Breakfast: Breaking Your Fast

In this episode of Oh Health Yeah, Gus and Zach discuss how to approach your very first meal of the day based on your current physical goals. Rather than treating the morning meal as a traditional spread of sweet treats, the conversation focuses on redefining what it means to break a fast. The discussion outlines broad nutrition strategies for anyone looking to either build strength or trim down, offering simple mindset shifts to start the day on the right track.  
Key Takeaways
Prioritizing Protein: Regardless of the specific outcome you want, putting protein front and center in your first meal provides essential building blocks and sets a solid baseline for the day.  
Goal Specific Adjustments: Those aiming for growth can incorporate additional energy sources like carbohydrates, while those focused on leaning out may benefit from pairing protein with healthy fats to stay in a fat burning state.  
Simplifying Convenience: You do not need classic morning foods to fuel your body; repurposing previous meals or choosing quick, simple whole foods can save time while keeping you aligned with your targets.  
Avoiding Morning Pitfalls: Skipping meals entirely or opting for high sugar options can lead to energy crashes, making simple, balanced choices a far better approach.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome into the Oh Health Yeah podcast, brought to you by Healthy is Wellness. As you all know, our mission is to empower you to take control of your health and elicit a little bit of curiosity in your life when it comes to the world of wellness. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And if you have loved ones or friends that you think would benefit from this, share it with them. Let's get this thing going. What is up, Healthiest Family? We are back with another edition of the Oh Health Yeah podcast. Today we're going to be talking about something that the majority of us eat. Some people don't, but oftentimes people say that it's the most important meal of the day. We're going to be talking about breakfast. And when we think breakfast the healthiest, it's literally what you break your fast with, that first meal of the day. What do you have to start the day? We're going to talk about breakfast as a whole, but there's going to be kind of two buckets underneath breakfast. We're going to talk about ideal breakfast for somebody that's focused on gaining muscle mass, and then ideal breakfast for somebody that's focused on weight loss or body fat loss, body fat breakdown. I'll start with the muscle mass side of things. So when you actually more of a generic perspective here, when you wake up in the morning, your body is naturally in a fasted state. That fasted state is very indicative of when you ate last, but your body is now trying to get into a state where it's burning body fat. That first bite of the day really can set your body up for success or speed bumps throughout the course of the following day. When we're thinking muscle gain for individuals, first thing that comes to mind is protein intake. Protein is essential when it comes to building muscle or gaining strength. So when we have clients that come in to see us and they say, Gus or Zach, I'm focused on muscle gain. When we're talking to them about breakfast, oftentimes one of the first places we'll start is where is your protein intake at? Can we prioritize protein for that first meal of the day? Different actual food items, like Zach always talks about, different actual food items that we like to talk to people about. Things like eggs, yogurt, nuts and seeds, cottage cheese, even meat can be a great way to start the day and prioritize those first because it sends your body a muscle-building signal to start the day. So, really what we're talking about here today is that first meal of the day, what do you want to prioritize if your goal is muscle gain or your goal is body fat loss? On the muscle gain side of things, the first thing that I wanted to bring up is protein intake with that first meal. Zach, do you got anything to add right away on breakfast, first meal of the day? And then if somebody's focused on gaining muscle with that.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

I think where I was just at, the thing I wanted to highlight was that I really liked how you said set yourself up for success or speed bumps. We're not gonna dramaticize this to the point where saying that eating the wrong thing in the morning is gonna ruin your day. It's not. But it will definitely cause some cravings and maybe some blood sugar spikes and blood sugar free falls. So I just wanted to highlight that you said that.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Yeah, speed bumps, not failures. So when we're thinking muscle gain specifically, with that first meal, prioritizing protein is the basis of it. So it's interesting because a lot of times protein shakes, protein bars, they get a bad rap. Like you can't have those things. In my mind, what we're trying to do is if you're focused on muscle gain, we're trying to make protein as convenient as possible for you. So if you're able to cook bacon and eggs in the morning or you have time to sit down and have a full breakfast, great, go for it. But if you don't, don't be afraid of the shake. Don't be afraid of the bar. Obviously, in a perfect world, we want those to be as minimally processed as possible. So the least amount of ingredients on the label is you can find. But know that shakes and bars are a great way to get protein first part of the day. And then also when thinking about muscle gain and breakfast, we want to make it as convenient as possible. So if it's shakes, if it's bars, great. But other things that we'll use with clients, hard-boiled eggs, um, scrambles of some form. Like if you, let's say you make tacos for dinner, elk steaks for dinner, adding some eggs to that and making some form of scramble in the morning can be extremely beneficial. But if you're focused on gaining muscle mass, our big push from the healthiest side would be that first meal of the day, how do you prioritize protein and get a heavy amount of protein right off the bat? Any ideas or ways that you prioritize protein with that first meal? I have a couple that I can talk about.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Um what do you got?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

I like two main things. So I just mentioned one of them, the scramble idea. So what what's interesting about breakfast as Americans is we've made it out to be this dessert, to be honest with you. Like we think breakfast has to be Pop Tarts, pastries, cereals, muffins. If your goal is muscle gain, as we've said, protein is your priority. So when I'm thinking breakfast, one of the little habits or tricks that I like to use is taking whatever I made for dinner and making that protein and fat based and using it for breakfast. So I'll take, like, if we have burgers for dinner at the house, I will literally take a burger patty with cheese with no bun and use that as my breakfast. That's what I break my fast with.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

That's brilliant. That's so convenient, especially as with all of our listeners that have families. Yeah. And you're making big meals like that, you always have leftovers.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Exactly. So just taking the protein from that. And then the other thing, too, that I love to use as a hack is the scramble idea. To where, okay, if you let's say you made tacos. I've actually done this. This might be a little weird, so don't judge me. But you made taco meat, take your taco meat, throw some eggs on top of it. If you want potatoes, if you want veggies, throw it in there, make a little scramble, bring it for breakfast the next day. One of the best ways to prioritize protein for that first meal of the day is to actually use your dinner as your breakfast. So those are kind of two little hacks that I have the scramble and then bringing your dinner.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

That's a really good idea, considering just like you said, we have moved in a society to kind of uh feel like breakfast is supposed to be like a dessert. And that's mostly due, hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but that's mostly due to like, you know, big bran, but you know, big grain. Um but what was I saying? Oh my gosh. Breakfast a dessert. I we've always we've also been programmed to have protein on our dinner, so I think that's like just an easy non-barrier way to incorporate the dinner and get rid of the food, not be wasteful. I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

And even just making one more serving. Like, okay, we're making this for dinner night. I'm gonna make one extra serving because I know I want it for breakfast tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

So it's easy fix. So, with that being said, muscle gain, your first meal of the day, what we want you to do is prioritize protein. That's the main emphasis on that. Now we're gonna go breakfast for somebody trying to metabolize body fat, or if they're focused on weight loss, how do we change that? There's not a ton of differences here. The one thing that I think comes to my mind is if you're focused on building muscle, like we said previously, I think this is where you can build in more of the carbohydrates and the calories back into things. But if you're one of those people that's focused on weight loss or fat loss, and this is your first meal of the day, what we would recommend is not only prioritizing protein, but trying to marry that protein with fat primarily, due to the fact that this will allow the body to stay in a mini ketosis and allow the body to continue to metabolize fat. So if you're focused on weight loss and we're thinking breakfast, some of the things that we recommend are very similar to what we said about the muscle gain side of things. We still want you to prioritize protein, whether that's eggs, yogurt, nuts and seeds, cheese, cottage cheese. But ideally, in a perfect world, we would love for you to marry that protein with a fat to allow the body to stay in a mini ketosis. So things like eggs and avocado, eggs and bacon, like just protein and fat emphasis there, as much as you can. Avocado is so, so good. Oh my gosh. Healthy fat. But the biggest change from gaining muscle to losing body fat when it comes to breakfast is just prioritize protein and fat if you're focused on losing weight. If you're focused on gaining muscle mass, marry the carbs in there too with it, mix it in. What are your thoughts on protein, fat breakfasts?

SPEAKER_00 8:20

I think the I I just wanted to add in like when Gus says when you wake up from a fast and you're burning fat, what he means is at that point in the autophagy cycle, your body is using fat for energy. That's what he means for by burning fat, your body is burning that fat as your fuel at that point, right? Yep, absolutely. Yeah, that's your main fuel source. Yeah. I I was just gonna say avocados, dude. I love avocados, they're so diverse. Adding those into all sorts of stuff, kind of get expensive, which I understand. So cottage cheese is definitely the budget, budget-friendly option. And for for our people that have a hard time with texture, you can blend it and make it smoother. Also, um, full fat Greek yogurt is a great one too. And sour cream. Sour cream, don't be afraid of sour cream as well. Yeah, it's got some good protein and healthy fats in it, too.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Those are all good ones.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

And cheese.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Yeah. Cheese is a good one. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind with this is what we're really trying to do is we're trying to allow the body to continue to metabolize fat and use fat for fuel. So different things that continue to stoke that fire are gonna be protein and fat rich. I think oftentimes the one mistake that a lot of people make, both males and females, is if we're focused on weight loss, we think, well, we're just not gonna eat breakfast. We just we'll we'll wait till lunch or we'll eat only one meal a day.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

I think you're you're absolutely right. I cannot tell you how many times I've brought up breakfast to a client and they're like, I don't eat breakfast. And I'm like, well, when I say breakfast, I just mean the first thing that you eat in the day. That's what breaking your fast is. I think so many people marry the idea of breakfast having to be breakfast foods. So anyway, continue what you were saying.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Well, I think with the with the breakfast idea, I think so many people skip it. And they think that's the best way to do it. And what's interesting about the body oftentimes is if you fast for prolonged periods of time, your body will actually hold on to body fat. So if you're focused on losing body fat and you're just skipping breakfast and you're skipping lunch, you're getting to dinner, and that's all you're eating, at the beginning of that journey, heck yeah, you might see some gains. Like you might lose some weight, you might burn some body fat, but your body's also gonna adapt over time. And what having a protein and fat-rich breakfast or break fast, whenever that is, it tells your body, okay, Gus, you're gonna feed me today. I can continue to metabolize fat while still allowing the body to burn fat. So keeping it protein and fat heavy is gonna say, you're good to burn fat, Gus. Keep doing it. But here's a little bit of fuel to let you know that I'm not gonna starve you.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

It's it's a it's an evolutionary thing. I mean, when Gus's ancestors were running through the woods collecting twigs and berries and they weren't able to capture any game for because it was the winter for three or four months, that's what your body did to survive was burn those fat, was hold on to the fat so it could live and stay warm and you and strategically use that energy to burn. So that's that's what you're, you know, when you fast for those prolonged periods of time, that's why your body holds on to those fat sores to burn them. It's the reserve tank that you have. So it's like it's a little bit of a balancing act with a fasting.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

It is, yep. And you gotta be, it's almost an equation that changes over time.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Like be on top of it because if you fast for too long, you're skipping breakfast, your body might hold on to body fat. So having a little bit of protein and fat to break your fast may be exactly what your body needs to burn body fat.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Cheese sticks are a really good option for people that are in a hurry too. And especially people that I I've also met a lot of people, especially people that coffee. Right off the bat, coffee, caffeine is a appetite suppressant, naturally, it's a stimulant. So people tend to just skip breakfast. But if you can just eat a cheese stick, honestly, that's a really good way. It's protein and it's fat, it's good to go. Just eat one cheese stick with your coffee. I think you're good to go, honestly. Or like and maybe if you're doing like a 16-hour fast, you know, you drink your coffee at 7 a.m. and then eat a eat eat a cheese stick between then and lunch just to get get the ball rolling a little bit with something that's good. Yeah, I agree. They're convenient and they're relatively cheap compared to everything else right now. They are. Even the baby bell cheeses are a good option too.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

The baby bells are so gas. Oh my gosh. I do a lot of cheese sticks. I do a lot of protein shakes, honestly. Just ways to prioritize protein with that first meal. And I think, regardless of your goal and in summation of this whole episode, regardless of your goal, whether your goal is to gain muscle mass or lose body fat, the emphasis on protein stays the same. We want you to prioritize protein. Protein is the building block of muscle mass. It's gonna help you to recover, it's gonna help you to maintain all the strength that you have. The only thing that changes, if you're focused on gaining muscle, don't be afraid to add more calories in there. Don't be afraid to add the carbohydrates in there. If you're focused on burning body fat, you may want to just push protein and fat. Not that you can't have the carbohydrates, but if that's your emphasis, if that's your goal, that's the only thing that I would pull off of that is body fat loss. I'm gonna pull the carbohydrates out of my first meal today just to allow the body to stay in a mini ketosis. But really, on this episode, what we want to let you guys know is breakfast doesn't have to be a dessert. Breakfast can be protein rich. Breakfast can be exactly what your body needs. All we have to do is reframe the way that we think about it and prioritize protein with it going forward. Anything else on Brecky? I'm good, man. Cool sweetness. Thank you guys so much for tuning in, listening into these. If you ever have something you want to hear from us, leave us in the com leave that in the comments. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll be back with you soon.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Also, shout out my wife for making me an awesome breakfast for a good podcast shooting day today. She made me eggs and bacon, and I was able to dice up one of my fresh tomatoes from my garden and put it on there with a piece of toast. Yeah. It was so good. Anyway, have a great time, guys.