Breakfast or fast

Aidy

Oh, I could answer the question as well I suppose. That seems boring though.

No breakfast for me on commute days*, though if I'm planning longer/harder bike rides I'll generally eat something.

* sort of a combination of habit, staying in bed too long, not really needing to, and not liking riding immediately after eating.

Kieran_Burns

lost_in_thought wrote:

Well, up until last December I never had breakfast before leaving the house, then a friend's other half started an online personal training challenges-via-twitter, and one of the challenges was to incorporate breakfast into your day, as soon after you get up as possible.

Whatever the theories behind it, this is the only change I've made for the better in both diet and exercise, and I've lost 3" off my waist since january, and feel more awake/energetic.

Sure, it's a real effort to force breakfast down yourself for the first few weeks, but now I always wake up hungry.

I would theorise that it's making my metabolic rate higher or something, but I have no idea.

Damn' you woman!

I was all convinced and then you came along with that. :x :P

sampras38

snooks wrote:

I have breakfast when I get in.

My body has (way) more fat reserves than it needs to last the 7 miles in.

Once in, I shower and try to break my fast within an hour of arriving.

In winter that's porridge, in summer (well the warmth we find ourselves in at the moment) it'll be a peanut butter bagel

Thing is though, your body will not automatically go to it's fat stores for energy if you don't top up your glycogen, so these people that ride on empty thinking they're going to lose bodyfat, are under a little bit of a mis-aprehension. You're more likely to eat into muscle stores before fat. Yes fat does get used but not as much as you'd think...or in a lot of case...hope.

But saying that, if you wake up and do an hour or so on empty it isn't going to hurt, especially if you don't ride hard. The harder you ride the more your body will need glycogen.

wgwarburton

Hi,
I'm sure there was a thread here before on this topic- "do you eat before leaving the house?" or something like that.. Can't find it, though.

Anyway- Both: Porridge/cereal after walking the dogs, then a scone or something on arrival at desk.

Fuel, innit?

Cheers,
W.

stuaff

I work a late shift, so not eating beforehand wouldn't exactly work anyway...
Apart from that, I'm the kind of person who can't function in the mornings without a decent breakfast or two, particularly if it's an early start. Usually a large bowl of muesli, large bowl of porridge (1 cup of oats, etc), a couple of Weetabix, or as on Saturday (up at 4.15 for riding Leicester-London) two of the above...!

notsoblue

lost_in_thought wrote:

Well, up until last December I never had breakfast before leaving the house, then a friend's other half started an online personal training challenges-via-twitter, and one of the challenges was to incorporate breakfast into your day, as soon after you get up as possible.

Whatever the theories behind it, this is the only change I've made for the better in both diet and exercise, and I've lost 3" off my waist since january, and feel more awake/energetic.

Sure, it's a real effort to force breakfast down yourself for the first few weeks, but now I always wake up hungry.

I would theorise that it's making my metabolic rate higher or something, but I have no idea.

I suppose theres a psychological benefit to this. If exercise is part of your morning routine, and you have breakfast first thing then you could be training yourself to eat for fuel. Personally I know that I'm more likely to eat a smaller portion of the right food if I'm about to exercise straight after. Hmmm, interesting.

I don't do this most days myself. But of course my Friday routine is different. Gotta go downstairs. Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.

jonginge

I don't have breakfast before the commute. I eat fairly soon after getting to work, though.

If I'm going for a longer ride I'll have something at least an hour before.

EKE_38BPM

A few years ago I used to ride the ~10 miles to work without eating breakfast and, after an initial drop in commuting times, the commuting time went up even though I was getting fitter and putting in more effort.

Basically I had no fuel on board. I started eating breakfast and my times dropped again and I felt a lot better through the day.

Food is fuel right? Fuel up before starting your journey.

snooks

sampras38 wrote:

Thing is though, your body will not automatically go to it's fat stores for energy if you don't top up your glycogen, so these people that ride on empty thinking they're going to lose bodyfat, are under a little bit of a mis-aprehension. You're more likely to eat into muscle stores before fat. Yes fat does get used but not as much as you'd think...or in a lot of case...hope.

But saying that, if you wake up and do an hour or so on empty it isn't going to hurt, especially if you don't ride hard. The harder you ride the more your body will need glycogen.

I don't ride on empty thinking I'm going to loose body fat

I ride on empty because I like the breakfast at work, and I've usually run out of milk or cereal or bananas or milk, cereal and bananas at home.

Would a banana or something light to eat, (rather than the pint of squash I currently drink) before I set off be enough to kick start my body into gobbling up fat? Or do I just need to stop going to the cafe for lunch????

(I think I know the answer btw)

EKE_38BPM

From my no breakfast commutes, I think that my body used muscle for fuel, rather than fat. That would explain why I slowed as time went on.

I may be talking rubbish though.

Applespider

It depends how much effort you are putting in on the way in. If it's a leisurely ride with your HR around 70%, then you probably are burning fat. If your HR is closer to 80% then you're probably burning muscle.

Contrary to LiT, I've started cycling to work (7 miles) without breakfast rather than with - and have lost a couple of kilos since the 'fast' It's more because I prefer what I can munch on once I get there.

sampras38

Applespider wrote:

It depends how much effort you are putting in on the way in. If it's a leisurely ride with your HR around 70%, then you probably are burning fat. If your HR is closer to 80% then you're probably burning muscle.

Contrary to LiT, I've started cycling to work (7 miles) without breakfast rather than with - and have lost a couple of kilos since the 'fast' It's more because I prefer what I can munch on once I get there.

This is right..it all comes down to effort and how far the commute is.

Pep

Breakfast within a femtoseconds of getting up.
The bigger the better.

Later breakfast only if 7:00am swim or early morning run.

motopatter

gtvlusso wrote:

Usually have a few nits for lunch!

ah, so they're food. I wondered what their purpose on this world was. Got any decent recipes?

snooks

Applespider wrote:

It depends how much effort you are putting in on the way in. If it's a leisurely ride with your HR around 70%, then you probably are burning fat. If your HR is closer to 80% then you're probably burning muscle.

Rse....seems I'll waste a way to nothing except bones and fat

Might have to built up the SS quicker than I thought to stop me over doing it.

Anyway time for breakfast now

bails87

I don't think I've got the fat reserves to ride in with no breakfast! So I have a small bowl of tropical fruit/oaty cereal, seems like a good mix of fruit, oats and nuts. I always make sure I've got a banana and something sugary in case of a bonk, which I've needed a couple of times.

soundninjauk

I always have breakfast before I get on the bike. I've found that if for whatever reason I skip it, I'm constantly hungry throughout the day and nothing on earth will help. It's only 6 miles each way, and it's perfectly ridable without eating anything, but I've always 'heard' (down the grapevine of collective wisdom) that eating breakfast is the 'correct' thing to do. I could be wrong of course.

Also, I don't like feeling hungry on a bike.

sampras38

bails87 wrote:

I don't think I've got the fat reserves to ride in with no breakfast! So I have a small bowl of tropical fruit/oaty cereal, seems like a good mix of fruit, oats and nuts. I always make sure I've got a banana and something sugary in case of a bonk, which I've needed a couple of times.

A bonk...blimey, how far's your commute?

bails87

sampras38 wrote:

bails87 wrote:

I don't think I've got the fat reserves to ride in with no breakfast! So I have a small bowl of tropical fruit/oaty cereal, seems like a good mix of fruit, oats and nuts. I always make sure I've got a banana and something sugary in case of a bonk, which I've needed a couple of times.

A bonk...blimey, how far's your commute?

Ok, maybe not a 'real' bonk, but a mini hypo (i'm not actually diabetic, my blood sugar just seems to drop pretty low sometimes). The commute is 15 miles, near enough, and if I can 'bonk' while I'm sitting at my desk, I can damn well do it on the bike!

fnegroni

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Now I know that you should not eat just before exercise but is (no) breakfast (about an hour) before cycling 12 miles a good idea?

So: breakfast before you leave or after you get to work?

It is generally agreed that it depends on what you eat, and your metabolism.

Some foods take longer to digest, some foods allow a more controlled energy release flow.

That's why we have sports science, and some (clean) athletes can achieve the unthinkable.

But on a regular basis, it can be counterproductive if your lifestyle doesn't allow such a regimented routine.

I didn't have breakfast this morning since I didn't feel hungry, and my commute into work was considerably faster than in the past two days: a good fatty dinner combined with a good night's sleep (and a sh*t) helped immensely.

Will I manage the same tomorrow? doubt it.