HELP!!! - Breakfast (or lack thereof) is killing me.

clownfear_7

It's not just metabolism fuel, it's also brain fuel. Your brain needs to be fed to wake up and get sparking. I typically have a low fat, high protein smoothie in the morning. Fat free greek yogurt is a good smoothie base, add juice for sweetener and spinach for brain food, and I use whey protein. I don't feel like I'm "eating", but my body gets what it needs to get going.

clownfear_7

jamiekaycanfield
I like this idea! Think I might use it.

TJOmotayo

You could try blending a smoothie in the morning. Cut up your favorite fruits (apple, pear, any kind of berry) and then add a vegetable (carrot, kale, cucumber) before you go to bed. 10-15 minutes before you walk out the door blend your mixture with either light yogurt (6 oz) or 100% apple juice (3 oz.); put in an easy to wash travel cup and you're off. The fiber from the fruit and vegetable will keep you full for about 2 - 3 hours and depending on what you mix you can get in about 3 servings of fruit, 1 veggie, and 1 dairy in one meal on the go. You can get some pretty good smoothie recipes online to get you started if you don't know what may taste good together. Good luck!

cbteegardin

Check out http://www.leangains.com/ . He is all about doing a 16 hour fast every day and does not eat breakfast. The idea of breakfast being important might be a bit overrated. People who eat breakfast, as a group, are healthier, but the reason may not be because they eat breakfast. As people become hungry, they are more apt to make poor food choices and that can effect all their food choices. Ex: If you have breakfast, you are less tempted to grab a doughnut/bagel at work at 10AM. If you grab a doughnut, your blood sugar spikes, insulin spikes, and before you know it, your jonesing for a burger and fries come lunch time. People who had an otherwise healthy diet and skipped breakfast WERE NOT less healthy than those who ate breakfast.

kubuntu

Eating breakfast isn't exactly the point; having fuel to burn is. If you're not hungry in the morning because you ate late last night, you should be fine: your body slows down digestion a lot during sleep, so it's still processing that food when you wake.

In general I would say don't force yourself to eat if you're not hungry, but if you feel you must, it's usually easier to drink something instead. Try making or buying a premade smoothie when you have time; most grocery stores have proper smoothies or, at least, V8. Take an individual serving on your commute, and you'll probably finish it easily just sipping it occasionally.

Or, just buy/make something in advance so you don't have to get up at 4 AM everyday! Muffins work well because they can be kept frozen until needed, but a microwave omelette works great too if you do the prepwork in advance or use the eggs in a carton.

servilia

Dude you've gotta eat 10 times a day or your metabolism like totally stops!

Maile4u

I'm not hungry either in the morning, so I'm now drinking an awesome shake in the morning that I can add my choice of flavors to.
It's very healthy and tastes awesome! The shake mix itself is only 130 calories, so depending on what you use with it, can make the calories go up. I just use water or coconut water to keep the calorie count low and drink my shake. Some shakes have sugar substitues in them, and I stay away from those. They are too sweet and can give some people headaches. I'm happy to share my shake secret to you if you send me an email. You can add fruit to it or whatever you want, I just keep my simple.

SarahDavs

I try to eat every 3 hours. I'm too tired and busy in the morning to fix breakfast so I go with a protein shake, and it's worked for me thus far.

sarahkalt88

Eating two eggs first thing in the morning will increase your weight loss by 60 %. You should try it.

Just the whites? I heard the yolks make you fat and increase your cholesterol.

You can eat the whole egg. There is a lot of information out there saying that egg whites are better, but eating a whole egg isn't as bad as they make it seem. To make life easy on yourself hard boil some eggs on monday and keep them ready to go in the fridge for breakfasts. You can grab and go! I hated eating breakfast but my trainer was very strict about me eating breakfast, so you get used to it. Not being hungry in the morning is partially out of habit because your body isn't used to being fed early in the morning.

metaphoria

You know what keeps killing me? Dead souls.

You mean, like... banelings?!?! :noway: :frown:

IFlover90

Dude you've gotta eat 10 times a day or your metabolism like totally stops!

You are funny:laugh:

rabies

Your friend is an idiot. Eating regularly can help control hunger by stabilizing your blood sugar levels, but if you don't have a problem with that it doesn't matter when you eat.

beccyleigh

op has to be english. only brits can troll this good

Rarity2013

I have this problem and have done since being a toddler- I just can't stand breakfast, often to the point of nausea. I'm better now I'm older, and go through phases of managing a breakfast, but the only thing I ever want is cheese on toast (preferably blue cheese).

When I have forced myself to eat breakfasts, I find that this is a guaranteed way to make myself snack.

I have no advice, but I do have sympathy.

StArBeLLa87

Protein protein protein! Even if its one egg better then nothing! Gotta think of your body as if it were a car!

say no to doughnuts! Lmao empty calories!!

pcastagner

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pcastagner

Here are some recent before and after pictures of me. I follow leangains style intermittent fasting, which as described above does not include an early morning meal (unless you skip dinner). I often perform my workouts before breakfast (which I eat at midday), with a bit of BCAA. My metabolism and my brain have been working really well. In fact I would say that my fasted state workouts are more intense and more focused. Weight when I started leangains 192, current weight 172. I started controlling portions at 210, started counting calories at 202, and by 192 was having a lot of trouble with cravings. I've now been living on the road for over a month, and thanks to intermittent fasting I have been able to maintain and even make a bit of progress.

Digestion takes energy. Proponents of eating many small meals love to point this out, but always seem to forget that the yield from the effort of digestion is a net gain, and that metabolic rate increases in proportion to quantity of food, not frequency.

If you take a sample of the general population, and select the ones who plan their meals and watch what they eat, those people probably eat breakfast because of a longstanding social signals that breakfast is important. They will also have less obesity. This correlation doesn't really imply that breakfast makes you thinner. It implies that planning your food choices gives you control over your mass. That's a function of thermodynamics. If you put more matter into a system than you take out, it grows. If you take out more than you put in, it shrinks.

So if you track your food and stick to your totals, this is irrelevant. Eat early or don't. I don't because I love the intensity of a fasted state workout. Where do I get the energy? From glycogen stored in my liver and muscles. I supplement with BCAA to prevent muscle loss, and enjoy the ride.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151333805527117.1073741825.693127116&type=1&l=633a1cf2c9

puuka

I think You shout get some food in the morning. I try to get some energy in the morning before workout - some fruit or orange juice, after workout I try to eat more proteins. I get 5 meals a day.

stellwad

why will eatting 2 eggs in morning help ? and can they be cooked any way

pcastagner

If you eat protein after workouts, but forget to have some sugar, you risk burning muscle, especially if your workouts are intense.

Protein is needed for building muscle, but sugar keeps you from losing what you've built.

amy1612

If you eat protein after workouts, but forget to have some sugar, you risk burning muscle, especially if your workouts are intense.

Protein is needed for building muscle, but sugar keeps you from losing what you've built.

What?

rabies

No.

Carbs (not sugar, which isn't very good with it's low GI) are needed for the muscles to do work, not to stop them from wasting. Protein does that.

pcastagner

@ Amy

When you do a big workout, you use up your glycogen, stored in your liver and in your muscles. It is needed for all your metabolic functions like a heartbeat and breathing.

So if you don't get some sugar (ie a piece of fruit, or the sugar in most post workout drinks) after a workout, your body breaks down muscle in order to get glycogen, so that you don't die.

Protein gets all the glory, but carbs are super duper important for muscle retention.

pcastagner

@rabies

Sugars are carbs.


Complex carbs take a long time to digest. This is why a piece of fruit is so good after a workout. It's packed with sugar.

I try to do something like this:

Fasted state workout (with BCAA)
Followed immediately by a piece of fruit (for sugar)
Within the hour, protein shake
Within two hours, a big meal packed with protein and carbs
Finish eating all my cals for the day 8 hours after that piece of fruit.

Could not be happier with the results

cheliki

I never used to eat breakfast in the mornings. My friends often said that you should so I started to force myself to eat 30g of cereal with 125ml of milk. Soon I got into a routine and I actually woke up thinking I need breakfast.

rabies

@rabies

Sugars are carbs.


Complex carbs take a long time to digest. This is why a piece of fruit is so good after a workout. It's packed with sugar.

I try to do something like this:

Fasted state workout (with BCAA)
Followed immediately by a piece of fruit (for sugar)
Within the hour, protein shake
Within two hours, a big meal packed with protein and carbs
Finish eating all my cals for the day 8 hours after that piece of fruit.

Could not be happier with the results

I know sugar is carbs, it's half fructose and half glucose, and has a fairly low GI of ~80. Compared to glucose it's quite bad for replenishing your glycogen, as you have to mix it with about twice as much water in order to make it isotone.

I would say I have more than a general idea about nutrition, and I know quite well how intermittent fasting works. There are things you really should change about your program, the biggest one is that you should make sure to get enough carbs within the first hour of exercise, while the glycogen synthase is peaking. The glycogenesis process gets a lot less efficient after 1h, and after 2h is pretty much back to standard levels.

LolBroScience

@ Amy

When you do a big workout, you use up your glycogen, stored in your liver and in your muscles. It is needed for all your metabolic functions like a heartbeat and breathing.

So if you don't get some sugar (ie a piece of fruit, or the sugar in most post workout drinks) after a workout, your body breaks down muscle in order to get glycogen, so that you don't die.

Protein gets all the glory, but carbs are super duper important for muscle retention.

This isn't part of leangains philosophy. Particularily the part of the "anabolic post workout window". Your glycogen isn't going to be completely depleted from one workout, so it never even makes a difference. As long as you're taking in carbs at some point in the post workout timeframe after your workout your glycogen will be replenished before you even begin the workout the next time around.

The only time I can see it playing an impact in terms of this is if you had a "two-a-day".

Sarauk2sf

In for some, um, interesting discussion?

LolBroScience

In for some, um, interesting discussion?

Ice cream boosts my metabolism pre-workout

mathera26

I have found that it absolutely does not matter when or how often I eat. Less = Loss. Period.