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

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  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    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
    rabies Posts: 62
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    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
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    @ 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
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    @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
    cheliki Posts: 33
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    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 Posts: 62
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    @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
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    @ 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
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    In for some, um, interesting discussion?
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    In for some, um, interesting discussion?

    Ice cream boosts my metabolism pre-workout :)
  • mathera26
    mathera26 Posts: 90 Member
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    I have found that it absolutely does not matter when or how often I eat. Less = Loss. Period.
  • rabies
    rabies Posts: 62
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    I have found that it absolutely does not matter when or how often I eat. Less = Loss. Period.

    +1. Good to find someone on these forums who actually has some sense.
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
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    so...many...trolls!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    In for some, um, interesting discussion?

    Ice cream boosts my metabolism pre-workout :)

    Werd!
  • krhn
    krhn Posts: 781 Member
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    Well recently I have 700-900 kcal breakfast as it makes me have more energy as well as feeds my muscle ASAP after waking... Note my goal is 1600 so breakfast does take a huge chunk out of my daily eat, but then I do weight lift / do some form of cardio 2/3 hours after consuming breakfast!
  • Lalasharni
    Lalasharni Posts: 353 Member
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    I don't eat breakfast either. This is because I really am NOT hungry first thing in the morning and I don't believe in forcing food in just for the sake of having a meal. I drink tea and at about 11.00am I take a smoothie sometimes or a piece of fruit if I need some energy. Most of the time I don't eat until lunch, and my body never complains - I would know if my blood sugar dropped too low and take steps to up it.
    My friends here have shown me (to my advantage) that its not WHEN but WHAT is important and that good nutrition can be achieved in so many different ways.
    So, if you dont want breakfast, then don't eat. If you feel later on that you need food, then eat it then. Controlling your intake is the most important thing, along with some regular exercise and faithful logging here so that you are baring your soul to the world of MFP which keeps you motivated.
    Try taking a protein drink mid morning and see if that helps you.
    Good luck with your journey, and if you need another buddy, feel free to add me.
  • jacklis
    jacklis Posts: 280 Member
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    I had a real hard time getting breakfast in until about 10:00am, -just did not want to eat, did not feel like eating and did not have time to sit down and eat. My trainer suggested a protein shake before my feet hit the floor. So, I have it on my bedside table, it mixes with water (I have a special cup that keeps liquid and powder separate until you twist the lid). After I had been doing this for a couple of weeks my engine did start to work a lot better and I was hungry for some eggs w/ egg whites and toast after my shower...
  • JenViviano
    JenViviano Posts: 2 Member
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    http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal I find for me, one of these jars in the morning fuels my day, and gets a good start before I hit the gym.
  • ispearing
    ispearing Posts: 9 Member
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    I use to be that way, now I find myself if I am late just taking my cereal bowl and a cup of milk with me to work and eat it as soon as I get in because I am always rushing in the morning but if you dont eat it slows your metabolism down and it goes into fat storage mode. Do what works for you but remember you have to eat
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
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    I have found that it absolutely does not matter when or how often I eat. Less = Loss. Period.

    THIS!

    When and how often you eat is personal preference, so do whatever will make you most successful.

    If I lived in isolation, I might graze through a bunch of small meals each day because I would spend all of my time preparing and eating them, but because I enjoy going out to lunch with my friends and eating dinner with my family, I can't afford all of the extra calories in breakfast and snacks throughout the day. I save the calories for a couple of "real" meals rather than snacking throughout the day.
  • JenJenRox24
    JenJenRox24 Posts: 2
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    I had a friend who was an avid gym rat and she once told me that you should eat something, anything within the first 30-60m after you wake up to jump start your metabolism for the day . I was never a breakfast person either but I started to force myself to have a banana or yogurt or something small as soon as I woke up, and it def made a difference. I found I wasnt over eating when I finally did get around to eating (usually 3-4hr after I woke up). Waiting to eat when you think you're hungry, if you're waiting too long, can actually put your body into "storage/hybernation mode". Your body will think you are in starvation move and turn the food you are consuming into fat bc its storing it for later, when you get your metabolism going right off the bat its going all day. I have also found that I dont eat as much in a sitting, and I've started to get hungry @ b-fast, lunch, and dinner time... with a few easy snacks in between. Im so used to eating something as soon as I wake up I get frustrated at myself if I dont because I can feel it with every meal after and I can tell I dont have as much energy throughout the day.

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