Breakfast

What I eat and how much I drink depends on where I am (Vietnam or Oregon), the timing of the workout (before work or some other time in the morning). Typically, if I do a workout early AM before work (around 5:15-6:30 AM) I have a very light "pre-breakfast" of 1-2 granola bars and a cup of coffee. If it's an easy run/ride of 45 minutes or less, then I just do it on "empty". I find I need to have something in my stomach before any kind of intensity in the morning or, oddly enough, I get nauseous--opposite of what I anticipated when I switched all my Vietnam runs/rides to early AM. After the workout I usually have either a big bowl of cereal (mix of muesli, granola, Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, and nuts), or 2-3 slices of very dense whole-grain bread with peanut butter and banana slices. I usually stop for a big iced latte on the way to work. Occasionally if I have a prep period first thing in the day (teacher) I'll pick up breakfast on the way to work instead--the aforementioned latte and a Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) with either an omelette or two fried eggs, some veggies, etc.

As for hydration, depends on where I am. For an hour workout in Vietnam, I drink about 600 ml of Nuun (electrolyte drink, no calories). If it's really hot, I might have another bottle when I get back. I also have a big glass of OJ that I dilute with water, sometimes two, or a couple of big glasses of plain water. Plus the latte--it's about the size of a Starbucks Venti en route to work. Then when the coffee is gone I reuse the ice and fill the glass with water and drink that in the first hours of the workday. (We all do that, as safe ice is hard to come by!)

I guess the difference with your breakfast is that I'm eating twice, I'm probably putting away somewhat more calories (particularly for a 115 pound woman LOL), and probably a lot more protein and fat. None of the dairy products except maybe a bit of milk that I mix with the yogurt on the cereal are the low-fat variety, plus I'm putting a small handful of nuts into the cereal or slathering the bread with peanut butter. I don't follow any special diet, but I probably eat a lot more fat than many athletes, particularly women. I don't like sweets much, am not a big meat eater, and generally have very limited time to eat breakfast and lunch during the work week, so the calories have to come from somewhere, and quickly. Protein and fat do a good job of filling you up quickly and aiding in recovery.

Normally this keeps me going strong until at least lunch time--I'm on my feet working with the kids much of the time until then and don't have time to rest or snack, so I need that "power breakfast"! If you find yourself lagging after a morning workout, could be dehydration or lack of calories with staying power. You could try making sure the cereal has a low glycemic index and plenty of fiber, using full-fat dairy or alternatives, adding some nuts or other protein like a boiled egg. Plus caffeine is always useful!

In Oregon, by definition, I'm on vacation. I tend to get up around 7, have a bowl of Kashi with kefir, berries, and nuts, maybe some juice, a latte when someone makes a coffee run. I usually start my "morning workout" sometime between 9 and 11:30. So what I'm having after that is lunch--not really as relevant to your situation.

Smoothie - 1/2 cup greek yogurt, tablespoon of peanut butter, banana, cup of frozen fruit, couple of handfuls of spinach, and 1/4 cup of water to get things moving easily. I also have two cups of coffee, typically consumed before the smoothie. I drink all of this on the way to work in the car. I will normally have about 16 oz of water after a 1 hour morning workout.

175 lbs, 5'11"

Wow sounds like you have down to a science. I just grab what I can find in the cabinet last minute and that's probably part of my problem. I figure a normal person who doesn't exercise needs 300-400 cal for breakfast so if you consider we burn 400-500 calories, it would take a big breakfast to replace all that. I think I'm gonna add some calories. Thanks for all the insight. Hope to hear from others.

I always wake up hungry so I always make a single toast of healthy grain bread with peanut butter and honey and chase that with a small glass of orange juice and water. A few minutes after that I hit my workout which is usually a bike trainer ride. After that I eat the final 2 bites of the toast and drink the remainder of my sports drink. This will hold me over until I get to work where I heat up a premade breakfast burrito. I eat that then some old fashioned oatmeal with walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. I drink water all morning to make sure I'm hydrated well for the workouts to come.

Define feel bad, how much liquid and what do you drink in the AM?

I usually have a a banana with some PB on top before any morning sessions. Then breakfast is either a bowl of oats with a combo of berries, honey, cinnamon, PB, raisins, coconut, and/or almonds.

If I have a few minutes of time on my hand I'll do some eggs, with black beans, avocado, cheese, etc.

I make sure that protein is the focus point in my meals, especially after hard days prior where recovery is the focus on the day.

When I feel bad it usually kicks in about 10-11 am. Sometimes its not until afternoon. But its usually grogginess, slight headache, foggy headed. I would not guess it is due to my breakfast routine but I may experiment with it and see. I always eat breakfast. And I know there are certain types of foods(low glycemic carbs, etc) that are better for maintaining energy levels but I've never really thought it would make a huge difference. I usually eat a "healthier" cereal. (honey nut cheerios, raisin nut bran, mini wheats). But I usually don't have much variety with my breakfast. As far as liquids go, its always 20 or so oz of Gatorade or powerade and then water once I get to work. One thing I have got to change is I don't give myself enough time for breakfast before work. I give myself just enough time to get my workout done and rush to take shower and get to work. Do you think there is a certain number of calories I should shoot for? My wife ALWAYS says, "Ive always thought you don't eat enough." But the way I see it is, my weight remains steady. If I wasn't eating enough, and that was the reason I felt bad, wouldn't I be losing weight as well?

Your breakfasts consist of a lot of carbs and not a lot of protein or fat.
I was a huge cereal junkie - all healthy stuff of course, but I still felt like crap half way through the day with all the things you mentioned - brain fog, tiredness etc etc. Switched to a paleo type diet (also because I found out I have a gluten sensitivity and have dairy intolerance) and it was amazing how much better I felt.
Just my own experience, but I switched my breakfast to eggs, avocado, bacon and veges with starchy veges for carbs (sweet potatoes), and the difference was amazing! You can cook up eggs super fast (or have hard boiled in the fridge to grab and go) along with pre cooked/prepared veges. It does take a little more time but I'd rather feel good rather than grab something I know won't make me feel good later.

Experiment with different breakfasts, see what your stomach can tolerate before and after workouts, see how you feel, monitor your weight etc.

There could always be other factors going on, but diet is an easy one to play with. Hope you feel better!!

Greek yogurt and fruit is usually how I start my day. I may include some almonds or something else if I had a long workout and feel like I need more fuel to cover the calories burned earlier.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that. I am definitely going to try these things out and see what happens.

Eating habits were a big change for me when I started Triathlon training in January.  I used to do the two bowls of Semi-healthy cereal for breakfast, miss lunch half the time and then eat a big dinner.  When I first made the change I got away from the standard cold cereals and went to the organic Quinoa and Kamut type cereals.  They were so expensive I tried to use them sparingly.  Instead of eating two bowls I would fill a little bit of cereal and the rest was filled with fresh bananas, strawberries, black berries, peaches, blue berries, etc.  I would end up with about 3/4 a bowl of organic Quinoa/Kamut and then 3/4 a bowl of mixed fruits.   I also had a lot more days of green smoothies (home grown spinach), yogurt (plain homemade w/o sugar eaten with lots of fresh fruit), etc.  I was getting about 65-70% carbohydrates at Breakfast.  

Note: I also do my running/cycling in the early morning before breakfast.   Some times I would take a banana, chocolate milk, or toast with peanutbutter after a morning work but usually just eat breakfast 45 minutes after the work out when I was ready for work and done feeding animals.

Before I started Triathlons I would get about 500 calories at breakfast about 500 calories at lunch and 2000-2500 calories at dinner.  I learned that is NOT a good way to do things so when I started triathlon training I made a goal to get 1000 Calories at breakfast, 1000 calories at lunch, and 1000 calories at dinner.  I used to always want a sweet at about 9:30 every night.  Since I increased the amount I am taking in during the day (3,500 on average) the cravings have gone away (i don't wake up hungry in the morning now either).  That is telling me that I am not longer operating calorie deficit.  I also am eating a ton more fresh fruits, more whole grains, more fish, more starchy vegetable (sweet potatoes), and more eggs (which is good since I keep a flock or 30 hens and always have more eggs than anyone could eat).  

I noticed a big change in the way I felt when I started Triathlon.  I think the reasons for that were 1) I was working out twice a day rather than every other day 2) I was eating a lot more fruit and non-processed foods 3) was eating larger breakfasts and larger lunches so that my blood sugar was even through out the day and didn't go through roller coasters 4) I was eating more and not going calorie deficient every day.  

I am 6'0" and 170 lbs. for an 8-10 hour training week I will average about 3700 calories a day.  I am focused on training for the half iron distance races.

 

Edited by BlueBoy26 2015-06-25 10:43 AM

Personally, a breakfast of cold cereal would not cut it for me. And since you asked, 5'10" upper 160's probably(have not stepped on a scale since wrestling season). I train for a minimum of 1 hour, first thing in the am, 6 days a week. A typical breakfast is 2 eggs, cheese, some type of meat if I have some leftovers, banana with PB, sometimes on an English muffin or bagel or mixed with oatmeal, yogurt (full-fat version) usually with granola & depending on what we have some other type of fruit. Sometimes I will have a little juice to which I will add water so it is a 50-50 mix. H2O as needed. Saturdays though I have more time so I eat more of the above than during the week. And I might add a bowl of cereal as well. A note on the cereal since you mentioned that is your typical breakfast. I am not opposed to eating cereal but it is more of a treat than something I consider good nutrition. Even the cereals you list, which I do enjoy, I would not consider "healthy" in the sense of providing good nutritional value to your body. But as I said, I do enjoy eating the occasional bowl of cereal.

I pretty much follow the guidelines found in The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Dr Cordain and Joe Friel (famous triathlon and cycling coach). This is the general paleo philosophy most people are familiar with however it welcomes the use of higher GI carbs as recovery tools to rebuild glycogen stores and for long workout fueling. I find that it works very well for me. I used to be a bread junkie and couldn't imagine not having toast with breakfast or a sandwich for lunch but I finally gave them up and I simply feel much better. I find that I eat less, crave foods less, and have more energy and faster recovery times. My breakfasts usually consists of some eggs and meat, an egg/veggie/avocado scramble of some sort, a big fruit bowl and some almonds, or a fruit smoothie with whey protein powder. If it's post workout (shoot for a 30 minute window), it's generally a smoothie to get the fruit sugars with some honey in there as well. I'm not a big fan of processed sports drinks when some good fruit juice or a smoothie can get you the same benefits with fresh ingredients and at a lower cost. I generally do not eat grains and I've never really liked cereal because it leaves me feeling like I'm starving 2 hours later.

Edited by rframe 2015-06-25 10:54 AM

Some of you have mentioned a paleo type diet. It looks like the only acceptable carbs would be fruits/veggies. My question is, as triathletes we need a lot of calories. Are you able to get the number of calories you need by only eating fruits/veggies and a source of protein and fat?

Yes, I have no problem filling calorie needs and eat really good food. For example, two eggs, 1/2 an avocado, and serving of lean meat is about a 500 calorie breakfast.

A bowl of mixed fruit, with shredded coconut and chopped almonds is 350 calories.

Both are loaded with good protein, healthy fats, minerals, and essential amino acids.

Compare that to a bowl of Kashi and milk which is around 230 calories.

Find some decent well-reviewed paleo cookbooks and it makes the transition enjoyable instead of feeling like you're giving up all the good stuff right away. (the Wheat Belly cookbooks have a lot of great recipes, though not strictly "paleo" compliant depending upon how religious you are about dairy).

Also, as I note above, Friel and Cordain's book has a modification on the typical paleo diet which encourages the use of other carbs at specific times related to workout requirements based on how the body processes nutrition, but they are time-sensitive exceptions. It's a great book, I highly recommend checking it out.

What's the reason for the sports drink? I have no idea whether it could contribute to feeling bad but I do think it's a habit you might reconsider.

I consider sports drinks like Gatorade to be an easy source of fuel WHILE I'm training or racing. It doesn't sound to me like you are drinking it while you are training. AFTER a 1 hour workout I think there are much better choices. If you feel it's important to use a sports product, a recovery drink probably makes more sense. If I'm not actually training I prefer to eat and drink real food.