THE GREAT BRITISH BREAKFAST?
Looking at the history of where the traditional brekky's ingredients have come from, shows that the Brits have begged, borrowed or stolen from the world to form this culinary (or coronary!) plate of delights. However, eating this protein and often fat-rich breakfast, will arguably be better than having a bowl of cereal or nothing at all. And, if you can tweak the ingredients to remove the fried bread (and even all the bread), grill the bacon, mushrooms, tomato, poach the eggs and drain off as much of the sugary sauce from the beans as possible - this breakfast will actually be a decent source of protein-rich nutrients. This meal will not only fill you up, but keep hunger pangs at bay for a lot longer, hold blood sugars in check and potentially work as part of a reduced carb, high protein diet - which, taken with a weight-baring exercise routine, actively help build/repair muscle and burn fat.
The case for the non-breakfast
Intermittent fasting and calorie or carb cycling are dieting techniques that have been shown to give positive results, which, coupled with an exercise programme and healthy meals outside of fasting times, can help to shed some of that stubborn body fat. The idea of fasting does sound negative - and having to miss out on a hearty breakfast can lead us to think we'll be starving all morning. Reading up on this technique a bit more, I'm inclined to believe it's a matter of mind state. Allowing our thoughts to 'tell ourselves' we'll be hungry, is something we'll need to adjust to change over a (relatively short) period of time. It takes about a week for the body to adjust and the mind to quieten - depending on who you read on this subject...
I've been trying variations of this diet for a while now. Essentially choosing the right days to cut back on calories over the ones to eat more. So, I generally tend to eat light on the days when I'm not exercising, have a hearty & protein-rich meal in the evening the day before training - delaying breakfast until after the morning training sessions on those days, then having a slightly later lunch and lighter dinner. This varying of meal sizes works well for me.
It's all in the planning. Just as shocking the body, by varying the training methods and adding HIIT sessions to the mix keeps metabolism fired up, I find the same works with fasting. Eating well the evening before and delaying eating until after an early morning training session, not only gives me more energy but also keeps me lean. This, just like all diets, is something that works well with some people more than others so just needs a bit of experimentation as I've done. The bottom line though, you'll learn more about yourself by trying dieting techniques like these and may get a better control of your eating habits as a result even if the fasting or protein-rich diets aren't for you.
For further reading on the topic in greater detail - this blog post on Mark's Daily Apple is really informative. Mark is already established as a living example and reliable advocate on healthy living, so his blog posts are worth a read before trying out fasting for the first time.
The case for the non-breakfast
Intermittent fasting and calorie or carb cycling are dieting techniques that have been shown to give positive results, which, coupled with an exercise programme and healthy meals outside of fasting times, can help to shed some of that stubborn body fat. The idea of fasting does sound negative - and having to miss out on a hearty breakfast can lead us to think we'll be starving all morning. Reading up on this technique a bit more, I'm inclined to believe it's a matter of mind state. Allowing our thoughts to 'tell ourselves' we'll be hungry, is something we'll need to adjust to change over a (relatively short) period of time. It takes about a week for the body to adjust and the mind to quieten - depending on who you read on this subject...
I've been trying variations of this diet for a while now. Essentially choosing the right days to cut back on calories over the ones to eat more. So, I generally tend to eat light on the days when I'm not exercising, have a hearty & protein-rich meal in the evening the day before training - delaying breakfast until after the morning training sessions on those days, then having a slightly later lunch and lighter dinner. This varying of meal sizes works well for me.
It's all in the planning. Just as shocking the body, by varying the training methods and adding HIIT sessions to the mix keeps metabolism fired up, I find the same works with fasting. Eating well the evening before and delaying eating until after an early morning training session, not only gives me more energy but also keeps me lean. This, just like all diets, is something that works well with some people more than others so just needs a bit of experimentation as I've done. The bottom line though, you'll learn more about yourself by trying dieting techniques like these and may get a better control of your eating habits as a result even if the fasting or protein-rich diets aren't for you.
For further reading on the topic in greater detail - this blog post on Mark's Daily Apple is really informative. Mark is already established as a living example and reliable advocate on healthy living, so his blog posts are worth a read before trying out fasting for the first time.
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