Breakfast

Breakfast is very important, you should never skip it! I know you hear that all the time, but there is a good reason. Study after study has been done on subjects who ate breakfast and those who did not, and the "eaters" come out ahead every time.

When you wake up, you have been "fasting" for many hours, your body needs fuel so you have energy, fuel so your brain can function.  It is a myth that you burn more fat on an empty stomach, it is absolutely not true. 

Believe me, if the only magic trick to burning fat was to exercise on an empty stomach, we would not be a country of obese people!   And, if your body turned to burning fat every time you had an "empty stomach", then again, society would be awfully slim because most people go way too long in between meals anyway!

So just what does your body burn when you are exercising on an empty stomach? Hard earned lean muscle mass.... 

And what happens when you finish exercising and you don't consume a carbohydrate rich meal? Same thing, anything you thought you were building up is being thrown right out the window and you still have that layer of fat hanging about.

So many people are afraid of eating a healthy, balanced diet for fear of gaining weight, but by incorporating this one meal, you could actually start losing weight!

I love steel cut oats (above) and I sprinkle flax seed on them. How much do you eat? Well, they just so happen to tell you what a "serving size" is right on the box, and they are correct. Yes it has lots of carbohydrates!

I make a batch of several servings and put them into the refrigerator, so I can just pull one out and heat it up as soon as I get home from the gym. Don't microwave those plastic containers! Transfer the contents to a glass dish first. By making batches you ensure you have breakfast ready and made so you won't be tempted to stop at Starbucks or a fast food restaurant.

I will top my oats with splenda, and sometimes some peanut butter if I am not prepping for a competition. Serve with a bowl of scrambled or microwaved egg whites and I am set for the morning.