All the carbs you eat before your workout will be burned off as fuel. And the protein will make sure that your amino acid pool is full, so your body won't try and 'eat your muscles' for fuel during the workout.

If you are an early morning exerciser than it is even more important for you to eat something before your workout, because your tank is literally on 'E'. How long has it been since you last ate? 8, 10, 12 hours? You start working out now your body's going to be like 'whoa, what are you doing?!' It's going to start 'eating your muscles' for fuel, and once you do eat something it will be much more likely to store it as fat.

Why? The body doesn't want to go through that kind of starvation and survival mode again. If you haven't eaten in 3 hours or more, weather you are hungry or not, your body is starving. And if you then exercise in this mode, it is going to go into survival. In survival mode, rather than burning fat, it holds on to it. Do this enough and your body becomes very efficient at holding on to fat and making more of it! YUK!

Now on to what to eat before your workouts. First and foremost you need to get protein in. Protein, unlike carbs and fats, does not have a storage site in the body. It needs to be constantly fed at regular intervals. It needs to be light. No thick, juicy fat-laden steaks before a workout. You also need carbohydrates. Some debate goes into the fact weather it should be strictly complex or simple carbs, or a mix of the two. If you're going to go with simple carbs, stick with some kind of fruit. Most fruit has fiber in it, which slows down the blood sugar release and regulates it for a steadier stream of energy. But obviously stay away from processed sugars-- pastries, baked goods, things in cans or boxes. The complex carbs will be oats, whole wheat, potatoes, veggies, bran, and rice. As for fat, just make sure it is the healthy kind.

Me personally, I have 2 pre-workout meals I consume regularly that I have been consuming for years. The first one is if I'm not pressed for time, so haven't been eating it as much. It simply is 1 whole egg and 1 egg white fried over 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a bowl of Cheerios, or oatmeal, with skim milk. I eat it about 45 minutes before the workout. The second one is 16 oz of Gatorade mixed with ½ scoop of natural whey protein. Another one I just recently started is the meal replacement powder Prograde Lean. It tastes great, and is even easier to mix than my other shake. I take it about 5-15 minutes before my workout. I get great workouts in regardless of which meal I chose.