My Large Breakfast Explained

I have been asked about my large breakfasts a few times by MFP friends. This is the explanation. It may not work for everyone so my suggestion is to experiment with what works for you and then try to perfect it!

ABOUT ME:
I'm a 5'2" soon-to-be 44-year old wife and mother to a 12 year-old boy and a 4-year old girl. I was very athletic in high school and lettered in gymnastics, volleyball, softball, track and cheerleading. I was also a weightlifter and competed at the state level. In 10th grade, I injured my right knee pretty badly while vaulting at a tournament. That injury included hyperextension and torn ligaments. It didn't require surgery at the time but it continued to go out on me with every sport I was in. I joined the gymnastics team my Freshman year of college and I blew my knee out two weeks in to training. I never competed again after that. To this day, it will go out if I'm not careful walking on unstable surfaces like rocks or sand. It even popped out of place when rolling over in bed once. So what does this have to do with breakfast?

FIRST STEP:
In January 2010, I decided it was time to get back in to shape. I was roughly 30 pounds overweight due to two pregnancies and sheer laziness. My starting weight was 157.0 and my goal was to get back down to 125.0. Before finding MFP, I had done some research online and found that 1,200 calories was the number to stay under. I started to change the types of food I was eating but I didn't pay attention to when I was eating. I work from home and my job can be very hectic. It was very normal for me to skip breakfast entirely, sometimes lunch... and not have my first bite to eat until after 7PM. Ever since I was a kid, I couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything for a few hours after waking up. Just the smell of food would make my stomach churn. I loved breakfast food but not until dinner time.

ADDING EXERCISE:
After I was convinced I had my calories under control and start seeing the scale move downward, I decided it was time to throw in some exercise. I started by doing the elliptical machine (we are lucky enough to have one in our basement). The first time I stepped on it, I could only muster about 10 minutes without feeling like I was going to die! Each time after that, I would try to add at least one more minute. Eventually I was up to 45-60 minutes and adding more and more resistance. Then my husband decided he wanted to get back in to shape too and ordered P90X. I thought it was time to increase my workout to include more cardio and strength training... so I joined him. I'm not going to lie... P90X was BRUTAL!!! But I really enjoyed it and made it to about 80 out of the 90 days. Then WHAM... out goes my stupid bum knee. I also have Snapping Hip Syndrome which causes my left hip to "pop". It's not painful but I did weaken my left hip and made doing the elliptical very hard. Now what? I wasn't really losing much weight with eating right and exercising as it is. My body was changing, I was losing inches and I was toning up. But I still had a lot of belly fat left to get rid of. How could I lose anything without working out?

BREAKFAST EXPLAINED:
I went back to Google and started searching for ways to lose weight without exercise. I don't remember the name of the article I read, but it was about the importance of eating breakfast and spreading calories out evenly throughout the day. I couldn't hurt, right? The next morning, I made breakfast and took the time to eat it slowly. I think it was a couple of eggs and a piece of toast with a slice of cheese. I can't be sure now, but that sounds about right. The first thing I noticed was feeling more energetic at the noon hour than I had before. Before having breakfast, I was ready to crash and burn by lunch time but I thought that was due to my hectic workload. Over time, I increased the size of my breakfast and it has become my favorite meal of the day. I definitely live by the old saying "Breakfast like a King. Lunch like a Prince. Dinner like a Pauper." To explain, that means I consume a bigger quantity of calories in the morning, fewer at lunch time and the least at dinner time. I also make sure to leave enough for snacks throughout the day.

This is what my typical breakfast looks like today. Out of a 1,200 net calorie day, my breakfast will be somewhere between 500-600 calories.



THE RESULTS:
Not only do I have much more energy throughout the day, but I almost have to force myself to eat lunch. I'm rarely hungry until around mid-afternoon. But I still have my morning snack if I can and a light lunch. Otherwise, I would be starving by dinner time and then I would make poor food choices. The most surprising result is that my weight started to melt off! I wasn't exercising at all and my calorie count was still the same... but I had lost just shy of 10 pounds in 3 short weeks!!! All I did was change "when" I was eating.

MOVING FORWARD:
Now that my knee and hip are feeling better, I am slowly adding in some exercise again. I continue to have a large breakfast. There are days when I don't have time for it but those days are pretty rare. If I'm on the road, then I will bring a snack pack including hard boiled eggs, raw almonds, bananas and bottles of water. I am trying to perfect my food choices by eliminating more and more processed foods, lowering my sodium and sugar levels and adding more fruits and especially vegetables.

So what is right for you? It may not be what has worked for me. There is much debate over when meals should be eaten here on MFP. I'm not saying one way is better than another. I can only share what has worked for me on my journey and hope it inspires others to experiment with their own meal plans. You know your body best... just listen to it! In my case, my body was telling me it needed to exercise less and eat more. As funny as it sounds to say that... it's true.

Good luck to you and remember... NEVER GIVE UP!