order to have enough energy for work. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; nutritionists advice that you eat breakfast at most 2 hours after waking up.

Even if you are trying to lose weight it is wrong to skip breakfast because you leave your body without fuel to work. You must understand that the body needs fuel to burn fat; you need calories to be able to carry out weight loss exercises.

Let’s have a practical scenario of this; Chika is overweight and is trying to lose weight, her trainer advises her not to eat after 7:00pm every night (which is very advisable for people that are less active at night).  The next morning at 7:00am, Chika eats nothing and heads out to the gym, bearing in mind that she has gone 12 hours without food? Where is she to get the energy for work? As a result of not eating, Chika is tired and weak to work out for long, so she does little and leaves for home, how long do you think it will take Chika to lose weight? Compare this scenario to someone who is overweight and eats light in the morning before hitting the gym, she will be filled with energy to work and will work longer thereby burning more fat in the long run.

It is therefore important that you eat breakfast before heading to the gym, the idea is to eat light; you can have cereal, tea or whatever is light for you but never go to the gym hungry! Also I must say that you should give your body room to digest whatever you ate before you start working out.

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Cheers to the Fit life.