What’s for Breakfast?

It’s been called the most important meal of the day: Breakfast! But, have you ever woke up wondering what to eat? How can you make the most of your first meal to fuel your body and keep you energized for the rest of the day?

You wake up from a great night’s sleep - you feel rested and ready to take on the day. What most people don’t think about is that while you sleep at night, your body is fasting. This period of rest takes between 8-10 hours for the average person within a 24-hour period. That’s 30-40% of your day, every day. Rest is critical to proper bodily functioning and metabolic processing. Our bodies need rest. The standard American diet contains 3 major meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) with snacks in between. In the fitness industry, many people will tell you to eat smaller meals more often throughout the day, this may mean eating 5-6 meals through out the day. That means your body is ingesting food once every 3-4 hours, or less. And unless you wake up for the night-time munchies, you are not consuming calories in the middle of the night. Your body is functioning off of your glycogen or fat reserves. Our liver and muscles store glycogen for use during times of deficit. As an aside, reserves theory also plays into how your body fuels itself during power and strength exercises and also your body’s recovery time. So after such a long fast, what is best for your body?

Granted fasting diets are hotly debated and typically last longer than your average night’s sleep, most fasting diets will tell you to break the fast with water or tea and small amounts of food that are bland and easy to digest. Although, it is generally agreeable that breakfast is the most important meal of the day that doesn’t mean that it has to be the biggest meal of your day. Eating large meals can cause your stomach to expand, stretching out to a size that is perhaps not normal to your body’s proportions. Your stomach is a sensitive organ, and has receptors in the cell lining that release hormones causing a feeling of fullness or satiety when the stomach is stretched. If you continually stretch your stomach to a size that is larger than it should be, your body will then become accustomed to that new stretch and size and you will need more food to feel satiated or full. A old wives tale is that your stomach should be the size of a one of your own closed fists. That is really not that big when you compare the size to a standard plate offered at a restaurant. Although, usually, the food on your plate is not chewed unless blended or pureed so your plate may contain a little more volume than a closed fist. A serving of meat should be no larger than the palm of your hand, grains and fruits should not be more than your four fingers, and it is generally acceptable to eat as many cruciferous veggies as it takes to feel full. If you are vegan, your plate will look slightly different in that you will swap out the meat for plant based protein. You should aim for 25% starches, 25% plant based protein (i.e. soy, beans, or legumes), and 50% produce (Well and Good has a great image on their vegan macros site).

So what does this all mean for breakfast? I recommend starting the morning with your favorite warm beverage, tea or coffee with minimal added sugar or creamer, then give yourself a small snack about an hour or two before stepping into your morning meal. This gives you time to wake up, go for a walk or do some stretching, allowing your body time to reintroduce food and be aware of how hungry you really are (or aren’t). The small snack can be fruit or toast, or half a protein bar or shake with water. It’s okay to just nibble a little. Save your main meal for after you have gotten dressed and ready for the day, or after your morning workout. When you workout your body diverts blood flow to your muscles, delivering oxygen, nutrients and expelling waste while you work hard to tear those muscle fibers and make them stronger. This channels blood away from your gastrointestinal track so eating a big meal before a workout isn’t a good idea. Stick to a small amount of carbs and protein, or a pre-workout drink, before your workout to give your body energy without taking away from it’s normal functioning. Save the meal for after strenuous movement and let your body lead the way with hunger - don’t eat just because you think you’re supposed to. And don’t forget about the portion sizes from earlier and add those veggies to your breakfast too!