It is always good to see when the mainstream media comes around and publishes a story helping to debunk many of the flawed conventional methods for working out. For whatever reason most people believe whatever the mainstream media tells them, however this article is good and it is Divine Proportion approved! I came across this article in the New York Times Health section, which talks about working out in a fasted state.
I have been researching this topic (working out in a fasted state) for sometime now, and have been recently self-experimenting and thus far the results have been great!
Conventional fitness wisdom tells us to eat six small meals a day to regulate our blood sugar, keep us feeling full thus helping to prevent food binges, and helps to speed up our metabolism. The problem with this methodology is it is flawed! First of all, have you ever tried to eat 6 small meals a day? I have, and it sucks! The amount of preparation, Tupperware, and planning needed to eat six meals a day will drive you insane! God forbid you miss a meal, your cravings go through the roof, and you start to get very angry. I believe when you eat 6 meals a day your blood sugar is regulated, but it stays at a consistently high level which is why when you miss one of the precious 6 meals your blood sugar drops, you crash, and get so hungry that you get light headed. That is not a result of an increased metabolism that is a result of a drop in blood sugar! Secondly, eating more infrequently helps your body to burn fat for energy. Our bodies are not designed to constantly be eating, not until recently have we (humans) had access to basically unlimited food. For hundreds of thousands of years “modern” humans have been Hunter Gathers alternating between periods of feast and famine. Our bodies are designed for more infrequent style of eating. Which leads me to reviewing the NY Times article
It is not so much what you eat but when you eat that matters for weight loss. Of course I still want you to eat a healthy diet (Primal/Paleo) I just also want you to think about when you eat. This NY Times article talks about the benefits of working out before breakfast (in a fasted state). This article talks about a study that was conducted taking 28 young, healthy, active men (this is good, these guys were not couch potatoes). The men were separated in to three groups and all fed basically the same exact same diet for 6 weeks. The diet consisted of 50% fat, 40% carbohydrates, and 10% protein. Also this diet was intended to be 30% more calories than these guys needed. So they were trying to get these guy to gain weight. The control group that did not exercise, the other two groups did the exact same workout routine, however one group ate a big breakfast before working out and also drank a sports drink during their workout, and the other group worked out without eating breakfast and only drank water during exercise, they then ate breakfast after the workout.
The results? Well, the control group (non-exercisers) gained an average of 6-lbs (that’s a shocker!), they also became insulin resistant which leads to even greater weight gain and is a precursor to type-2 diabetes and they began to store extra fat in there muscles (think marbling).
The group that ate breakfast before working out also gained weight but an average of 3-lbs. However this group was also becoming insulin resistant and they were storing excess fat in there muscles as well.
The group the worked out before breakfast basically gained no weight and showed no signs of becoming insulin resistant.
What do you need to take away from this study? Remember the diet in this study was hyper-caloric which means the participants consumed more calories than they needed (calories in>calories out). However the group that worked out in a fasted state had zero weight gain. The same diet just consumed at different times! So in this case, in- out did not hold true.
We fast every night when we go to bed. This is where the term breakfast comes from, we are breaking our fast. When we sleep our body still needs energy to function and repair itself. Typically during sleep, if you get a least 8 hours, and don’t sleep eat, you burn most of the glucose and begin the fat burning process for energy. So if you work out before you eat breakfast (a fasted state) you can basically guarantee you are burning fat for energy.
Stay tuned for my strategies and recommendations on how to work out in a fasted state
Divine Proportion Inc 