I have been reading two different schools of thought on cardio for weight loss. One states that you should do cardio and make sure have something light to eat prior. Another states that you should be performing cardio on an empty stomach. Do you feel it makes a difference? Or is it that I should just be concerned with performing enough cardio and focus on eating a good and optimal diet? Thanks for your input and thoughts.

A fitness trainer told me this week that it is best to exercise on an empty stomache and then eat after your workout. He seems to be having quite a bit of success with his clients so I think I am going to try this for awhile. I do agree with you though that there seem to be opposing views on this.

It really makes little difference overall. What is important is that you are recording a calorie deficit consistently each day, that is the only and only way you are going to lose weight. You can achieve this either by expending more energy, or consuming less calories, it's up to you.

I may have to try cardio on an empty stomach. I am not happy with my results as is. I have been trying and it seems like it is harder this time around to lose. Thanks for the responses. I will also try to increase my workout intensity and try a few new workouts. I'll keep you posted!

I have also read that it is better to do your cardio workout on an empty stomache. This is because when you eat the blood flows to the digestive tract to help process the food that you just ate. For a good workout, you want the blood to flow to your muscles and that would then interfere with your food digestion. Also, by working out on an empty stomache you force the body to burn the calories you have stored. Afterwards, you should eat a meal high in protein and carbs but no fat so that you feed the body the elements you need to recover from the workout.

I only drink a little water before doing cardio but basically I start out with an empty and it's really helpful. I don't want to do cardio after eating because I think it'll feel heavy or something. So far, I have no complains with doing cardio with an empty stomach.

Here is what I've learned from my Personal Trainer and Nutritionist at my local gym. Two hours before a cardio workout, I have to eat a light meal which includes carbs because this is where I'll be pulling the energy from. I usually have a bowl of rolled oats with a bit of milk and mixed nuts plus some honey to sweeten it. Then I work out for an hour and a half, 10 minutes of cardio warm-up followed by resistance training which takes about 30 minutes. After that its 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill or transport machine. Thirty minutes after working out, I have a light meal of either a fresh fruit smoothie or a salad.
I eat 5 times a day, breaking my meals into smaller portions so that I don't feel hungry or feel the urge to overeat with a heavy meal. I find that the cardio workout helps raise my metabolic and fat-burning rate but it will not work if it is not done with resistance training at the same time. I have my resistance training three to four times a week and I do cardio workouts (includes aerobic and cycling classes) five times a week with a day of rest per week.

Cardio has been the reason why I lost around 30 pounds. I don't lift to much weights, I just spend my time mostly on treadmills if I'm in the gym. Playing basketball is also a big help for me.

kawae2901 wrote:It really makes little difference overall. What is important is that you are recording a calorie deficit consistently each day, that is the only and only way you are going to lose weight. You can achieve this either by expending more energy, or consuming less calories, it's up to you.

This approach is too simplistic. Eat a diet based exclusively on processed carbohydrates - whilst maintaining a calorie deficit, and see what happens to your body. Skinny fat?

nene5 wrote:I have been reading two different schools of thought on cardio for weight loss. One states that you should do cardio and make sure have something light to eat prior. Another states that you should be performing cardio on an empty stomach. Do you feel it makes a difference? Or is it that I should just be concerned with performing enough cardio and focus on eating a good and optimal diet? Thanks for your input and thoughts.

Use both methods. When doing cardio on an empty stomach, I would recommend consuming whey protein or taking branch chain amino acids prior to the exercise. Cardio will promote fat loss, but most importantly it will maintain the health of your heart.