What to eat for breakfast if you only have ten minutes?

slizzardman said:

The typical paleo lifestyle will almost certainly protect you from diabetes and in many cases obesity, and will probably make you feel good on a day to day basis. That does not mean it is the only way to accomplish this and it does not mean that typical paleo lifestyle has the most protective benefits in all areas.

If what you call paleo is eating steak and extra fat for energy and veggies for vitamins then yes, you will almost certainly have organ issues later in life.

If what you call paleo is getting the protein you actually can use from steak or other meats (or even plant proteins, combined intelligently), and eating veggies or fruits (in season, of course) for carb requirements and using plant or animal fats for the rest of the energy you need then you will probably live your healthiest life.

The difference between the two is hard to make out :oops:

What macronutrient percentages would you recommend?

I think I get it. Carbs are vitally important too ?

I have changed my breakfast meal about 3 months ago and I feel a lot better in the mornings and it has greatly reduced my need for coffee at work.

I have a shake that consists of many healthy ingredients. A typical example would be:

Fresh Pineapple Chunks

Blueberries

Ginger Root

1 Tablespoon of Active 12+ Manuka Honey

1 Serving of a Greens Mix (I use Athletic Greens)

1 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil

24g Egg Protein Powder

1 Serving BCAA's (Xtend)

2 Tablespoons of Plain Yoghurt

Around 500ml Water

Blend like crazy!

This seems to be a lot to put together in one shake but it comes out tasting great although a little green looking. As you can tell it has a lot of good nutrition and a decent amount of protein for the body.

Oatmeal with no syrup or sugar added makes for good carbs with fiber. Some will add nuts, apple slices, other fruits, even semisweet chocolate chips. A lot of strength athletes use oatmeal. To get the protein, eggs (without yolks if cholesteral is an issue) as others have suggested are a good source of protein. Milk, Skyr yogurt have a good amount of whey and cassin as well. Some yogurts have no added sugar. If you want to avoid the more refined sugars but still want some sweet taste, a little tiny bit of agave syrup or honey will work and does not have nearly the same effect on insulin spiking as sugar. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute that does not have the same problems as aspartame or sucralose.

I have an anecdote regarding cereal.

A couple weeks each year I stay with some athletes in a training camp. The cafeteria is divided into two lines, the hot food line (includes salads) and the cold food line (milk, cereal, yogurt, ham and cheese samwidges). Technically you could get a blend of food from both sides, but you would have to wait in two lines so nobody does.

All the athletes with good or excellent(very low) body fat percentages eat from the hot food line in the morning. The athletes who eat from the cold food line also tend to get "wall eyes" before the morning training session is over. (They start looking for a wall to slump against).

This seems to be true for all the post-pubescent age-groups.

I think cereal has been given an undeservedly bad reputation on this board. There's nothing wrong with cereal as long as it doesn't have tons of sugar, just get some protein too. Contrary to what appears to be popular opinion around here most cereals happen to be loaded with vitamins as well.

*Edit*

In before "any vitamins that aren't from animals/fruits/veggies are worthless."

Not mentioned least in my cursory look through with high-protein diets is joint pain. Some people do not process it completely and end up with joint pain as a result they blame it on other sources or excess training etc since they do not have a history of gout. It's similar and a good quantity of vegetables will help but excess urea can and does cause joint issues in some individuals.

I eat this for breakfast:

50gr (2oz) whey protein

75gr (3oz) of instant oats (grinded oatmeal like these: http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/instant_oats)

400ml water

Put them with water in a shaker bottle, quick shake and finish. All ready in less than 2 minutes

Complete meal and it contains everything you need, fibers, complex carbs and quick absorbed protein.

I think the biggest factor this discussion is neglecting is the fact that everyone's body is different, and therefore unique regarding what fuels them best. I was a religious paleo zone dieter for quite a long time. Aestetically, it was sound. I was the leanest ever! However, I felt like an earthworm. Day in and day out, I was constantly fatigued, dehydrated, anxious, and insomniated. And it wasn't due to a calorie deficit, because I was eating copious amounts of food every single day. It was due to not eating the "right" foods. Only eating fruits and veggies as my source of carbs was insufficient for me. Building strength was out of the question. In fact, I wasted a year or more of strength training while on this diet.

The best thing I did was switch to a high carbohydrate diet. Grains, beans, pasta, and potatoes are the staple of my diet now. Yes, I quickly added a little body fat but it was well worth it. I bounce of the walls now and have had considerable strength gains ever since. I've known other athletes who have had a similar experience, and coincidentally have shared my body type and metabolism. Bottom line is: a diet that makes you feel like crap CANNOT be healthy for you. Also, worrying about what you eat all the time is psychologically deleterious.

All,

I respect each and everyone of your opinions and thoughts on the matter of nutrition. There is SO MUCH information out there on the subject, it's exciting to learn about different theories and methods for potentially bettering our athletic potential. But I'm sure you all would agree, that the essential requirement to having a completely correct and irrefutable claim is to have the claim completely validated in an unbiased, educated, researched, and validated way - correct? What better way to find out how something truly works than to have some sort of experiment, where there is no bias of product or lifestyle, where there are highly educated people in the specified field (Ph.D's) conducting it, and where the results can be replicated repeatedly using the same methods as the trial. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the fundamental characteristics of science.

The science that is responsible for allowing us to live to be eighty years old and run sub-4 minute miles. Nutrition, is also a science. Like math or physics, it must be learned in order to be utilized properly (for this discussion, as an athletic aid). So, what I would highly recommend for all is finding a teacher. You are all very intelligent and driven individuals, and would not be chatting about macronutrient ratios on some internet fitness forum if you were not! So why not give yourselves the respect of finding people worthy of teaching you? After all, it's your body, your mind - you deserve the best. With this in mind, if you are truly interested in nutritional sciences, please go on Google and find a Registered Dietitian in your area. Better yet, someone who is an accredited Sport Nutritionist.

Someone with the Registered Dietician (RD) title has a bachelors degree IN Nutrition, and has taken all of the lovely intricate science classes that teach them exactly how the molecules of whatever protein, carb, or fat interact with your body. They also require at least a year of internship, passing a national test, and a license by the state.

(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos077.htm#training)

If you can, find a sport nutritionist nearby. But you have to find someone that is accredited! Pretty much any sport nutritionist will have an RD - it's standard practice to attain that in the nutrition world. Look for Ph.D's in the field of nutrition...this stuff is their life's work.

Major universities might have a sport nutritionist for the athletic teams, if you live in a big city there is bound to be one in the area.

And please, if you want to do research on your own, look at peer reviewed journals - they are compilations of studies that are stamped with approval by the best in the field you are looking at.

Sport Nutrition Journal:

- http://www.jissn.com/

I hope I may have helped point some people in the right direction on such a large field...just remember to always validate whatever information you are getting with something that is concrete; in this case, science is that backing.

All the Best,

Jake

I agree with your sentiment Jake. The nutrition field on a professional level is a convoluted mess. With many varying theories and science to back and contradict each. That leads to many of these discussions. More importantly in my opinion much of this is being over thought. Few here are professional level athletes who need to manage their diets to that level.

Finding a good RD is definitely worth it but like anything make sure the conversation goes both ways and that they listen to your preferences and will change and adapt their plans for how it works for you. I'm not trying to be negative here but be a skeptic if something does not make sense ask about it.

If you really want to understand your body, understanding the relationhip between the hormones insulin and glucagon is a must. I have a few articles that can get folk started:.

Not sure why the url tags don't work; here's the full URL:

http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php ... ble-eating—but-first-what-is-that/

Personally, ten minutes is more than enough to make an omelette—with whatever you want to put in it, to get the protein–carb–fat relationship you want, for particular purposes.

As an aside, what got me interested in this subject, apart from the obvious, was that at the time I first started thinking about nutrition, there were a number of books on the market recommending high carbs, high fat, and high protein diets, and all were allegedly backed up by great science!

Because I am older, high quality protein and fats are my priority in the mornings; if I were to eat cereal without balancing protein/fats, I would feel really hungry 90 mins. later, as slizzardman suggests. Three boiled eggs, a few nuts, and a few dried apricots, though, will keep you going until lunchtime, and will not weigh you down, either (this introduces the notion of nutritional density.

The time to have more carbs (as a proportion of the weight of your meal) is right after a hard workout: there is a window immediately after training that allows more of the sugar produced by the carbs you eat to be absorbed by the muscles (as glycogen) rather than making new fat, but all this is a vast oversimplification; the chemistry is complex, and is influenced by one's genetics as well as lifestyle factors such as bodyweight muscle-fat ratios, age, activity level (and type of activity, especially). All will bear on what might be the ideal diet for you right now, given your current goals.

I am very happy to elaborate if there's interest.

Wow: I only now saw the 20 posts in between p. 1 and now (been on a plane).

Slizzardman wrote:

If what you call paleo is getting the protein you actually can use from steak or other meats (or even plant proteins, combined intelligently), and eating veggies or fruits (in season, of course) for carb requirements and using plant or animal fats for the rest of the energy you need then you will probably live your healthiest life.

Good call, I; I would call this 'sensible eating', but that's just my prejudice. One of the problems with the how-much-protein-is-too-much perspective is the labile amino acid pool we all have which (from memory) is about 350g. It comes from our bodies recycling everything from intestinal lining to superannuated red blood cells and protein excess to immediate requirements; the point here is that we are only topping this store up when we eat. Calculations about what the body can absorb may be accurate, but are not the whole story.

And "high protein" means what, exactly? In the current climate of high carb diets (here I mean 60% + as a proportion of total calories) are considered normal—yet, to answer an earlier question, there are no essential carbohydrates, only essential fatty acids (two of them) and essential amino acids (11 of these). Slizzardman's analysis of proportions of available amino acids in any diet, and his rejection of vegetarian diets, turns on the idea of an amino acid balance that is completely assimilated by the human body.

This includes eggs (that used to be the gold standard of proteins, until whey was discovered); and there are no complete vegetable proteins in this sense (and the reason for traditional people's protein combinations: the lack in one is made up by the excess in another; more-or-less complete being the outcome). Much more, but I must get on the next plane.

This is a great thread!

Razz said:

Pretty much anything is better than cereals. If you want results stop making excuses and get up 10 minutes earlier and go to bed earlier.

Like!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Paleonutrition" is just a word and it all depends on what you accept as a definition of this word.

http://www.dansplan.com/blog/787-five-slightly-different-flavors-of-the-paleo-diet

references 5 slightly different takes on the subject.

The one main difference is: what about potatoes?

I am now done with the mantra "paleo = low carb" and I have recently been more and more interested in the voices of :

Paul Jaminet (Perfect Health Diet)

and

Kurt Harris (http://www.archevore.com/)

All those years overanalyzing stuff on Internet, just to eventually get back to... meat and potatoes.

I'm surprised no one has suggested a can of tuna or salmon. I like Tabasco on mine. I can get a can down with a cup of coffee in just a few minutes. The upside is that it encourages you to floss and brush before you leave the house. Tuna and coffee breath is a "special" combination... :wink:

You know I always found it funny how the people concentrating on the little details (micro nutrient percentages, how much of carbohydrates is ok, protein absorption in one sitting) don't have have the basics down most of the time. Sticking to basic simple plan 100 percent of the time will always lead to better results rather than worrying about that last 10 percent of nutrition that really only benefits the elite athletes.

Everyone wants to think they are that 10 percent that needs small details but, realistically speaking, there just can't be that many elite athletes walking around. Old time strongmen followed a few general rules about diet with awesome results.

My own favorite breakfast is eggs with cheese and a side of either whole grain pancakes and fruit, peanut butter on fruit (peanut butter laid on real thick), or steak. Washed down with milk or juice. For a quick breakfast that takes less than 5 minutes and can be finished on the go I go with milk, peanut butter, protein powder and frozen fruit in a blender (throw in cinnamon and a vegetable mix if you are feeling particularly healthy).

I'm a cereal eater for the convenience and general ignorance about how/why it's bad for you, but since reading this thread I figured I'd try oatmeal w/milk & fried eggs this AM. The oatmeal was 3m in the microwave and the eggs were 5 minutes in the pan. Definitely doable with a 10-minute window, esp. if you start cooking first thing, then get ready while things are going. This is going to be my routine now, at least for a few weeks.

Typhoon said:

You know I always found it funny how the people concentrating on the little details (micro nutrient percentages, how much of carbohydrates is ok, protein absorption in one sitting) don't have have the basics down most of the time. Sticking to basic simple plan 100 percent of the time will always lead to better results rather than worrying about that last 10 percent of nutrition that really only benefits the elite athletes. .

Great point, one that needs to be paid much more attention

Typhoon, you are correct that the best routine is the one you follow, however, within the ones you are able to follow, there are definitely good ones and better ones. I am currently doing exactly as Sliz suggests and am seeing huge changes in my musculature and general fitness. I will post results including pics, what my routine was, what I ate, etc. in a few weeks. It will be a good example of something that can be done with a great plan rather than just a good one.

The best routine for you is the one you will do. The better routine you are able to do the better off you are. Naturally what is the best does rely on the individual and what they can do/fit in.

Patrick Smith,

I hope Typhoon doesn’t mind me having a go at responding to this, but – I think his main point wasn’t that these 10% things can’t make a difference, it’s just that there’s really a hierarchy of importance in regards to nutrition. Fundamentals need to be sorted before worrying about the details.

Eg, the person worrying about the specific timing of nutrients without having a clue about overall energy intake is going to be worse off than someone in the reverse situation.

garythenuke said:

Tuna and coffee breath is a "special" combination... :wink:

Can you please elaborate?

irongymnast said:

garythenuke said:

Tuna and coffee breath is a "special" combination... :wink:

Can you please elaborate?

Sorry about that, it's probably a language thing. Coffee breath is pretty bad once it gets a few hours on it. When you combine tuna on top of that you can pretty clear out the office space. My "special combination" here is NOT a good thing. I wasn't trying to get in depth with a discussion on bad breath...

Coffee breath... *shudder* don't remind me of that...

hahahaha nuclear impact!!

dlsso said:

I think cereal has been given an undeservedly bad reputation on this board. There's nothing wrong with cereal as long as it doesn't have tons of sugar, just get some protein too. Contrary to what appears to be popular opinion around here most cereals happen to be loaded with vitamins as well.

*Edit*

In before "any vitamins that aren't from animals/fruits/veggies are worthless."

If you are eating an otherwise healthy diet that can actually become a problem. Unfortunately I don't have enough time to rewrite books on nutrition and the long term consequences of overconsumption of certain vitamins. As a small example, the number one reason for young people having kidney stones is now overconsumption of vitamin C. Think about that. It's an acid. Your body neutralizes acids in the kidneys with calcium. Enough calcium deposited in the kidneys in a short enough window of time and you have a kidney stone. There are a number of vitamins that can each cause their own problems. That's just a simple example. You know why this happens? Because your body holds enough vitamin C for about 100 days. That's right. You use 15mg per day and your body holds 1500mg. If you are taking even 100mg per day you're taking like 9x more than you need. 90x more if you take 1500mg. This is fine every once in a while, but do this several times a week and you dramatically increase the risk of kidney stones.

That's the story of 1 vitamin, which I tell because people seem to think that water soluble vitamins and especially this one are harmless no matter how much you take.

Also, attention to the males of the forum: Do not take supplemental vitamin E. The large doses in supplements will dramatically raise your risk of prostate cancer.

As for cereals being ok, no one is saying they are rat poison. They do, however have an extremely high glycemic index. You will flood your body with a huge amount of energy faster than it can use it, which will cause excess energy to be stored as fat (to be fair, not as big an issue first thing in the morning when liver glycogen is at least half empty) and more importantly will contribute to insulin resistance.

Hunger + lots of carbs = enormous insulin release. Just be careful, and expect to need to mix in a fair amount of slow carbs to really get a proper energy distribution curve. Cereal in the morning, in reasonable portions, is one thing. Many people do not consume cereal within this limitation, which is why it is often causing people problems. It is really not much different from bread in this respect. Cereal pretty much IS breakfast bread with sugar. Of all times, breakfast is the best time to have such a meal, but it's important to know why this is ok at the first meal and how it affects you so that you use cereal properly.

Personally, I don't like how it makes me feel. That's just me.