Breakfast?

Breakfast is a popular topic during our morning Hen House classes. With classes at 6:30 and 7:30am it can be hard to find the time and the food choices to eat before coming to workout.

The answer of To Breakfast or Not To Breakfast comes down to one simple thing: are you a person who has XX chromosomes or XY? It’s the ‘Y’ that makes the difference.

Fasted Training or working out before breakfast is popular. I tried it for years. Everything I read talked about the benefits of fasted training: increase fat burning for fuel, improve metabolic flexibility, enhance the body's ability to use fat for energy, etc. However, the more fasted training I did, the more tired and lethargic I got. I wasn’t getting leaner and my workouts didn’t feel like they were high quality. This is because Fasted Training is male-centric fitness advice.

Here lies the difference between the X and the Y chromosome. The Hypothalamus is a part of our brain that controls body temperature, thirst, hunger, and other homeostatic systems, and involved in sleep and emotional activity. When women wake up, the hypothalamus will start looking for food to bring stress hormones down (cortisol). The hypothalamus is very sensitive to blood sugar and food being eaten. Without food, the brain will break down muscle tissue to use as fuel. This is quite counter productive to doing a workout in the hopes of building muscle and gaining strength. Plus, as we age, every bit of muscle mass becomes extremely valuable.

All it takes is a small amount of food to calm the hypothalamus. Examples are 1/2 banana, protein coffee, toast with peanut better, yogurt & fruit. Anything that you can eat that contains a small amount of protein and carbohydrates.

With fuel (Breakfast) consumed, your hypothalamus will calm down, bring cortisol down and now it can handle the stress of the workout. Thus, you’ll have a better workout, your metabolism will be going strong, and you’ll recovery faster.

Without fuel (breakfast) consumed, the spike of cortisol that happens when we first wake up stays elevated. This signals the body to stay in fight or flight which keeps the body using lean mass (muscle and bone) as fuel. Unlike men, without breakfast, women store fat and lose both muscle mass and bone density.

Another benefit of breakfast within 30min of waking up is an improved circadian rhythm which will help us sleep better at night. We’ll have a lower baseline of cortisol, decreased stress response both of which help us be in a parasympathetic (calm) state.

To Breakfast or Not To Breakfast. If you are a XX, Fasted Training is not for you. By eating breakfast you’ll have a better workout, recover faster, burn more fat as fuel, help your bones, sleep better, etc. The list is long.

Happy eating!