You’ve no doubt heard it before…breakfast is the most important meal of the day!  There is no truer statement.

 

Over the weekend, I participated in a half marathon, which gave me the opportunity to chat with lots of distance runners, both friends and strangers.  One common topic among such runners is breakfast. “What did you eat before the race?” “What will you eat during the race…after the race?”  These conversations fueled my own thoughts about breakfast.

 

Some years ago, I’m not sure when, popular research came out that stated you would lose more weight if you exercised in the morning before eating.  This research is accurate…sort of.  Basically, if you exercise after fasting for several hours (while sleeping), your body won’t have access to carbohydrates, the main source of quick energy.  So, you will be forced to burn fat and protein for energy.  Sounds great if you’re trying to burn fat, right?  Not so fast.  It takes time to convert fat and protein into energy; so during vigorous exercise, you can’t get the energy fast enough.  Without quick carbohydrate energy, you won’t have the ability to perform your exercise efficiently or for very long.  Conclusion: you won’t actually burn as many calories during or after your workout due to lack of energy to put forth maximum effort.  In addition, lack of appropriate fuel can lead to dizziness and increased risk of injury.

 

So what about on the days you aren’t going to exercise in the morning?  Should you still eat breakfast?  If you follow my blog, you know I advocate eating often, as much as 7 times per day. You can’t really accomplish this if you wait several hours to eat your first meal.  The point of eating several times per day is to fuel your metabolism.  To obtain or maintain a healthy weight, the number of calories you burn throughout the day is far more important the number of calories burned during a single workout.

 

Somehow many people get stuck on the notion that eating less and putting off eating as much as possible will help with weight loss.  On the surface, this would make sense…less calories consumed = weight loss.  However, the less often you eat, the less efficient your metabolism.  Said a different way; the more often you eat, the more efficient your metabolism.  So, what if you eat breakfast right when you wake up, then feel hungry two hours later?  Simple, eat again.  The hunger is a sign of a healthy metabolism.  What if you don’t feel hungry until four hours after you wake up?  Simple, eat anyway.  Not feeling hungry in the morning is a sign of a slow metabolism.  Eating a small breakfast, which I call 1st breakfast, will jumpstart your metabolism and you’ll likely feel hungry in a couple hours for a more substantial meal, which I call 2nd breakfast.

 

So, what were my answers when chatting with the other runners at the race?  Before a strenuous workout, I usually eat a banana and bread with peanut butter, or a protein bar (1st Breakfast); then after finishing my workout I eat a more substantial breakfast like eggs, toast, and yogurt (2nd Breakfast).  Both of the meals are usually consumed before 9am.