Breakfast

Almost my entire life, I've very rarely eaten breakfast. Maybe 20 days a year. It's just never been something I thought about - whenever I'm in school, I wake up right before classes and rush to class, no eating.

Anyway, I just realized how stupid this is. So I'm going to start eating breakfast. My routine this summer is to wake up at 8, gym 8:30-9:30, then work at 10. I'm going to start eating something around 8:15.

My question is: What should I eat? Something with a bunch of protein? A breakfast sandwich? Or just something basic like toast and milk.

Every morning I wake up and have two slices of Multi Grain Bread from Costco - toasted. And a protein shake made with Skim milk.

It works out to 490 kCals 5g of fat 68g carbs 45g protein.

I don't exercise in the morning. I go right to work. My protein shake is only 24 grams of protein + 8 from the milk (32 for the math deficient). The rest comes from the bread.

If you're going to be working out right after eating, I'd suggest more of a mix of simple carbs and some protein. Stay away from highly fatty foods cause you're going to cramp up, and not too much protein either right before working out.

A bowl of cereal with milk might be a good choice. Or some Orange Juice with toast. Save the heavier protein rich meal for AFTER the work out. You don't want to eat 30+ grams of protein and jump right into a workout 15 minutes later.

well if ur gonna eat something that close to workout time u id have something fast absorbing like a whey / yogurt / fruit smoothie.

In the morning your muscles are depleted from having not eaten for so long (hopefully you eat right before bed). You need a fast digesting simple carbohydrate. Breakfast should also probably be your largest meal of the day, lifestyle permitting.
Oatmeal with milk and some type of fruit mixed in is definitely one of the healthiest things for breakfast. Mix in some protein powder if you would like as well.

I usually have oatmeal and milk and a banana. and then other days ill have 3 eggs, and multigrain toast and orange juice. sometimes i throw in a protein shake with breakfast.


before i go to bed i eat cottage cheese and some spoons of peanut butter.

edit: i workout in the early afternoon though, not right after i wake up. usually between 1-4 pm

So I'm hearing:

1) Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day

2) Don't each too much before you work out

What if I wake up at 8, and go to the gym at 9? Should I eat a better meal then?

I have a big protein shake right after(2 scoops + 12oz skim milk.. roughly 60g) and then a good sized lunch at 12:30.

I'm definitely not a morning person so making something that's a lot of work is probably out of the question. Possible options right now are milk, orange juice, toast, cereal, eggs, oatmeal, fruit.

as you do it more often and it becomes routine, youll be a morning person, it just becomes habit.

So I'm hearing:

1) Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day

2) Don't each too much before you work out

What if I wake up at 8, and go to the gym at 9? Should I eat a better meal then?

I have a big protein shake right after(2 scoops + 12oz skim milk.. roughly 60g) and then a good sized lunch at 12:30.

I'm definitely not a morning person so making something that's a lot of work is probably out of the question. Possible options right now are milk, orange juice, toast, cereal, eggs, oatmeal, fruit.

I dont think anyone said don't eat too much before you work out, he just said dont eat too much protein or anything too fatty. Being a morning person will come naturally like gizmo said. I didn't eat breakfast regularly untill this year either. You'll adjust don't worry about it. Maybe have green tea in the morning also to help boost you. Just microwave the oatmeal it is really easy. I like to put a little less water so it is more dry and absorbs all the milk, really tasty that way. I do 1 cup oatmeal to 1.5cups water with some salt and microwave on high for 4 minutes. make sure you cover it with another plate or whatever so it doesnt boil over. mix in some sweetener (stevia or splenda) and dice up whatever fruit into it.

ENJOY!

man, I really need to incorporate green tea into my diet.

not because I think it will help me lose weight ( i dont need to ) but because its not bad for you and drinking water with EVERY meal gets old sometimes.

i cheat every so often and get a diet soda though :O

and whole milk :D

So I'm hearing:

1) Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day

2) Don't each too much before you work out

What if I wake up at 8, and go to the gym at 9? Should I eat a better meal then?

I have a big protein shake right after(2 scoops + 12oz skim milk.. roughly 60g) and then a good sized lunch at 12:30.

I'm definitely not a morning person so making something that's a lot of work is probably out of the question. Possible options right now are milk, orange juice, toast, cereal, eggs, oatmeal, fruit.

The MOST important thing about "breakfast" and I'm putting it in quotes just because we're talking about breaking the fast from when you were sleeping, is just that you have something. Anything is better than nothing at all.

But what I would recommend and what I tend to do, is I will wake up and have a small meal just to jump start my metabolism. I'm not a morning person either, so a quick simple 2 slice of whole wheat toast + protein shake and skim milk takes 5 minutes.

After that "breakfast" I go to work, and I have a 2nd breakfast that is a lot more substantial. This is what will get me through the day until lunch.

Usually my 2nd breakfast is 3 eggs scrambled with bacon and cheese on a roll.

Then at about 12 I usually go to the deli or subway and get a hero sandwich. I can't stand mayo anymore, so I always go for Honey Mustard. Usually Turkey Breast, Cheese, bunch of veggies/fruits (tomato, pickles, green peppers, lettuce, onions, etc). If it's subway, I will get a footlong, have one half of it at noon. Then 2-3 hours later have the other half.

When I come back home from work 2-3 hours later again, I have another protein shake with skim milk and 2 slices of toast. But it can be anything really.

Then dinner 3 hours later. Etc. I've trained myself to eat more smaller meals throughout the day and I like it better than 2-3 HUGE meals where I feel kinda sick after stuffing copious amounts of food down my belly.

I went off on a bit of a tangent, BUT, the main thing I am trying to stress here is

1) Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up. Because you are going to be working out RIGHT after breakfast, I'd suggest a bunch of simple carbs and some small amount of protein. Your protein won't digest in the 15 minutes that you're going to wait to work out. So don't go overboard. Besides, you're going to need the carbs more for the workout.

2) AFTER working out, have your protein/carb recovery shake or whatever. If you don't do shakes, you can just make this your second breakfast, and make it a more substantial meal. More protein, same amount of carbs or maybe a bit more, and some fat is ok. Fat IS necessary.


Oatmeal is a great idea for your first breakfast right before working out.

When I wake up, within 30 minutes of getting out of bed I have a bowl of oats mixed with 1 - 2 tablespoons of sugar-free preserves. Tasty and healthy. :)

A typical breakfast for me consists of a banana, a cup of yoplait light yogurt, a bowl of either plain oatmeal or Total raisin bran (100% of your daily calcium right there), a glass of water with vegetable fiber mixed in, a multivitamin, and two 1200mg fish oil capsules. If I'm really hungry I'll throw a scoop of protein powder in the water. Depending on how you mix those items, it comes out to somewhere between 500 and 800 Calories with a good mix of carbs, protein, and fat.

I have a protein shake/skim milk and an apple. 3 hours later I have a bowl of high-fiber cereal. If it's the weekend, I'll also have eggs.

An update after two tries with this mysterious "breakfast" thing:

Day 1: Wake up at 9. Eat two pieces of whole wheat toast and two drinks of orange juice. Take NO-Xplode. Gym at 9:30. Results better than the previous visit - doing 6 reps of my max weight instead of 4. Due to breakfast? probably not.

Day 2: Wake up at 8:30. Eat two pieces of whole wheat toast and one drink of orange juice. Take No-Xplode. Gym at 10 - I was browsing the forums and completely forgot about the time. Probably my worst day of working out in the past 6 months. Not only do I not improve on my max weight, I can't even get 1 rep of it. I can barely get 8 reps of a lesser weight. My right arm feels like it's about to break for some reason. DB Flys feel like I'm being stabbed in the chest. Give up and leave after 15 minutes.


Granted, Day 1 was last Thursday after a good Tuesday workout and feeling pumped. Day 2 was Tuesday after a long weekend of drinking and little sleep. For some reason I didn't like the fish oil I took in the morning, and actually threw up a little on the ride to the gym. I could tell from that point on my day would be bad.

Overall, the breakfast thing is up in the air so far. Is it going to help me get results at the gym? Probably not. Is it overall better for me in my daily life? Definitely. I'll keep doing it, mix the foods up some.

wtf is with all you people puking so much? fucking girls.

:p

anyways, when i was back in high school, i RARELY (never) ate breakfsat, and whenever I tried to, i just felt really sick....but after a while your stomach just gets used to it I guess, now If i dont eat breakfast, I feel liek ass. but those days i miss beakfast are far and few between.

also, a weekend of drinking definately hurts me in the gym.

your body is starved after sleeping 8+ hours dont be a tard eat breakfast if you're going to work out. going to the gym after not eating for 8+ hours wtf is wrong with yuo

I have been eating 5 eggs and 1 cup oatmeal every morning after sleeping ~7hrs, I used to hate what felt like gorging but now i need it

I usually have a bowl of oatmeal, 2 eggs, yogurt, multivitamins, and some sort of pure juice.

MY breakfast is usually 3 eggs, two pieces of whole wheat toast, a glass of milk, and a banana.

your body is starved after sleeping 8+ hours dont be a tard eat breakfast if you're going to work out. going to the gym after not eating for 8+ hours wtf is wrong with yuo

I have been eating 5 eggs and 1 cup oatmeal every morning after sleeping ~7hrs, I used to hate what felt like gorging but now i need it

Isn't that alot of cholesterol?

Eggs do not cause high cholesterol; ingesting cholesterol does not cause high blood cholesterol.