Two weeks ago, I read a study that found that people who didn’t eat before their morning workouts lost more weight than those who did. Last week, I read another study that found the exact opposite. It’s just like all those coffee studies:
“It’s good for you!”
“It’s bad for you!”
“No wait, it’s good for you!”
“Or it might be bad for you!”
So, should I eat before my morning swim or not? I gave up on trusting any of those studies and decided to just do what my body tells me.
The theory that you have nothing to burn in the morning doesn’t make any sense to me – what happened to the salad and whole wheat vegetarian pizza I ate for dinner last night? Did it just disappear from my system overnight? If I eat something even as small as half a banana right before getting in the pool, I run a high risk of getting a cramp. So instead, every morning I pop out of bed and drink an Emergen-C for a quick wake-me-up before dashing to the gym. 
With massive amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin B and electrolytes, it gives me the energy boost I need to work hard first thing in the morning. And at 25 calories per serving, I figure it’s a happy medium between eating and not eating – I guess it’s at least something if the eating advocates are right.
Do you eat before you work out? What works for you?