Say I get to the body fat % I want by doing cardio on an empty stomach and then I stop doing it on an empty stomach, but continue to do cardio and eat the right number of calories. Will the fact that I stopped doing cardio on an empty stomach lead to fat gain? In other words, once you've lost fat doing cardio on an empty stomach, do you have to continue doing it (on an empty stomach) forever to not regain the fat?

You don't have to do any cardio to get low body fat %. Doing cardio helps the process but its not mandatory.

i think if you eat right throughout your life and do enough cardio that ISNT on an empty stomach, it should be fine. not 100% though

That's a blanket statement that doesn't hold for everybody. If I don't do cardio, I won't lose much fat at all.

You don't have to do any cardio to get low body fat %. Doing cardio helps the process but its not mandatory.

Say I get to the body fat % I want by doing cardio on an empty stomach and then I stop doing it on an empty stomach, but continue to do cardio and eat the right number of calories. Will the fact that I stopped doing cardio on an empty stomach lead to fat gain? In other words, once you've lost fat doing cardio on an empty stomach, do you have to continue doing it (on an empty stomach) forever to not regain the fat?

The answer is absolutely not. You do not need to continue it forever in order to keep the fat off. You do however need to maintain a decent diet and preferably some sort of activity.

That's a blanket statement that doesn't hold for everybody. If I don't do cardio, I won't lose much fat at all.
OK. Everybody is different but my point was that eventually you will get lean (yet skinny) and stay that way if you don't do cardio and eat less than you need. I don't mean that people shouldn't do cardio... far from it. Several health benefits and increased weight reduction speed are enough reasons for me to do something everyday.

I think it will depend entirely on you and what your 'final' BF% is.

I'd be surprised if someone can maintain a 7-8%BF without cardio. 15% shouldn't be too hard if you eat clean.

I think it will depend entirely on you and what your 'final' BF% is.

I'd be surprised if someone can maintain a 7-8%BF without cardio. 15% shouldn't be too hard if you eat clean.

He didn't say he necessarily wanted to stop cardio... just fasted cardio. You can easily maintain a low bodyfat % with non-fasted cardio. Hell you can get to a low bodyfat with non-fasted cardio.

He didn't say he necessarily wanted to stop cardio... just fasted cardio. You can easily maintain a low bodyfat % with non-fasted cardio. Hell you can get to a low bodyfat with non-fasted cardio.

Yea, I forgot people get so caught up in details such as wether the cardio is fasted or whether they have 5g of carbs afterwards.

From someone who absolutely NEVER does fasted state cardio, the answer is "No" you will not get fat from not doing fasted state cardio, as opposed to cardio with some food in the tummy. :D

It will always be a number of calories. Meaning, how many your burn for the day, and how many you take in for the day.

yeah, I never quite understood the reasoning behind fasted cardio. I mean, I do and I don't. Because if you use the carbs you just ate for cardio, then it does not get transported to your ass as fat. And since carbs are primo fuel for cardio, theoretically you can do a better, more intense workout and possibly burn more calories than if you are limping along starving and working out. Nor does fasted cardio mesh with the ideal of keeping the metablism revved to avoid starvation mode.

I'm not saying it doesn't work better - clearly some poeple like it a lot, and it really works for them. The whole dogma behind it is not intellectually satisfying, though, for me. (I did fasted low intensity cardio for 4 years - higher intensity fed cardio works for me. But that's just me :p )

lipolysis is the reason behind fasted state cardio and the ability to use Free Fatty Acids from adipose tissue when there is nothing else to use for fuel ( in a nutshell). You need to stay under 65% MHR ir you will use more muscle as fuel

Okay, but you're increasing cortisol which helps store fat by stressing the body in a fasted state - all this biochem runs me around in circles with respect to fasted cardio.

Plus I really like to eat breakfast first thing. Which may be what it all comes down to, really.

Say I get to the body fat % I want by doing cardio on an empty stomach and then I stop doing it on an empty stomach, but continue to do cardio and eat the right number of calories. Will the fact that I stopped doing cardio on an empty stomach lead to fat gain? In other words, once you've lost fat doing cardio on an empty stomach, do you have to continue doing it (on an empty stomach) forever to not regain the fat?
Yes. I stopped fasted cardio and put on 50lbs.
By the way I stopped for 2 years and eat nothing but junk
I find now that if I make the effort to do some cardio, I dont want to eat junk. I think to myself, "what was the point of gettin up at 6 to do cardio, then eating this crappy burger?"

Okay, but you're increasing cortisol which helps store fat by stressing the body in a fasted state - all this biochem runs me around in circles with respect to fasted cardio.

Crotisol is a naturally occuring compound in your body - you need it. Were you to eliminate it, you would be in BIG trouble.

That being said, all the articles on cortisol are generally over stated unless you are doing a LOT of cardio. All those commercials on TV and people being afraid of cortisol is just another angle to sell diet pills.

I am someone who likely smacked head-on into the cortisol/metabolism snaffu. But in order to accomplish this impressive little feat - I had to train for and run a marathon over 16 months (started on one, switched to another = dang long training program with lots of high mileage), AND it had to be over an extended period of training time. Meaning, that while I am a runner, I totally stink at it. My times are horrible, I have asthma, I could go on, but this is bumming me out!

Anyway, my training sessions would literally last 3-6 hours on the long ones, and even 1.5-3 hours on the shorter ones. That is a heck of a lot of steady state cardio - which puts the body under some serious distress - especially since I compounded that all with an injury. basically, I stressed the absolute heck out of my body, and it led to a freak weightgain.

Trust me, you are not going to produce enough stress on your body with the little jump in cortisol that the average person deals with. If there is a gain, it is 99% likely that it is due to taking in more calories than you burn, NOT from working out with food in your stomach, or eating after 6pm. :nod: