Quick breakfast

[jteef]

i hate mornings and almost never eat breakfast. I want to change this to start my metabolism right and serve up some nutrients to the running i'm doing 4 mornings / week. what are some options like the Myoplex or muscle milk drinks? Are any of the popular brands a bad idea? Should i drink the stuff before or after my runs?

 

[brikis98]

Why don't you eat real food instead?

 

[surfsatwerk]

Normally I go for shredded wheat with some fruit and milk, but when I'm racing out the door I grab a Cliff bar rather than poison myself with McDonalds or some horrible shit like that.

 

[Kipper]

Grab something fifteen minutes in advance for instant energy - bananas, bagels, etc. I strongly recommend the cinnamon-raisin bagel option. You have, after all, been fasting for ~8 hours. Eat a normal, complete breakfast afterward, with emphasis on carbohydrate, to refuel.

If you are running you need glucose at this point early morning far more than you do protein.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Kipper
Grab something fifteen minutes in advance for instant energy - bananas, bagels, etc. I strongly recommend the cinnamon-raisin bagel option. You have, after all, been fasting for ~8 hours. Eat a normal, complete breakfast afterward, with emphasis on carbohydrate, to refuel.

If you are running you need glucose at this point early morning far more than you do protein.

Not necessarily... your glycogen runs out in the night and starts digesting protein for gluconeogenesis. Most people's goal here is to maintain muscle mass. Protein can be made into glucose while carbs can't be made into protein. Clearly a balance is necessary, but carbs are not really the whole functional answer.

 

[katank]

I'd recommend real food also. Even if it's just a piece of fruit like a banana, that can be great. For a full breakfast, I'm partial to oatmeal and eggs.

 

[xboxist]

McDonald's can be perfectly fine. Their yogurt parfaits are usually decent. And a regular Egg McMuffin (ham; not sausage) is actually very reasonable, nutritionally. It's all "real" food components.

edit: I can't speak for their cheese... it's probably processed to hell and back. But I always order it without it anyway. The egg is real -- they just use a funky cooking device to give it that round shape.

 

[jteef]

i don't want to spend the time to "make" or stop for anything in the morning. I wake up at about 655, drink a cup of water, drive to the track, run for 30 mins, drive to work shower change and sit in meetings by 8.

so to rephrase it a bit, why wouldn't something like muscle milk or myoplex drinks be a good idea? is something like a banana or apple enough to "start" the daily metabolism process?

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: jteef
i don't want to spend the time to "make" or stop for anything in the morning. I wake up at about 655, drink a cup of water, drive to the track, run for 30 mins, drive to work shower change and sit in meetings by 8.

so to rephrase it a bit, why wouldn't something like muscle milk or myoplex drinks be a good idea? is something like a banana or apple enough to "start" the daily metabolism process?

Wake up at 650 am and eat a banana and a cereal bar. Unless you count opening the wrapper/peel, they require no prep work.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

oatmeal takes about 1.5 minutes. mix in a scoop of whey and maybe take some fish oil/flax and you're good to go. Maybe toss in a banana.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: jteef
i don't want to spend the time to "make" or stop for anything in the morning. I wake up at about 655, drink a cup of water, drive to the track, run for 30 mins, drive to work shower change and sit in meetings by 8.

so to rephrase it a bit, why wouldn't something like muscle milk or myoplex drinks be a good idea? is something like a banana or apple enough to "start" the daily metabolism process?

You don't always have to "cook" to eat real food, especially at breakfast. For example, fresh fruit, oatmeal and a glass of milk can be ready to go in 2 minutes. Same with sandwiches. A bowl of cottage cheese or yogurt or ricotta cheese mixed with peanut butter, honey, fruit and/or nuts is ready in about 1 minute. Some carrots with hummus or celery with peanut butter take no preparation at all. And yes, a diet based on real, whole foods is significantly healthier than one based on highly processed supplements. If you lack protein in your diet, it's ok to drink a protein shake after a workout, but they shouldn't be the basis of your diet.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

I usually eat yogurt & a banana or granola bar.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've taken to mixing 2 scoops of Optimum Nutrition chocolate protein mix, 1 pouch of carnation instant breakfast, and 2 cups of skim milk for a morning shake. The carnation and ON powder are probably loaded with processed ingredients, but it's quick and the whole thing is worth 64g of protein and lots of other good nutrients.

When I'm not in a hurry I sometimes eat a piece of fruit and some cereal.

There are probably better things you can do, but it works for me. *shrug*

 

[IceBergSLiM]

a shake is the easiest most convenient breakfast for me. Made in 30 seconds, drank in 30 seconds, clean up 30 seconds = 90 second breakfast.

 

[Safeway]

Yogurt is good, too.

 

[StageLeft]

Wake up 5 min earlier or bring 1/2cup of quick-cook oatmeal in a plastic container along with a scoop of brown sugar and cook it in the microwave at work. Takes 1:15 to cook and a few minutes to eat. Have a scoop of whey protein the second you get up, before your run. Less than 60 seconds for that.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Not necessarily... your glycogen runs out in the night and starts digesting protein for gluconeogenesis. Most people's goal here is to maintain muscle mass. Protein can be made into glucose while carbs can't be made into protein. Clearly a balance is necessary, but carbs are not really the whole functional answer.

I don't follow your thought process here. Liver glycogen is likely to be exhausted by that point. Muscle glycogen may be more topped off but will be exhausted during the activity. The entire idea would be to supply carbohydrate BOTH for the activity AND for a protein-sparing effect during the activity and to recharge glycogen stores.

What are you suggesting, that he chug a protein shake immediately in the morning and bypass the carbs? I don't exactly see how that is particularly efficient, or advisable. Stating simply that protein can drive gluconeogenesis is a overly simplistic answer. The process is inefficient, requires a ton of water, and is not particularly beneficial for the purpose of aerobic exercise.

OP is looking for something quick that can be consumed in the morning prior to a run, and a bagel seems to me to be an easy solution first thing in the morning. Thereafter, with more time and the workout behind him, he can consume a more normal, complete meal.

 

[TallBill]

Yogurt + granola is quick and cheap.

Cooking up a few eggs only takes 2-4 minutes.


Edit - I usually just go with a shake though. 500 calories right off the bat.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Banana before the run; oatmeal with milk and PB on toast afterwords. Make a sandwich and fresh fruit and veggies with hummus (good suggestion brikis!) the night before. Also pack up some nuts (e.g. almonds) and yogurt too, and you'll be set for eating at work.

I'm not a morning person either, but over time I've adapted to waking up at 5:45 to get my workouts done. Hardly bothers me anymore. If you're committed enough to reaching your goals, you'll be disciplined enough to go to bed early, get up and get it done.

 

[spamsk8r]

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Not necessarily... your glycogen runs out in the night and starts digesting protein for gluconeogenesis. Most people's goal here is to maintain muscle mass. Protein can be made into glucose while carbs can't be made into protein. Clearly a balance is necessary, but carbs are not really the whole functional answer.

I don't follow your thought process here. Liver glycogen is likely to be exhausted by that point. Muscle glycogen may be more topped off but will be exhausted during the activity. The entire idea would be to supply carbohydrate BOTH for the activity AND for a protein-sparing effect during the activity and to recharge glycogen stores.

What are you suggesting, that he chug a protein shake immediately in the morning and bypass the carbs? I don't exactly see how that is particularly efficient, or advisable. Stating simply that protein can drive gluconeogenesis is a overly simplistic answer. The process is inefficient, requires a ton of water, and is not particularly beneficial for the purpose of aerobic exercise.

OP is looking for something quick that can be consumed in the morning prior to a run, and a bagel seems to me to be an easy solution first thing in the morning. Thereafter, with more time and the workout behind him, he can consume a more normal, complete meal.

He's only running for 30 minutes; muscle glycogen is not going to be an issue. I used to do Crossfit workouts completely fasted in the mornings, and I never lacked the energy or capacity to finish.

Consuming carbohydrates by themselves is a recipe for a gnarly insulin spike, especially from a processed source such as a bagel. It's likely that he would be better off fasted than consuming something like that.

In response to the OP, hard boiled eggs are easy to grab and eat. Just gotta plan ahead and boil a bunch of them beforehand. 2 eggs and a piece of fruit would be a great balanced snack to start off the day.

 

[katank]

Oh yeah, forgot to specify the eggs I was referring to are hard boiled. I do that by the dozen every weekend. Makes the morning routine faster.

Also, whole milk is pretty balanced nutrition that can be chugged down fast. If you Zone, then that's a block of everything. Otherwise, eggs+fruit+nuts is also balanced nutrition.

 

[gramboh]

Lately i've been having 4 large free range eggs (fried or omlette) and some cottage cheese, sometimes a banana as well. Used to have Yogurt with granola but I feel better since he switch a couple weeks ago. I try to get up 10min earlier that I used to to prepare the eggs. Probably going to start throwing some avacado/spinach in as well.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: spamsk8r

He's only running for 30 minutes; muscle glycogen is not going to be an issue. I used to do Crossfit workouts completely fasted in the mornings, and I never lacked the energy or capacity to finish.

Consuming carbohydrates by themselves is a recipe for a gnarly insulin spike, especially from a processed source such as a bagel. It's likely that he would be better off fasted than consuming something like that.

In response to the OP, hard boiled eggs are easy to grab and eat. Just gotta plan ahead and boil a bunch of them beforehand. 2 eggs and a piece of fruit would be a great balanced snack to start off the day.

The role of muscle glycogen depends entirely on the intensity of the exercise. Length does come into play but does depend on the degree of training and what is "intense" for that person.

And what is all this about a "gnarly" insulin spike? The entire idea behind the bagel IS that it is fast-digesting and gets the glucose into the bloodstream right away for use during exercise. The last thing you want to be doing is running down the street at a fast clip while digesting your breakfast. This is precisely why many runners never consume dairy beforehand. It causes nausea and sometimes GI distress.

I don't know about you, but I would rather do AM exercise with a full tank of gas, not a half-tank. Just a thought.