This thread was exactly the sort of information I was looking for. Many thanks to J.K. for sending me here. I should have looked up at sticky threads to begin with. I just did a search for "afternoon excercise" and that wasn't much help. :P

It looks as though the routine that I'm most comfortable with, of a bit of coffee and excercising before breakfast, is the way to go afterall. Now I just have to pick up the pace to something that would be considered a respectable cardio workout. An hour on the bike is good but I know I can push myself more. And I need to eat breakfast more quickly than I have been after excercising. I've been waiting for up to four hours or so before eating after working out. Not a good idea, I guess. Now I know!

Thank you to all who've contributed to this thead and a special thanks to Trainerdan for the great info and the pic of his abs. :P