Tough time eating breakfast first thing

[ccbloom]

I have a bit of a tough time eating breakfast first thing in the morning. I know it's best to workout in the morning, but with my schedule, it's tough to workout first thing, trying to get a little one ready and then off for the day and then having to work myself. I have the time to eat, but my stomach just doesn't seem to want the food. I have my cup of coffee, and if I think of eggs or oatmeal or anything, my stomach turns.

Any help or suggestions? Thanks!

[Chris]

Coffee is an appetite suppressant, so it's not the best thing for triggering your morning stomach into action. It's probably better to save it for after your meal. I'm into bananas first thing. I walk downstairs, let my dogs out, and grab a banana.. it's only about 4 or 5 good sized bites and my day is off to a great start. I usually then take my shower and have my "real" breakfast. The banana does wonders for cranking up my appetite.

Incidentally I discovered this "trick" while trying to put ON some weight. I was having a hard time chowing down a bigger breakfast and the banana did the trick for me. I'm not suggesting that you necessarily need to eat a bigger breakfast, but it may do the trick for you.

Good luck

[ccbloom]

Thanks, Chris - I'll see if I can make it until after breakfast to have my coffee. That may be tough! But I'll try.

I wonder if I'd be better off with a shake first thing? Maybe I'll give that a try too. I'm seriously having a tough time getting my eggs down right now. :/

[yakubu]

Originally Posted by ccbloom

I have a bit of a tough time eating breakfast first thing in the morning. I know it's best to workout in the morning, but with my schedule, it's tough to workout first thing, trying to get a little one ready and then off for the day and then having to work myself. I have the time to eat, but my stomach just doesn't seem to want the food. I have my cup of coffee, and if I think of eggs or oatmeal or anything, my stomach turns.

Any help or suggestions? Thanks!

i wud suggest for your breakfast that you eat a banana and a whey protein shake. you only need 200-250ml of water in the whey and you can throw it down your neck in one big gulp. banana are so easy to eat, they are so soft and you can finish one in less than 30 seconds. whey is protein and banana is carbs so thats a full meal

either that or have a meal replacement shake. all u have to do is drink it. i wouldnt recommend myplex though cos these are very hard to stomach. its so thick even when u put 500ml of water in it and i myself even have difficulty getting a myplex down my neck even after a workout when im starving.

[yakubu]

o by the way i thought i heard the word coffee ? i hope its your free day and you dont have a coffee any other day of the week

[Chris]

Originally Posted by yakubu

o by the way i thought i heard the word coffee ? i hope its your free day and you dont have a coffee any other day of the week

HUh?? What you talkin bout Willis?!

Coffee is very much allowed, encouraged even. caffeine is an excellent fat burner. As long as you don't load it up with cream and sugar it's a great way to start your day.

[Rhone]

Chris' advice is good. I concur that eating oatmeal in the morning can be kind of difficult--oatmeal tends to be very filling.

My usual BFL breakfast is a scoop of protein mixed with 8oz skim milk (for the protein portion and part of the carb portion), and a 4oz Activia yogurt (the rest of the carb portion); it's nice and light, doesn't make me feel too full, but it gives me the roughly 300 calories I aim for per meal.

[JoelMarion]

Hey ccbloom,

I'm like you and tend to not be so hungry first thing in the morning. I would definitely go with a protein shake blended with fruit for your first meal. I use this approach with clients frequently who have similar issues and it works great.

Take care,

[sshultz]

Yeah, why wouldn't you have coffee? The only time I've seen it stressed that coffee was bad for weight loss was something like Atkins. And I really don't think anyone here plans on going keto.

[JoelMarion]

Caffeine can have a negative impact on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, both in the short and long term. So, if your breakfast contains ample carbohyrates (which it should), it may be best to go with decaf.

Hope that helps,

[yakubu]

coffee just aint good for you full stop. its like a drug, it gives u a buzz then wears off. anything like should be avoiding really if you are concentrating on being a healthy individual

[ccbloom]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm okay with having coffee. I don't drink that much. One 8oz cup in the morning, sometimes two if I need it, but not so much anymore. It used to be a large Dunkin' Donuts everyday, but it's been a while since I did that (several months since I bought my Keurig). It didn't hinder my progress in any other challenges, and I definitely drank more of it then...sometimes a lg and med. per day. If I find that I'm not progressing as I should, I'll evaluate the coffee situation and play around to see if that affects anything. I've really changed a lot of things for the better, it's all baby steps, and I won't think my day was a failure or off-program if I have a cup of coffee.

Okay, this morning was a little better. Sort of. I got up at 8am (very late for me, but dd decided to sleep in so I took advantage). Did my UBWO at 9:15am once dd was gone - I didn't eat anything prior, and I didn't have any coffee. Workout was fine. I made a whey shake and a bowl of oatmeal. The whey didn't go down so smoothly and only drank half, but the oatmeal was ok. I'm not really sure why the shake didn't taste good? Maybe no banana like usual? I don't know.

[Hamoth]

Originally Posted by ccbloom

I have a bit of a tough time eating breakfast first thing in the morning. I know it's best to workout in the morning, but with my schedule, it's tough to workout first thing, trying to get a little one ready and then off for the day and then having to work myself. I have the time to eat, but my stomach just doesn't seem to want the food. I have my cup of coffee, and if I think of eggs or oatmeal or anything, my stomach turns.

Any help or suggestions? Thanks!

You aren't getting enough sleep would be my bet. I have some severe sleep disorders and have a serious issue with food in the morning. I mentioned this to my doctors and have been told that the same part of the brain regulates sleep and appetite. When you suppress the normal drive for sleep to get up, you are suppressing your appetite too. This will also drive down your metabolism and keep your body functioning in fat-gain mode. To overcome this you need to work against your sleep debt.

Recent science has shown links between sleep debt and obesity as well as coronary disease.

In my opinion the "secret" component of BFL is your time to bed and time to rise. You have to set sleep goals and wake goals in order to compete. Sleep is when your muscle builds. It's when your body heals. It's the most important (and pleasurable) part of your workout.

You can not make it up on the weekends. Just like you can't skip all your meals and workouts during the week and make those up by eating and lifting weights nonstop on Saturday.

If you have been depriving yourself of sleep for a long time, you need to start sleeping 9 hours a night while you are on the program. Your appetite will be back when your sleep debt is lowered enough that you can sleep without hammering your cortex so hard that the thought of food makes you nauseous.

If your problem isn't sleep deprivation then maybe the coffee deprivation will continue to improve your breakfast outlook!

Good luck.