Starting another series this one covering things that I actually eat. During a workout this morning a co-worker asked me what I eat that gave me so much energy.
So this is what I eat for breakfast, and by breakfast I mean the first thing I eat after waking from my fast during the night.
1. 1 Can of Goya Coconut Milk
2. 2 Scoops of Optima Nutrition Pro Complex -Natural
3. 50 grams of Honey
I drink half about an hour before working out and the rest immediately following the workout. These items digest fairly quickly being liquids and provide good amounts of the three fuels the body uses during high intensity, CrossFit style workouts. Half of this shake provides a little less than 30 grams of carbs, a little more than 30 grams of protein and a little more than 30 grams of fat.
Now my reasoning behind this.
In a fasted state which is more than four hours without food the body most certainly runs on Fat through the beta oxidation pathway. That means the liver is making HDL to transport Triglycerides from your adipose tissue to your muscles and organs. The liver is also making brand new glucose from the glycerol backbones of the triglycerides. This leaves enough glucose for your brain, red, and white blood cells to function, the high intensity producers if you will. So waking up with all this going on the last think I want to eat is a pile of carbohydrates, because the body can only allow so much in the blood at one time. How much, about 5 grams is normal, but over ten and lots of bad stuff starts to happen (Diabetes & its associated signs and symptoms). So eating a pile of carbs first thing in the morning the body must about face. No more fat burning, its time for fat storing. That means the liver starts making palmitic acid from the excess carbs. Sticks three of them on a glycerol molecule making a new Triglyceride. Then the liver makes an LDL or even VLDL to take the new Triglyceride to your adipose tissue (fatty areas). We all know high TGs and LDL and VLDL are bad but now we know why your liver makes them. Its trying to keep your blood from turning into honey and killing you!
Thirty grams of Carbs in a meal is plenty to top off the blood, the brain and my muscles for working out, and enough to charge me up to be ready for some heavy lifting. This supports the Glycolitic pathway, an anaerobic energy pathway used for short bursts of maximum effort.
Thirty grams of protein is plenty to cause a positive nitrogen balance giving my muscles and any other organs sufficient material to repair and make new tissues, like bigger, stronger muscles!
Thirty grams of fat slows down and spreads out the absorption of the sugars in the honey to help manage a more even flow of sugar into the blood stream. It also provides fat in the blood to keep the rest of my organs in beta oxidation, and when my muscles run low on sugar they can switch back to fat as well.
So there you go 30-30-30 Carb-Protein-Fat by weight is what I wake up to every morning, and how I finish every hard workout!
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