There’s debate about strategies for maximal fat burning. This being the case, it is not surprising at all that you are confused.

Why don’t we start by saying that since you are exercising, you are doing a great service for your health no matter the time of day.

Whether or not you would like to workout first thing in the morning or later in the day is ordinarily determined by what fits best into your daily schedule and how you feel at that time.

To help clear up the confusion, it’s possible to accomplish your objectives of losing fat while maintaining lean muscle. Yes, exercising on an empty stomach authorizes for maximal fat burning, but it also causes maximal muscle loss.

Since you are looking to preserve your muscle mass, you might want to consider the following suggestions that could benefit your early morning workout

• Drink two eight-ounce glasses of water upon waking to hydrate your body. This is important because when you first wake, you are dehydrated as a result of your night’s sleep – you can lose water through sweating, also from nocturnal urination (if this applies to you); and, for however long you have slept, you have not had anything to drink.

• Wake up a little earlier than you ordinarily would so that you are able to have a chance to eat a bit of food prior to deciding to exercise. Then allow at least one-half hour to forty-five minutes to pass prior to deciding to begin your workout.

Think about eating a light, 200 to 300 calorie meal containing some carbohydrates and protein. Examples of such a breakfast are egg whites, cottage cheese, yogurt, or a protein shake.

The body not only requires carbohydrates to utilize fat, but also by eating, your body will use less protein from your muscles.

The body requires a protein source approximately every eight hours (this valid time differs from person to person contingent upon one’s weight and athletic pursuits) or else it starts to use its own lean muscle mass.

By not eating after a night’s sleep, you are unknowingly aiding this process, and thereby losing the lean muscle that you have already worked hard to build up.

• When eating before your early morning workout, you might want to try food in a liquid form, like a protein shake or blending cottage cheese and yogurt together. By doing so, you can further eliminate or reduce the risk of stomach cramps, in particular if you’re going to run or do a similarly vigorous activity.

Early morning exercisers have an added benefit of having the rest of the day to eat, recover, and grow. Also, not consuming right before going to bed can aid in muscle stimulus and growth.

In addition, eating five to six small balanced meals a day maintains your metabolism and keeps its fires stoked.

When you eat too few calories daily or deprive yourself of energy, your body will start to hoard the calories you do take in as fat so that it can survive the starvation it believes that it’s experiencing.

This action in turn makes it harder for your body to utilize these calories.

Even if you can’t workout in the morning, exercising later on in the day can be just as productive and beneficial.

When you stumble a bit along the way, it is okay; everyone does. You just need to jump back on the horse that is your workout regimen, watch what you eat, and get back to work.