Friday Q&A: Can I Work Out if I’m Fasting?

Hey, J.J. here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair Every style. Every home. That's W A Y F A I R.com hey, it's JJ here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating, and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order.

This episode is brought to you by McAfee swimsuit passport phone with VPN activated VPN cell phone service is going to be spotty on vacation, so we'll be using public wi fi.

Sounds sketchy.

Exactly. The networks can leave your personal info like like credit card exposed to hackers. McAfee's secure VPN lets you browse and bank safely from wherever, whenever. Learn more@mcafee.com online protection if you can.

Work out hard fasted, great. It's a better state to be in to go work out. But if you can't and you find that you eat a little something something and you can work out a lot harder, then do that.

Here's JJ Virgin, triple board certified nutrition and fitness expert and four time New York Times bestselling author. It's time to reignite wellness.

Hey, welcome to Friday Q and A. It's jj. So here we go. And by the way, we get these off of Instagram and Facebook, especially when I'm going live. You can also DM me over at Instagram JJ Virgin and or leave a question on my wall at JJ Virgin. So here is the question from Instagram and she says, I like to work out fasted, but I do drink coffee with a splash of half and half before I hit the gym. Does this change the fastest state or is it more that if you eat a full meal or solid food? All right, so here's the deal. If you eat, it breaks the fast. But really what I think we're looking for is like how if you want to go in fairly fasted into your workout, how do you do it? And here's the bigger thing with that. If you can work out hard fasted, great. It's a better state to be in to go and work out. But if you can't and you find that eat a little something something and you can work out a lot harder, then do that. But let's say that you can get up in the morning fasted and go get a great workout in. Awesome. And you want to have your coffee. I get it. By the way, coffee's an ergogenic aid. What does that mean? It means it'll help you work out harder and burn more fat. So we want to have coffee if we're going to go work out. It's actually something I do before my workouts. I go grab some coffee. Now what you could do that will not really break the fastest state is throw a little bit of MCT oil in there. That would be better. It's actually a great fuel for when you're Working out. It's great for getting your brain energized as well. So that would be my first recommendation is to have a little bit of MCT oil. If you're like, oh, I just need something in my coffee and not MCT oil, then I would do a little bit of coconut milk and you can do the full fat coconut milk. You would be better off if you don't have a dairy intolerance and you do want to do cow's milk dairy, get yourself some grass fed coconut cream, not the half and half. You're going to be better off there than having the half and half a little heavy cream. So you won't really get much in the way of the carbs and it won't really affect your fat burning. So might, might prevent a little bit of the top of which is why I'm a little bit more gung ho on having a little bit of MCT in there. All right, so that would be my choice. And by the way, we'll link to something from my buddy Mark Sisson and we always do that in jjvirgin.com forward/questions. That's where we put the information on the questions from Friday Q and A. And he wrote a great little blog post about coffee breaking a fast. And you know, if you do half and half, because remember, half and half is milk and cream, so that will break that fast. Cream is pretty much mainly fat. There's a teensy teensy bit of carbohydrate and protein in it. And then of course MCT would go after that. But again, I look more at why are you, why are you going into a workout in a fasted state and how can you get the best workout? Because it's really above all else. The most important thing here is the quality of your workout. It's really not the fat you burn burn during the workouts that's going to make the difference. You want to have an intense workout, quality over quantity. Work really hard because it's going to be the, when you do that well, you're going to store sugar back in your muscles after the workout and burn more fat after the workout. So that's what you really want to think about. So if a little bit of coffee with MCT oil can do it, great. If not, next up would be a little bit of coconut milk or a little bit of coconut cream. And if not that, you're not dairy intolerant, then again, grass fed cream. Okay, if you want to leave a question again, pop on over to one of my social media feeds. Leave it on up and you will be our next Friday Q and a.

Hey, it's J.J. here. Now let's be honest. The holidays are basically a financial ambush. Travel, hosting gifts, surprise holiday school things. Suddenly you're wondering how December turned into a spending spree. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or your phone. What really grabbed my attention is how fast those little holiday expenses pile up with Monarch. Seeing everything in one place makes it a lot harder to accidentally overspend, and honestly, I appreciate anything that keeps me from starting January with a money hangover. You'll love exploring the holiday spending category. Imagine how good it will feel to actually see what's happening before your credit card statement does that whole dramatic reveal thing. Monarch basically shows you exactly where the money is going in real time, and that level of clarity could change everything, right? Don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use the code virgin@monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with code Virgin.

This episode is brought to you by Buffalo Trace Distillery. Powerful yet smooth contained but never tame. Proudly going their own way but never going alone. This is the spirit inside Buffalo Trace Bourbon made at Buffalo Trace Distillery. The world's most award winning distillery, Buffalo Trace is always perfectly untamed. Distilled, aged and bottled by Buffal Trace distillery, Franklin County, Kentucky 90 proof 45% alcohol by volume. Learn more at buffalotrace distillery.com Please drink responsibly.

Foreign.

Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I tag all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything. You'll learn something about yourself as a reader, and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and visit our website what Should I read next podcast.com to find out more.