160602 - CrossFit | Breaking Fast.

To break|fast or not to break|fast, that is the question?
I'm often asked what's better: many small meals or a few big meals. Lots of meals means lots of hits of insulin. Insulin is produced to regulate glucose in your bloodstream when you eat carbohydrates. The signaling that occurs when you intake carbohydrates fires up your pancreas to produce insulin. When insulin is produced your metabolism down-regulates and ceases the processes that contribute to fat burning. Sucking down a smoothie or a glass of OJ with your stone-ground oatmeal first thing in the morning will fire up the insulin cascade and boom! Metabolism shutdown. 

Breakfast is however, important for folks who've never had breakfast before. If you haven't seen how you feel after a solid week of breakfasts since adulthood, then it's about time to see what happens. For folks who have consistently had breakfast, it may be time to mess with the timing of this morning meal. I like to throw down some egg cups and maybe a lower glycemic fruit like melon or berries. 

Ask yourself, "Am I hungry?," If the answer is no, then maybe wait until a little later to eat. Give your natural overnight fat-burning state some more time to work. Also, if you work out first thing in the morning, wait until after your workout to get your meal in. If you don't work out in the morning, maybe hold off until you start to get hungry. There's going to be a lot of trial and error here.

And that's the point. 

There are few overarching recommendations that we can make that apply to everyone. It's important to treat yourself as an experiment and with experimentation comes logging and assessment. Try a week of skipping early breakfast. This doesn't mean skipping food intake altogether. This just means you'll have to shift that intake around; you've got to get all your calories in.  

If you're interested in meal timing, the Zone, Paleo recommendations and anything else associated with food and performance, shoot us an email or talk to me or Bri during class about setting up a nutrition consultation. We'll get you straight!

3 rounds for time
21 double unders
15 toes to bar
9 handstand push-ups