Morning exercise before breakfast?

Question
Laura Ray
I have heard the best time to exercise to burn fat is in the morning before breakfast. Your body is forced to use stored fat instead of the food you have in your stomach.
I tried this and it seems to work, BUT
I wake up hungry and will have one piece of toast, then hit the treadmill. If this toast ois still in my stomach digesting will it be burned off? How long after eating carbs do they start to become fuel?
Thanks!

Answer
The body takes what is in the blood stream, then from the muscle glycogen, then the liver stores, then fat.  I exercise before breakfast for the same reason that you mentioned and have for years. The other thing that works as well is exercising after a 20 minute strength training.  If you wake up hungry, it is very important for you to eat.  Toast is fast energy that releases quickly into the blood stream.  I would suggest a more fiber filled morning snack such as celery or a couple of ounces of oatmeal.  However, if you truly like toast, you might switch to rye.  This will give you slow release carbohydrates.  How long a carbohydrate takes to become fuel depends on the individual digestion, the type of carb, and the amount of fiber.  Look for a list of glycemic load and find the ones that you like with the lowest load. Here is a site that might help:  http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

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