Eating for Performance 101

Eating for Performance 101: Breakfast

Let’s start this series on the most basic note: How to set your self up for a good day.

No matter if you’re at the office, in the classroom, or on the playing field, the key ingredient for maximizing your potential is, you guessed it, BREAKFAST. And not just any bowl of boxed cereal or a donut will do. We have to eat properly to get our engines up and running well.

Let’s talk about the simple facts.

When we wake up in the morning we’ve not eaten or had any thing to drink in, let’s hope, over eight hours. A good rule of thumb…start off your day with a BIG glass of water. Yes, it’s true, we dehydrate while we sleep. If you have trouble stomaching cold water first thing, fill up your glass the night before and let it sit on the counter so it’s at least room temperature when you drink it. We also haven’t eaten all night and our blood sugar is down. Don’t forget that although you’re sleeping all kinds of activity is still going on in your body. When we wake up we’re a little depleted. In order to perform well we need to feed our bodies the proper nutrients to give it a good start to the day. What we eat first sets us up for the entire day.

What does a good breakfast look like?

A good breakfast combines protein with complex carbohydrates so our blood sugar response is not a severe spike but a gentle rise in blood sugar levels that stay elevated until we eat again. Eating a simple carbohydrate breakfast; like most sugary boxed cereals, instant oatmeal, rolls, bagels without any thing else, toast, etc. should be avoided. If simple carbs are the mainstay of your breakfast, you’ll find yourself tired, sluggish, and starving by midmorning! If you eat like this at the start of your day you set your blood sugar to rise sharply with every meal. Don’t forget that each rise has a corresponding dip which leaves you feeling tired when your blood sugar drops. As our day progresses we go up and down on this roller coaster until we fall into bed exhausted from a day of ups and downs. And we’re not just physically tired either! Low blood sugar can affect our emotional stability and our cognitive function!

Here are some simple ideas of what to have for breakfast:

Remember eggs? They are a great source of protein that have great amino acids in them like Lysine. Lysine helps to detox the body and stimulates the absorption of calcium. Lysine is a precursor to carnitine which plays a role in fat regulation, cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. So try eggs!

Nut Butters are also a great source of protein. ORGANIC, natural peanut butter on some whole wheat toast is a great option.

Protein Shakes can be good, but read the label. How much sugar is in the mix? What’s it sweetened with? Buyer beware! A good quality protein shake can be a simple, effective way to get some protein on board.

A Bean and Cheese Burrito is good. You get some protein from the beans and the wheat in the tortilla which complements each other. Breakfast doesn’t have to be limited to traditional “breakfast” foods. Be creative!

Don’t forget some additional water, maybe a glass of juice (again watch the sugar content), or some fruit like an apple or grapes can be great additions.

Can’t imagine eating breakfast at all?

It’s true some people have a hard time stomaching breakfast. Try a bar of some type for an hour down the road. Here’s where label reading gets really important. Look for bars with a LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX. That means they have less sugar so you won’t get a spike in your blood sugar.

I guess mom was right when she said, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” How about if we add “What you eat for breakfast is the most important decision of the day.”

Stay Healthy,

Libby

Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings to all on Thanksgiving EVE!

My goal in starting this blog is to introduce information that is simple and easy to understand regarding nutrition, health, and sports performance.