Why You Shouldn’t Eat Breakfast…Again
May 21, 2008
Photo by hoveringdog
So when you see that stack above….what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Well they are “whole wheat” so it must be healthy. Ha! You know what I think of? Going into a coma and sleeping for hours after I eat it. I imagine huge brain fog and needing a pot of coffee to stay awake for the day. I picture getting nothing really done but taking all day to do it. Breakfast….the illusion for health and weight loss as sold by the general public. Think of the name….”Break” Fast…..you break the fast…..well if I am doing IF…I don’t want to break the fast just now. But how will I survive? Will I lose all my muscle by skipping one meal? Will my metabolism pack up it’s bags and leave? I mean….without breakfast how will I ever get anything done all day…I need energy right? Sound familiar?
While we are talking about it, I came across this great read from Ori Hofmekler (author of the warrior diet). It actually goes very nicely with the Why Workout Fasted post and the Why Stress is Making You Sick and Fat post. Here’s the article (seen here):
When you wake-up, your body is already in an intense detox mode, clearing itself of endotoxins and digestive waste from the past evening meal.
During the morning hours, when digestion is fully completed (while you are on an empty stomach), a primal survival mechanism, known as fight or flight reaction to stress, is triggered, maximizing your body’s capacity to generate energy, be alert, resist fatigue and resist stress.
This highly geared survival mode is primarily dominated by part of the autonomic nervous system known as the SNS (sympathetic nervous system). At that state, the body is in its most energy-producing phase and that’s when most energy comes from fat burning. All that happens when you do not eat the typical morning meal.
If however you follow what “normal guys” do and eat your morning bagel and cereal and egg & bacon, you’ll most likely shut down the above energy producing system.
The SNS and its fight or flight mechanism will be substantially suppressed. Instead, your morning meal will trigger an antagonistic part of the automatic nervous system known as the PSNS (Para sympathetic nervous system), which makes you sleepy, slow and less resilient to fatigue and stress.
Instead of spending energy and burning fat, your body will be more geared towards storing energy and gaining fat. Under this state, detox would be inhibited. The overall metabolic stress would increase with toxins accumulating in the liver, giving the body another substantial reason to gain fat. (Fat tissues serve as a biological storage for toxins)
The overall suppressing effects of morning meals, can lead to energy crashes during the daily (working) hours, often with chronic cravings for pick-up foods, sweets, coffee and tobacco. Eating at the wrong time, would severely interrupt the body’s ability to be in tune with the circadian clock. The human body has never adapted to such interruptions. We are primarily pre-programmed to rotate between the two autonomic nervous system parts: the daily SNS and the nightly PSNS.
The SNS regulates alertness and action during the day, while PSNS regulates relaxation, digestion and sleep during the nightly hours. Any interruption in this primal daily cycle, may lead into sleepiness during the day followed by sleeping disorders at night.
Morning meals must be carefully designed not to suppress the SNS and its highly energetic state. Minimizing morning food intake to fruits, veggie soup or small amounts of fresh light protein foods, such as poached or boiled eggs, plain yogurt, or white cheese, will maintain the body in an undereating phase, while promoting the SNS with its energy producing properties.
*Note: Athletes who exercise in the morning should turn breakfast into a post-exercise recovery meal. Such meals should consist of small amounts of fresh protein plus carbs such as yogurt and banana, eggs plus a bowl of oatmeal, or cottage cheese with berries.
An insulin spike is necessary for effectively finalizing the anabolic actions of GH and IGF1 after exercise. Nonetheless, after the initial recovery meal, it’s highly recommended to maintain the body in an undereating phase by minimizing daily carb intake in the following meals. Applying small protein meals (minimum carbs) every couple of hours will keep sustaining the SNS during the daily hours while providing amino acids for protein synthesis in the muscle tissues, promoting a long lasting anabolic effect after exercise.
In conclusion, breakfast isn’t the most important meal of the day. The most important meals are post-exercise recovery meals. Saying that, for a WARRIOR every meal is a recovery meal helping to recuperate from either nutritional stress (undereating) or physical stress (exercise). It’s when you eat that makes what you eat matter.
Interesting stuff. One type of IF I do not recommend is what is known as Ramadan fasting, in which you eat when you wake, fast during light hours and then eat at night. (this is a Muslim practice done for a month) But during that month of Ramadan, there are also many reports of increased daytime sleepiness, children falling asleep at school, more mental “fogginess” and increased amount of motor vehicle accidents during this observance. Could it be in part to a large meal in the AM and it’s response on our system? I personally have never had so much mental clarity and consistent energy as when I decided to do IF daily and skip morning meals….and have never looked back. People are so paranoid nowadays that they will starve themselves if they skip breakfast or it will crush their metabolism….that is so untrue…as your metabolism requires many many days of low intake to even start to slow down. To think one meal can cause your metabolism to come to a screeching hault or all your muscle will be destroyed, is science based on comic book research (or just reading too many bodybuilding and fitness magazines…which are owned by supplement companies who want you to eat 6x a day and buy all their shakes and bars). Having breakfast is only hailed as the weight loss king because some people may just end up over eating later on from not being able to handle a little hunger and think they are wasting away…..in the end it’s still total calories in a day…whether 3 meals or 6.
Mike,
You wrote: “I personally have never had so much mental clarity and consistent energy as when I decided to do IF daily and skip morning meals….and have never looked back.”
I’ve never been a breakfast person. Even before stumbling upon the concept of IF, I’ve been skipping breakfast for years (a sort of IF by default, I guess). Never had a problem with my metabolism (if BF% is any kind of indicator), energy, or mental clarity. I added one long fast day a week to what I’ve already been doing, and maybe a second if I went overboard with crap food one day. Just thought I’d echo what you asserted. Good post, thanks.
Thomas
Good stuff. If one is to consume a small serving of fruit+nuts in a day would it be recommended to break a fast or wait until after youve already had a protein meal?
Greg - I would say fruit is better utilized to break a fast and help replenish some liver glycogen earlier in the day than later. If one is not so concerned about fat loss then probably won’t matter too much. Total calories during a day is a more important factor to be concerned with for weight loss.
Thomas - good stuff. Now I look back to my days as a kid and always having trouble staying awake….probably because of having a meal of large amounts of carbs for breakfast (pancakes, waffles, etc).
My kids are taking end-of-year tests in elementary school…the teachers sent home a note to make sure they had a nice hearty breakfast everyday this week. If I disobey, the kids will surely ‘brag’ to everyone that ‘my dad says breakfast isn’t good’, and the teachers won’t like/appreciate it. What’s a guy to do?
DavidC - Unfortunately what the general public think we should do…usually means well but may not be ideal. Kids need the calories more than adults, so for breakfast I would say the best meal is one of smaller meal protein+fats+fish oil. In the end nothing that will overly stimulate an insulin response, which are things like juice and high carb meals. Thinking we “need” lots of carbs for energy is the mainstream idea that have gotten us all fat and sick in the first place. So feel safe you can feed your kids better choices and not have defax calling you.
If you workout in the morning and skip breakfast, are you losing the benefit of the post-workout window? How detrimental is coffee w/ artificial creamer that is < 10 cals?
Jason - I wouldn’t sweat the coffee, just skip anything added with sugar. As for the pwo window, how much really relevant that is in most cases is debatable. If you are looking to get lean and have some muscle tone, then probably not too relevant. Remember you have the ability to grow muscle all day long (as why do we need protein on a daily basis)….that window is just a prime time for increased insulin sensitivity. But if you are doing IF, keeping insulin low, aren’t you also increasing your insulin sensitivity? There’s no studies on IF with and without pwo so it’s more trial and error for most people. If you are worried about it, you could add in some amino acids after a workout to see if that enhances your gains (again make sure there is no sugar or insulin response from it). Also taking Vit C has been show to keep cortisol levels lower, so taking that pre-workout may help as well.
“I never skip breakfast. . .
It just might be in the afternoon or evening after not eating in the morning.”
That is my reply to people when they are ’shocked’ that someone as healthy as I am has chosen to “skip” breakfast. Like you said in your post “Break - Fast”. . . It doesn’t have anything to do with “eat when I wake up”.
-jj
JJ - Yep, we are all breaking the rules and the general public can’t seem to think we are healthy….even if we are strong and low BF and healthy…and they are overweight and on 3 different medications. Funny how the world works sometimes. I bet if Oprah said it was ok, then everyone would come around.
Oprah had neti pots on once. . . caused an international shortage of neti pots, and now you can buy them at places like Rite Aid and Walgreens.
If Oprah backed IF the country would be in a lot better place.
-jj
But in a recent post you wrote, “Looking at everything above, you can see why we want to have the PNS on most of the time (as that is what helps us digest food, detox the body, increase organ function, boosts the immune system, reduces inflammation, builds muscles, etc..etc). The SNS is meant for shorts bursts only, as once the fight or flight is over…then the body can slow down, shift over to the PNS response and heal and repair itself as needed. The problem is not with the short bursts of stress, but the chronic stress (ongoing for extended periods of time) in our lives…the ones that keep the SNS activated all day and do not allow the PNS to take over. Chronic SNS can lead to reduced digestion, improper organ function, malabsorption of essential vitamins and minerals (as part of the digestive process), lowered immune function, muscle breakdown and loss, sickness, increased inflammation, etc..etc. Not a road we want to go down I would assume for all of us.”
So this post seems like a complete turnaround. Please explain.
Just wanted to let you know that this morning i skipped my “breakfast/pre-workout” meal and just drank lots of water and caffeine and had an awesome workout, waited an hour had a little oatmeal, melon, and eggs and felt more energized than usual throughout the day.
Will - Good observation. Ori’s point is to keep the “alertness” from a SNS point over view to keep alert and burning calories and not fall asleep from too much food that may switch over to an excessive PNS response (aka digestion and blunt energy from other areas). Both systems do run at the same time….it’s not so simple that either one is on of off, it more a matter of which one is dominant. There are always going to be little stressors during the day but we need to just keep them in check. Ideally during the day you want to have enough alertness and not so much that it causes chronic stress issues. In the end, if you eat less during the day, exercise and keep digestion minimal (or easy) you will keep alert, burn calories and feel great. That’s his point as he advocated the largest meal at night when alertness is not neccessary.
Jack - Great job. I can’t tell you how easier workouts feel on an empty stomach and a little coffee. (and water)
Isn’t this the way sumo wrestlers eat and train?
Alin - Comparing a person who is actively training for 4-5 hours a day fasted and eating 8000-10,000 calories of mostly carbohydrates is hardly a good comparison to someone eating healthy and doing shorter workouts (less than 45 min). Lots of variables to consider. Hence why trying to do IF on one big meal a day that is mostly carbs is NOT going to work…and I’ve stated that many times.
I eat breakfast … zone proportions … i like breakfast … is that bad, then?
Rachel - if you are eating zone all day long and getting results then by all means you can stick with it. I just don’t want people fearing that if they skip breakfast that they are going to shut down their metabolism or lose all their muscle….it doesn’t happen like that.
This is sooo huge for me. I always thought breakfast was very necessary meal but I always found myself very tired even when I got 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Makes so much sense. I can’t wait to incorporate it right away. Thanx
Deecee - Look at other lifestyle factors as well. Too much stress will wear you out and leave you feeling tired. Has to do with having healthy adrenal and thyroid function. Too much chronic overstimulation from stress will just burn out your adrenals.
What a fabulous and common sense blog/site this is! Thanks so much MikeOD for your research and your clarity in providing us with such important information, as well as the time you take to answer questions and explain things.
The whole Ya Gotta Eat Breakfast myth is the result of a giant PR Campaign by cereal makers. At some point (cant remember exact decade–maybe 1930’s-40’s-50’s) those great humanitarians in the cereal industry were concerned about pumping up sales and making more profits so they began to push the claim: “EVERYONE MUST EAT BREAKFAST TO BE HEALTHY! It was all about profits, not about health! And many in the nutrition industry pushed it too, along with that dangerous old food pyramid. So today, unaware parents willingly spend $4-$5 for a few-ounce box of carbs so sonny can go to school “healthy” (and loaded with sugar–half-asleep, maybe a trouble maker from ADD, and grumpy an hour later.)
Take a look at Atkins’ old graph showing the development of CV disease (& obesity) in the USA and you will see that there is a direct correlation between sugar intake and diseases, especially of the CV system. And this was NOT caused by the intake of natural sat fats as The Margerine Industry tried to convince us. My (dairy-grain) farming grandfather began his physically demanding day with bacon and eggs and full cream in his coffee and remained slim all his 80 years. (His lungs were damaged in a barn fire and he had been a smoker so it was emphysema which eventually got him but his heart was not the problem.)
I do a 18-19 hr fast daily and feel great. Have so much energy my younger friends envy me. And as someone has observed so wisely, I have learned to value the sensation of mild hunger as I break my fast. Lets me know my body is in touch with reality and ready to enjoy a meal of whole foods.
This is a great article. I am glad to see you reference Ori’s
work. I have been a follower of his for a number of years.
He has some wonderful products too.
I just visited your site and plan on following it regularly.
Ok so I am going to start IF this week. M question is that I get up at 5am work out (Crossfit) a 6am and go to work at 7:30am If I have a PWO shake of apple juice protein powder and a banana immediately after my workout would that be considered breaking my fast. I think Keeping my eating window to 5-10pm would work best with my scheule but I still feel that a pwo source of protein and glucose imperative.
Sally - I think you nailed it with saying “knowing your body is in touch with reality and ready to enjoy food”. Most people don’t enjoy food…they just shovel it in to overcome mental attachments to it (such as using it to combat depression or sadness…that is not being in touch with your body or why food is really there).
John - Ori is a smart guy and his WD book is what got me learning more about other possibilities than eating 6x a day. I like his approach esp for the more active days…keeping eating light and then enjoy a bigger recovery meal at night.
Joey - are you doing CF every day? Not knowing the answer to that it could be as simple as eat all day as needed when you train, and then attempt IF on the non-workout days. You don’t have to do it everyday remember and you have to take into account your activity level and recovery needs. I like the WD attitude as well saying keep it light during the day and then bigger meals at night. Eating food breaks a fast just by the definition of it, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t find an eating pattern that still allows you to have energy all day and burn fat.
ori hofmekler clearly doesnt know what he is talking about. fight or flight is one of the most basic psychological principles. when the fight or flight mechanism is initiated energy is used up in order to prepare muscles for either scenario. whilst this may contract the stomach it does not mean you require less food. it is simply a survival mechanism ensuring blood is directed to the working muscles rather than the momentarily unnescesarry digestive system. however, elongating the fight or flight response leads to depleted energy stores and possible stomach ulcers. therefore by starving yourself and remaining in fight or flight mode you will actually be doing double the amount of negativity towards your body. not eating is a naive way looking at weight loss. the solution is very simple, continue to eat more but get some good bloody excersize
Raymond - I can agree staying in a starvation state of little to no calories for days and weeks at a time is not good (as starvation does not happen in a day) but I think you missed the whole point of temporary SNS activation leading into a PNS response with a larger meal at night. He eats plenty of calories at night as do most people with IF. Don’t confuse meal/nutrient intake and timing with starvation. (that is NOT what is going on here) Eating more and exercise more really is just going to do nothing to help an already broken metabolism stay broken. I mean you can burn fat many ways, but do you want a more efficient fat burning metabolism working on less calories or just an accelerated broken one with more calories and increased metabolic waste/oxidative damage? We have already seen plenty of evidence to point to increased longevity with decreased calorie intake/metabolism. Plus if just moving more really worked that way fpr fat loss, aerobics would of cured the obesity epidemic in 1986 with neon headbands and bad music. People need to move more today for sure as a sedentary lifestyle is not healthy, but they also need to focus on eating as that is where the weight loss comes from. That and people need to break their mental attachment to eating all the time, as that is only going to worsen the situation if the choices are not healthy.
Thanks Mike.
I do Crossfit 3 on 1 off and i do it as soon as I wake up every morning. Then I go to work at a labour job until 4:30 followed bu Capoeira training 3 times a week from 7:30 until 9:00. I was eating six big meals a day and wondering why every day at around 2:30pm I would have a horrible crash. I figured that I just had to eat more. Monday and Tuesday I fasted until I got home at 5:00pm and found that despite some grumbling in my stomach I had tons of energy and no afternoon crash. Today I followed the Warrior Diet and I had a PWO shake of orange juice, a banana and a scoop of all natural whey protien powder. During the day I had 2 hardboiled eggs with the yolks removed and a small handful of cashews and almonds. I felt great all day and had more energy than ever. I definitely think I will stick to the WD on training days and on off days I’ll IF for 18 hours followed but the FEAST when I get home (on all Paleo foods though)
Oh yeah I am 5 foot 6, 150 pounds. Fat loss is not a worry for me as I am between 4-6% body fat and my crossfit times are quite good (fran in 3 min 8 seconds) I am just always looking for ways to fine tune my fitness. Nut I always found it difficult to drag myself to Capoeira when I can barely keep my eyes open in the afternoon. I do believe I have found the solution with IF and WD.
one more thing sorry about the spelling, I guess I should spend more time editing my work before hitting the submit button
Joey - Don’t worry I dont take off points for spelling. That’s the real key, finding how IF or other strategies can work for you….since everyone has different lifestyles and activity levels. Enjoy your pwo feasts….as that is how the hunters celebrate!
Oh. My. Gosh. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I have forced myself to eat breakfast over the years, in spite of NOT being even slightly hungry at that time of day. Wow. This is liberating. I have always found I have more energy and focus when I don’t eat breakfast–in fact sometimes I feel a bit of a buzz–and then when I stop to eat it’s almost like putting the brakes on my progress for the rest of the day. Can anyone else relate to this?
I’m still having a hard time getting my head around the idea that I don’t need to jump-start my metabolism each morning and keep eating throughout the day to lose weight. I recently made a commitment to cutting refined carbs and added sugars from my diet, after years of being a sugar addict, and apart from my difficlulty with letting go of soda, it has been much easier than I thought it would be. I can’t stop thinking about that dietician who told me in the 80’s to eat fat-free and do long, slow cardo for weght control. I took her word for it and that really got my carb addiction going! And I have the belly fat to prove it…
I do have a couple of questions about developing an effective eating plan. I have always been fairly active and I recently started the 12 week Turbulence Training challenge for weight loss/muscle gain. I am looking to lose about 15-20 lb and drop about 5-6% bodyfat (currently 26%, down from 33.5% in March of ‘07). I am 5′5″, 43 years old and currently weigh 158lb. I would really like to incorporate IF in my program 2x/week, and I just want to make sure I have a good idea of what to eat and when. I’m doing my workouts around 10am three days a week with other “fun” stuff on alternating days. I currently do the beginner workout, but I will be bumping it up a notch and adding some weights to the mix after next week.
I am assuming from these posts that I am free to start my day with just some green tea or chai (no milk or sugar) and a glass of water and get on with my workouts, which makes me REALLY happy to think about. If I am fasting after a good veg/protein dinner, and then I do a workout at 10am, do I need to be eating something within 3 hours of ending that workout, or can I continue fasting until later in the afternoon? Does it make a difference in fat loss? I’m not sure I need to add much more than a few pounds of muscle, but there is a real need for fat loss here.
Thanks for a great blog and I look forward to your comments.
Hi,
I am new to this and just started Fast-5 this week. That is how I found this website and cannot wait to receive the book on the home page. I have also read Brad Pilon’s book. I found it interesting about the man who fasted all day, exercised,and a meal of 2 bigmac meals every evening and stayed trim and healthy. I am would not do that but it is nice to know that I do not have to feel guilty if I decided to indulge at buffet or fast food every once in awhile and not have to through my diet to the wind.
Tracey
Evangeline - I think you said it best with “this is liberating”…because that is how life should be lived. The choice is of course there daily but you should not feel like you are imprisoned within your own mindset….nothing free about that. The whole “jump start your metabolism” assumes that it comes to a stop if you don’t eat…which is very false, only long term low calorie intake will do that….plus really do you need a super metabolism to burn fat or just a balanced approach that still controls insulin and leaves you in a calorie deficit. Honestly post workout timing really depends on the type of workout and intensity done. It is a window in which you can enhance muscle re-growth and should be used after more resistance training workouts. If it’s more interval based with less resistance training then it should not be as urgent. You could also try IF on your non-workout days and have more lifestyle cardio (walking, hiking, tennis, whatever you enjoy) and then do your resistance training fasted and eat small after. You will have to monitor your progress. People who lift very intense do better with some pre-workout fruit to help them get through the workout, but everyone has different goals. You are right about sugars and carbs, while they are not the enemy (as I put in the latest post about carbs) BUT if not used properly can lead to weight gain. Most do well on a lower carb diet and proper carb-ups around workouts as needed.
Tracey - Not sure big macs are the pillar of healthy eating, but you get the message about meals and calories. Exercise and movement is a big part of also being healthy longterm, as the body was designed to move. No need to feel guilty about anything in life, enjoy what you do but also have a sense of balance in terms of your health and goals you want to achieve.
So I’m actually going to try this, and I think I like this better — skipping breakfast. I have ALWAYS been a breakfast person, but today I skipped breakfast and actually feel better. I may try doing this a few times a week, with a longer fast on my rest day (Sunday), just to see how things turn out. I’m sick of zone, and definitely am ready for something new!
Hi Mike,
I just received this link from your sister (a friend of mine) and wanted to skim it some as I’m trying to lose weight and get in better shape. I haven’t really ready anything but a few articles so I don’t know much about IF, but I’m usually hungry in the morning and if I don’t eat breakfast I feel nauseous. (Usually I eat a boiled egg and sometimes a turkey sausage patty or a part-skim mozz. cheese stick, and drink a cup of Wu-Yi tea.)
Diabetes runs in my family (one of the reasons I’m watching what I eat). My mother and sister that are diabetic (late-onset, controlled through diet/meds - not insulin) don’t eat breakfast and never really have. It just seems like a strange idea to me to not eat breakfast. I guess I equate onset of diabetes with the life-style of not eating breakfast.
What are your thoughts?
Rachel - That’s really the key, just finding what does work for you and your lifestyle + goals. Zone is a great learning place for people to start…but to me not a realistic lifestyle. The key is learning and then applying in a way that is more consistent day after day…hence why IF is so easy for me (and many others) to follow.
Dawn - Hi. The nausea part may be from hypoglycemia…or many also just have anxiety (as we all have too many strong attachments subconsciously to food) if they don’t eat. When in doubt I always say go get some fasting blood work from your Dr who will know if you have hypoglycemia issues or not. As far as diabetes is concerned, you have to look at the whole family equation including were your mother and sister also overweight? Did they exercise at all? What did they eat the rest of the day? Did they get enough sleep? Was there high stress environments? Etc. It’s more important to control your insulin and get regular exercise to combat diabetes. You don’t have to do any fasting to start (but it can help with lowering insulin resistance issues), but also know that not eating breakfast is not going to be the main cause of diabetes as well. If they ate high carb/sugar meals, had high fasting insulin and did not exercise on a regular basis…then it probably won’t matter when they ate, as they would still have diabetes. Quality of food, lower carb intake (no sugar) + daily activity is the big focus and many who even have diabetes can find control and balance with that combination. You should also read this article on Insulin control and health.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I’m pretty sure I’m hypoglycemic. (Just visited the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation’s site and took their test - a score of under 20 is normal and I scored a 67.) So basically, skipping breakfast is not an option for me. (Of course, my body was telling me that!)
As for my mother and sister with diabetes, my mom is definitely not overweight - never has been - and my sister has been thin as a rail up until 2 years ago when she had her third child. They both are very similar in that they are “constant movers.” I personally think that it’s stress that got them and the fact that they eat all the wrong things. (My sister was the ultimate junk-food junkie!)
So, I’m going to read up on hypoglycemia and start implementing changes to my diet. (I’ve been really bad for the past 6-9 months.)
Again, thanks for the reply!
Dawn - Yes stress and sugar will lead to a diabetic condition as their insulin is spiking all day long, creating an insulin resistance causing more insulin to be released….until the pancreas can’t keep up and then diabetes strikes (as it’s all about the insulin response system and blood sugar management). If skipping breakfast is not going to work for you, then make sure you just eat a balanced blood sugar meal (which means some whole food proteins, healthy fats and non-sugar based carbs, like fruit). IF may not be right for everyone, esp if there are bigger issues that need attention like overall diet choices and exercise. Some people may work their way into using some form of IF down the road, but more important is making the right food choices now and doing some resistance based movement for the muscles, as that will also help with any insulin resistance issues that may be underlying. When in doubt it is always good to get a simple blood test to see what your fasting blood sugar and insulin levels are, as that will tell alot of what is going on right there. First step is get rid of all processed carbs and sugars, they are the source of your potential issues. Then eat more proteins and healthy fats. All diet books are based on the whole insulin response balancing act, as that is the one hormone you need to take control of for weight loss and overall health. Fish Oil is also recommended (for most everyone) to help increase insulin sensitivity.
Breakfast is called the most important meal of the day, because many people who skip it may just end up giving into cravings and hunger and binging on sugar and carbs later on (which obviously is not a good thing for weight loss or health). That’s not the goal here. Proper food intake/balance and insulin control is the main goal whether you eat 2x a day….or 6x a day.
Lastly waking up is also a function of cortisol (as that is how it raises the blood sugar so you can get out of bed). If you are waking tired and groggy, then chances are your cortisol cycle is all messed up. Best way again to get that back to a normal rythm is proper exercise, eating right, control insulin, managing stress and most importantly getting to bed early (ideally before 10-11pm). You may notice just the simple task of going to bed earlier and how it can synch your natural hormonal pattern…as the later you stay up, the more it is out of it’s natural pattern. It comes down to the simple philosophy every time that if you move, eat and sleep in the ways the body was meant for, it will take care of itself….if not, then many things can go wrong.
Hi Mike, I have been confounded by the fact that I have been Crossfitting like an animal for 18 months, made great perfomance gains (Fran went from 20 min. to 5 min.) but still have a huge gut! Of course, you probably already knew this can happen - I have been shocked and irritated.
In an effort to combat this situation I have stopped eating bad carbs and adopted “zone-like behaviors” but it has made little difference in my body comp so far. I’m getting more disciplined about paleo but it is challenging to find good food sources because I travel every week.
Anyway, I have 2 questions:
1. I workout from 7-8 pm, after which it is hard to find a decent meal (no kitchen in my hotel, no grocery within walking distance). Would it be disastrous to start my IF after lunch at 3pm and skip the post WO meal? If I must do the post WO meal, could I just drink a muscle milk (for convenience) instead of a meal? I’m never hungry anyway and go to sleep at 10pm.
2. Does it matter how many meals you have each day (IF or non-IF)? I always thought 5-6 was best but now, with what I’ve read about IF, looks like you only need to eat a couple times per day. (1-3?)
Aaron - make sure to read my recent posts on “Is your exercise making you fat”. There are lots of things possibly going on, but I guess #1 is overtraining and lack of recovery. I suggest you take your workouts down to 3x a week and make sure to get plenty of sleep and time off otherwise. Sounds like you may also do well with a more low carb approach during the week and then a little bit more freedom on the weekends. As far as IF, you can do it on your non-workout days as remember it’s not something you need to do everyday. I would suggest eating small and light so close to bed and definitely avoid high sugar foods/drinks (as you don’t want to spike insulin before bed and shut down GH). As far as meal frequency, 3 or 6 it doesn’t matter as long as you are controlling insulin and getting in healthy foods. Smaller meals are always a better idea than one huge one every day…so if you can do 3 good healthy meals you should be fine. Also use the weekends to be a little more relaxed and enjoy some foods, there are many reasons to do this including keeping your hormones strong, replenishing glycogen in muscles, keeping metabolism strong, and just keeping sane.
Mike - Thank you so much for answering my previous post. I may possibly get myself fired for spending so much time everyday scouring your site. There is so much good information and clarity here - I feel like you and Robb Wolf are the only ones I can trust! Sorry this post is so long, but I am seeing good body comp changes and other benefits and just really want to nail down some details.
I have implemented most of your suggestions with great success. Last weekend I gave the low carbing and diet a break and ate what I wanted to. While eating my fill this weekend, I noticed that my muscles felt pumped and I didn’t feel like I was getting fatter until day 3 of eating big. This I take as evidence that the carbs were going to the right place. I also practiced IF all weekend, which was very easy and natural - workout at noon, stuff yourself, don’t eat again until you feel hungry the next morning.
This week I have pushed breakfast from 7am to 10am (to get a 14 hour mini-fast) and today I am fasting until hunger overtakes me (it has been 16 hours so far and I haven’t felt the tiniest bit hungry). In fact, ever since I’ve been learning about IF and paying attention to my body I’ve noticed that I’m almost NEVER hungry (no wonder I’m chubby, I keep myself stuffed all the time).
For workouts - I don’t want to go down to 3 times a week - they keep me sane and are all I have to look forward to during the week. I really want to stick to the Crossfit prescription of 3-on/1-off. For sleep - I am a sleep whore, I get 8-9 hours M-Th and 12+ Fri, Sat, Sun.
Fine tuning - Fueling my workouts: Monday workout is consistently a screamer (due to all the carbs from the weekend, I assume). However, as the week goes on I get weaker (I feel great all day, just not in my workouts) and by my Wednesday workout either my calves cramp up uncontrollably and i have to stop or I just have nothing in tank and can’t generate any real intensity.
For cramping calves and bonking - I assume this is due to a shortage of carbs or glycogen in the muscles? (I hydrate frequently and stretch). Is the answer to this more carbs spread out during the day, immediately pre-workout, during the workout, PWO from the night before? Or is it something else? Should I take some silly energy drink or Endurox or something?
Do you have any recommendations on what and when I’m eating, based on my sample week below? I’m 6′, #195, est. bf 20%. Workout 3-on/1-off with 4 miles of jogging each night to get to the gym and back.
Monday 7:45 Muscle Milk - 1 scoop
9:15 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, handful peanuts, 1 apple, 1 orange
2:15 4oz Chicken, 6 tbs rice, 1 apple, handful peanuts
7:00 Workout - 1 hour
8:00 3 pieces of chicken
9:30 3 pieces of chicken
Tuesday 9:30 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, handful peanuts, 1 apple
1:00 5oz Chicken, 6tbs rice
3:00 Handful Peanuts
7:00 Workout - 1 hour
8:00 Muscle Milk premade
8:30 2 pieces of chicken, 1 apple
Wednesday 9:30 3 eggs, 2 sausage, handful peanuts, 1 apple
2:15 4oz Chicken, 6 tbs rice, handful peanuts
7:15 8oz steak, cup mash pot., cup asparagus, cup wine
Thursday 10:00 3 eggs, 2 sausage, handful peanuts, 1 apple
2:15 4oz Chicken, 6 tbs rice, handful peanuts, 1 orange
7:00 Workout - 1 hour
8:30 Muscle Milk premade, 1 apple
9:00 6″ ham sub
Friday 10:00 1 cup oatmeal w/ honey, 1 scoop protein powder
12:00 Workout
2:00 Boston Market - half chicken, cup mashed potatoes, cup of corn, corn bread, coke, piece of cake, glass of milk
FAST until Saturday morning
Aaron - 3 on/1 off is a pretty tough schedule to keep up the intensity. You may have to up the carbs like a Zone percription (why many who do CF frequently like Zone for performance). I would say you could keep up a lower intensity based workout with a lower carb diet, but if you are doing lots of explosive work you need glycogen. I am sure you will fine tune and find what works best….as that is the way to do it, start somewhere, make a few tweaks and see how you feel.
Why?
Christoph - Because you want to keep insulin levels manageable and not super spike them (which happens with larger meals). Also you are able to distribute out more healthy nutrients while still getting all the neccessary calories in….without having to resort to junk food. Too much all at once will just cause a spillover effect in which fat cells will get more.
I have been testing this over the last 2 years and it really works to skip breakfast.
3 times i followed advice that said to have a good breakfast and within 2 weeks i would put on weight…. but when i dropped back to just a coffee or tea for breakfast i would fall into a healthy weight range.
I even found i could go on a 3 hour bike ride with NO ill effects and managed to built my best times in the hills.
Ive also notice that breakfast cereal companies in Aust have stopped telling adults that they shouldnt skip breakfast, they do say children should eat in the morning but the wording for adults is different.
The higher incidence of motor vehicle accidents in the month of Ramadan is probably not due to fasting. When i was in Malaysia (a majority muslim country) which has an enormous increase in road fatalities (usually involving motorcycles) during the month of Ramadan, it was due to the fact that most people were heading back home (i.e to suburban villages, towns) from the big cities to celebrate the coming end of Ramadan. And believe me, when you have a large number of moped/vespa/motorcycle riders riding like the wind to get home to the suburbs day & evening, you will get plenty of fatalities - You really have to see how they ride bikes in asia to believe it.
On another note here in Dubai we have fatalities month in and out due to reckless driving and powerful cars (cheap gas too!) Ramadan or not.
I think the truth is not out … yet. I did try this for a few weeks and every day, by 10 am, I had an intense hunger pang and soon it would give me a headache and I felt weak the whole day. I initially thought it was a part of getting accustomed to the system, but that was not all.
When I finally ate in the evening, I binged. I guess the same primal mechanism you mentioned also gets alerted when there is no food when expected and hence when it finally does, tempts you to binge and stores most of the food thinking it is a famine situation. Hence, I binged and felt heavy and sleepy and literally my days were going wasted. So, I stopped after a month.
These days I have my smallest meal at dinner…just some steamed veggies and tea and have it early by 6. You have no idea of the wonderful energy I have. The funny thing is I still feel intense hunger only around 10 in the morning and I eat well at that time and surprise! I feel alert and strong the whole day, than I did when I fasted in the morning.
Sind - The only thing that matters to me is that you are feeling great and healthy. If it didn’t work for you, then IF may not be right for you….and that’s ok. It doesn’t have to be right for everyone. Sounds like a hypoglycemic response you have which may be signs of larger issues like insulin resistance. I would suggest (to anyone) to make sure to get your fasting blood sugar and insulin checked out by a Dr on a regular basis. Those are the numbers that really matter in terms of health, that and inflammation markers like CRP (C-reactive protein).