Something Besides Cereal for Breakfast?

When it comes to breakfast, most Americans grab a bowl of cereal as they rush to get ready for school or work. Even worse, they may skip breakfast all together as they “don't have time” to make a meal in the morning (I'm sure they had time to spend an hour or two surfing the net or watching TV before bed though hmmm?). This is a sure-fire way to gain unwanted weight. Most cereals are laden with sugar, which will only spike insulin levels and leave the person starving for more food within a couple hours. I've mentioned it before and I'll continue to say it: consistently creating insulin spikes in your bloodstream (unless it's during or after a workout, which I'll explain in a future article), will only lead to increased fat storage and a highly increased risk of diabetes (which is rising at an alarming rate in America). For breakfast, we need a lean protein source (ex. eggs), or we may choose a low-glycemic carbohydrate source that is also high in fiber. Why should we eat breakfast? Here are a few key points:

1) It “breaks the fast” of going all night without eating. The less frequently we eat, the more our metabolism slows down. By eating breakfast, we can help kick-start our metabolism for the day, thus launching us out of “fat-storing” mode.

2) It will help curb hunger cravings later in the day. If you skip breakfast, you'll inevitably be starving by the time lunch roles around, and who of us can say we make ideal food choices when we're so hungry we can't think straight? Not to mention that the workplace kitchen is usually immersed in junk food and the halls filled with candy bowls.

3) It will help provide your body with long-lasting energy throughout the morning.

4) Our bodies tolerate carbs better earlier in the day. This makes breakfast a good opportunity to intake a majority of your daily carbohydrate calories.

4) Studies show that lean individuals tend to eat breakfast on a daily basis, and the majority of obese individuals skip breakfast. Interesting.

5) Studies show that children who eat breakfast have improved concentration, memory and better grades, and also frequently have higher verbal and quantitative scores on tests. When we wake, are brain is demanding blood glucose which equals learnin' energy!

Anyways, enough of information. Let's get to a delicious, nutritious, and effective recipe to jump-start your day (and metabolism). Does it provide an “ideal” ratio of fats, carbs, and protein? Not quite, but it's something quick and easy that most of you could add to your morning routine that I guarantee will help you feel and look better.


Chocolate-Peanut Butter Oatmeal
(I have to give credit for most of these ingredients to my girlfriend Kelsey. She suggested the cocoa powder and xylitol which made it all the more delicious)

My Breakfast Stash

Ingredients:

• 1/2-1 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (adjust amount depending on activity level)
• About 1 Cup Milk (amount depends on how many oats used)
• 1 scoop Whey Protein Powder (an easy way to get in a morning protein serving, not to mention slowing the carbohydrate absorption from the oats)
  
• Xylitol (measure to taste...xylitol is a natural sweetener that won't spike your blood sugar that also happens to be incredibly delicious)
• Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder (measure to consistency...Hershey's 100% tastes pretty darn good)
• 1-2 Tbsp All-Natural Peanut Butter (adjust amount depending on activity level/goals)
• ½ Banana (Sliced)
  

Directions:
Combine everything in a bowl, stirring as you add ingredients. Place in microwave for 2-4 minutes (depending on strength of microwave), stirring about halfway through to ensure thorough heating. You can add Splenda as the sweetener, but I don't think it tastes nearly as good as xylitol (even though it's must cheaper). You may also use Agave Nectar (a low-glycemic sweetener extracted from a plant...found in most grocery stores). If using Agave Nectar as the sweetener, I prefer to add it after nuking. It will take a couple attempts to figure out the proportions you personally like to add to make it taste just right, but once you get it, you'll never go back to pre-packed flavored oatmeal that's nutrient-poor and loaded with sugar.

Notes:

• You can also add some fruit on the side, such as some sliced strawberries or grapefruit
• I prefer to get my rolled oats from a natural foods store, as you can by loads of em for very cheap. If you don't have access to such a market, then plain Quaker oats are a good second choice.
  
• If going for fat-loss, go light on the peanut butter (measure it, you'd be surprised at how much you use), and be sure to use either a sugar-free sweetener, or something low-glycemic such as Agave nectar. Avoid using plain white table sugar, and even honey if you can.
• If looking for weight gain/muscle building, you can increase the oats and peanut butter used
• May also add some eggs on the side if you're really hungry or simply need a higher calorie/protein intake

Questions/Comments? List them below!
(Also, I'd be glad to provide the citations to the studies I mentioned earlier)

Eating at night will make you fat?

This being my first blog post ever, I wasn't really sure on where to start. I recently gave a speech in one of my courses regarding common myths in the realm of exercise/nutrition, so I figured I could start by recapping some of my speech here. Throughout my studies, conversations with clients and friends, and discussions with strangers, I realized most of the advice preached in mainstream America regarding exercise and nutrition is completely misguided, and I hope to clarify some of the fallacies you may have frequently stumbled across.

Myth #1: It's terrible for someone to eat late at night.
I hear over and over again that “You better not eat past 8pm, or you'll get fat.” This message primarily stems from misinterpreting what is actually happening. It doesn't matter if you eat late at night, but it does matter what you eat at night. The majority of food choices people make during the late hours of the day tend to be heinous, and this is mainly because of the mental state one is usually immersed in during this time. Here are some of the most common scenarios that take place:

1) We're just plain sleepy. Our bodies physiologically crave high glycemic foods during this state. Given that the late hours of the day imply bedtime, we are more primed to desire starches/sugar. Late night cereal, cookies, or chips, anyone?

2) Physical/mental exhaustion. At the end of the day, most of our bodies/minds feel depleted from the madness of the day (exams to study for, standing on our feet all day, nagging coworkers, sitting in traffic). We become less motivated to do anything that requires physical or mental effort once we arrive home (hence vegging in front of late-night TV). So, if you're tired, are you likely to chop up vegetables, cook up a lean protein, and search for a nice healthy dose of mono or polyunsaturated fat to top off your meal? Heck no. Dialing Papa Johns is wayy easier, or merely reaching for that plate of brownies sitting on the counter leftover from the weekend party.

Much easier to have them do it for you

3) Simply staying up too late. Currently living in a college town, I see this day in and day out. Kids stay up late (be it cramming for exams, partying, or mindlessly surfing the internet) and before they know it, it has been 8 hours since dinner. Once they take a step back and realize they are ravishingly hungry, they hunt around the kitchen/vending machines like a wild animal looking for the first thing they can find to stuff in their mouth. Since healthy meals do not abound in college kitchens, viable options include heating up a hot pocket or driving down the street to Burger King.
This is increasing at an alarming rate with the working population as well. With more immediate distractions at home (the boundless vacuum of internet cyberspace, countless late-night TV shows, to name a few), people are staying up late not because they have to, but voluntarily. If one stays up exceedingly late, inevitably he or she will gravitate toward poor food choices either that night, or the next day when they are sleep-deprived (remember we're more “primed” to desire sugar when we're sleepy). It is very easy to mindlessly munch away at a bag of chips while sitting in front of the TV, which is yet another reason to just get to bed and avoid putting oneself in a tempting situation.

Most of the foods humans eat at night are going to make them fat NO MATTER WHEN THEY EAT THEM, so it's not the time of day that matters in regards to weight gain. Is it wise to eat your carbohydrates (and please make sure they're from good sources ex. oats, whole-grains, and fruits/vegetables) early in the day as opposed to night? Yes. However, people get so caught up in the “don't eat past X pm” that they miss the big picture. Be aware of what you tend to reach for after a long workday. If you know you'll be tempted to eat sweets when you're tired (which I know I am), then don't buy them! If they're not in your house, then you can't reach into the cabinet to eat them.

Try as best as you can to eat every 2-3 hours. This doesn't mean eating huge meals, but small, frequent feedings. This may be something as simple as a handful of almonds, two pieces of string cheese, or an apple with peanut butter. This will help control blood sugar and insulin levels (two key factors in fat cell regulation), as well as curb massive hunger cravings/binge eating. If you're eating frequently, then you're less likely to become so hungry that you'll eat whatever is placed in front of you. No one has the self-control to resist “bad” food when they're famished. So plan ahead; you have to be defensive when it comes down to nutrition. If you are hungry at night and can't resist something sweet, then try a fruit (strawberries and blueberries are my personal favorite).

Hopefully this shed some light on advice you all have probably heard at some point growing up. I'll be writing soon on another pervasive myth: muscle will turn to fat upon aging.