Hi! I have to do my cardio(start)at between 5:00 and 5:30am. My question is what is the best pre workout snack for cardio. My goal is fat loss. I have been doing my cardio on Sat. and Sund. mornings after breakfast (between 8:00 and 9:00am) but i think i am going to add in one more morning witch puts me doing my cardio early morning (5 - 5:30) before breakfast. I have not lost any weight (VERY DISCOURAGING!) in the last 4 weeks. so time to up the cardio. Any suggestions.? My goal again is fat loss. Thank you Tricia

If your goal is fat loss, it would be best to do your cardio on an empty stomach. You will dip into your fat stores much more readily if you minimize any circulating blood sugar, which you will if you do not eat beforehand and are in a semi-fasted state after sleeping 6-8 hours.

Hi MarkD., When i wake up i like have 0 energy. My cardio is usually step aerobics or kickboxing and there is no way i would have any energy to do either. Maybe walk. I have tried to do my step aer. and kickbox tapes without eating and it is like walking into a brick wall. Believe me i wish i could cause i am aware that it burns the most fat if you have any suggestions of a diff. form of cardio to do i will try it. Thanks for responding.

Tricia,

If your entire diet is conducive to fat loss...you'll lose fat. Fasted cardio is not the end all be all for fat loss and believe it to be unnecessary and overated. I've competed successfully in bodybuilding events without implementing any fasted cardio. Just make sure that you're diet is spot on...the training within reason will take care of the rest. Don't forget to focus on your weight training vs. the cardio....think about how a sprinter (anaerobic) looks vs. a marthon runner (aerobic).

For your super early cadio session, I'd suggest a protein shake, a couple eggs, or any other light high protein food that you enjoy. You just want to eat enough to prevent catabolism and supply you with the energy demands of your cardio. After your session, come home and eat your normal breakfast.

Try this out and see what happens. Keep in mind that everyone is different and repsonds differently to diet and training. It's a matter of finding what works for you. If this strategy doesn't, learn from it and go back to the drawing board. As much as any of us would like to proclaim that body fat reduction is scientic...it's not. There is a lot of trial and error involved.

quote:

Originally posted by Tricia:
Hi MarkD., When i wake up i like have 0 energy. My cardio is usually step aerobics or kickboxing and there is no way i would have any energy to do either. Maybe walk. I have tried to do my step aer. and kickbox tapes without eating and it is like walking into a brick wall. Believe me i wish i could cause i am aware that it burns the most fat if you have any suggestions of a diff. form of cardio to do i will try it. Thanks for responding.

Hi Tricia. I think what Mark was getting at was doing Low Intensity cardio on an empty belly first thing in the morning. BUT, if you are doing highly aerobic training, then you really do NEED to eat something to prevent muscle loss. There are various things you can do here and there is more than one way to skin a cat!

A small meal of eggs and oats would be great if you had some time to let it digest and then hit your cardio, but if you are on the run and NEED to get up and hit that cardio right away, then you should look into BCAA supplementation. NOTHING replaces whole food, of course, but in a pinch BCAA's can be super helpfull. Although it is not truly "food", BCAA's will keep you from going catabolic with your high intensity cardio workouts...

You can either mix up 2-4 servings of Glutamine Select, OR 2-3 servings of Muscle Mass. The Glutamine Select may work better for you cuz you can drink half of it right away and sip on the other half while you are doing your cardio.

This supplementation of BCAA's in your diet would be helpfull in a way that you wouldn't have to add any extra macros and calories into your diet (of which I hope is already tuned to a fat loss diet plan????)

Hi Jonathan and Chunkeybutt (love the name) Just a couple of questions. Jonathan Abrams: How long do you recommend i wait before i say this isn't working? 3 weeks, 4 weeks or longer?

Chunkey Butt: I do have Density and have been taking 1 before i do cardio and 1 before i do my weight training. Also are you talking that i should take the Density with the protien shake or are you talken that i should take on an empty stomach and try to do cardio? I do not have the Glutaminie Select but have thought of getting it. Does it have any calories in it? Is this something i would take in addition to my protien shake or would this be, "take a density tablet and then the glutamine and do my cardio? I have read and printed off so many of the womens success stories, they are inspirational and also a bit confusing when it comes to the supplements. It seems as tho all of the gals have been told differnet ways to take the supplements that i havent been able to find a set routine so i could try them out. I do have lean out, density, Muscle provider and the Ultimate muscle protien in chocolate ( a big YUMMMM) on that one! As far as diet If you have any suggestions for a real good fat loss plan i would love to hear it. I have been trying to follow what the fitness gals ate on the forums but after about the 2nd or 3rd day i start craving carbs so bad that i usually give in. All that i have read about the fitness gals stories they all say they weren't hungry and many of them didn't have carb cravings. So i am not sure if i am doing something right. I am still pretty new with the percentages and micros etc. I am trying to follow the 50% protien 30% fat(which seems high to me) and 20% carbs. I try to stay between 1400 to 1600 cals. I am 5'3 130pds and would like to lose 10 to 15 pounds. The last time i had my body fat checked i was at 24% i would like to be at the most 18%. I am just not for sure how many cals. i should be shooting for and what to do about the carb cravings. so any thoughs, ideas would be much appreciated! I have also contemplated sending in pics of myself to see if beverly would write me up a plan but i don't know if they would help me if i am not going to compete in a show. so anyway, sorry this turned out so long. Thank you both for responding your imput is a blessing.

Tricia,

I'd give a diet, supplement, and training plan approx. 30 days before reevaluating. If you're progressing, you'll probably not have to make any major changes. If you're not losing bodyfat, you may want to look at your calories. Dieting for fat loss is not an easy process in any way shape or form. You're basiscally tricking your body to tap into fat stores for energy which biologically, it does not want to do. Therefore, a lot of consistancy, determination, and will power are required.

Yes, you will be hungry most of the time. Yes, you will feel fatigued. Yes, you will likely be cranky, irratable, and have some serious food cravings. Yes, you will have trouble sleeping at night because you'll be so hungry. If it were easy then everyone would be walking around huge and ripped year round. Unfortunately this is not the case and that is why physique athletes, fitness models, etc. cycle their eating, supplement, and training plans.

I'd look at your calories for starters. If you're weighing 130 and eating between 1400-1600 and not losing....you probably have to drop them down slightly until you begin losing again. I'm sure you've seen the article but it's worth posting again for your review.

http://www.bodymusclejournal.com/vol09/ez_diet.html

The EZ Diet article is kind of like to old adage of if you give a man a fish and you feed him for the day...teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. I think it's important for everyone to have the tools to succeed with any fitness goal. Just be sure to give each plan you create at least 30 days before making judgements or adjustments.

For what it's worth, I've been working toward one fitness goal or another for over 15 years...guess what, it never gets any easier. However, I think the constant challenge is what makes this stuff so interesting and addicting.

Thank you Jonathan for responding!! I did print off the article and read it. Had some great info. The cals i came up with was around 1560 so that made me feel good that i wasn't that far off. What about the supplements? I had asked chunky butt some questions about supplements but he hasn't responded yet. Do you have any thoughs about what i have or what might be benificial to get? Maybe you could answer some of the questions i wrote. Thanks again for your time and imput it is greatly appreciated. I think i am going to start with a protien shake for my pre cardio workout and see how that works for awhile. Do you know if the glutamine select has any calories? Tricia

Tricia,
The info you are looking for about Glutamine Select can be found here http://beverlynutrition.com/ev...86051983/m/563105074.
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