For years I have been jogging right before dinner. My stomach turning and I'm low on energy due to I'm hungry or something. I do drink a sports drink a 1/2 hour before I jog. Due to a new work schedule I have had to jog 1 1/2 - 2 hours after dinner now. I have much more energy and it is more enjoyable.

My question is are there benefits to jogging before or after dinner or is it a wash?

My mentality tells me I burn more calories when jogging before just because I am low on energy and it's harder thus more of a workout. True or not?

For years I have been jogging right before dinner. My stomach turning and I'm low on energy due to I'm hungry or something. I do drink a sports drink a 1/2 hour before I jog. Due to a new work schedule I have had to jog 1 1/2 - 2 hours after dinner now. I have much more energy and it is more enjoyable.

My question is are there benefits to jogging before or after dinner or is it a wash?

My mentality tells me I burn more calories when jogging before just because I am low on energy and it's harder thus more of a workout. True or not?

False. You probably weight slightly more after dinner so you are burning a few more calories then (basically identical calorie burning). The reason you probably feel slothly on runs before dinner is because you are low on blood glucose and perhaps liver glycogen. On these runs you are using fats (free fatty acids freed from your fat supplies) as your primary fuel source. While these fuels are usually high in supply the rate at which they can supply energy is significantly slower than from glucose.

'Better' is more of a subjective description. If you like your runs better and can run further/faster after dinner, then they are 'better'.

On these runs you are using fats (free fatty acids freed from your fat supplies) as your primary fuel source. While these fuels are usually high in supply the rate at which they can supply energy is significantly slower than from glucose.

So what your saying is I would burn more fat jogging before dinner then. Thats my primary goal as I hate to see even the slightess bulge around my waist.

So what your saying is I would burn more fat jogging before dinner then. Thats my primary goal as I hate to see even the slightess bulge around my waist.

Not necessarily. Caloric expenditure is more important than fuel source utilized. If you're more likely to run longer after dinner, I would suggest that.

When's your last meal before dinner? Maybe you feel sluggish when running beforehand because you haven't eaten in a while and are low on energy? A "sports drink" might not cut it if you haven't eaten since lunch 8 hours earlier.