Is breakfast important?

Absolutely it's important - 2B has become a big breakfast eater in the last year or so and cooks for himself during lazy days in the summer (when "breakfast" is at about noon...). I'll be getting up earlier to fix breakfast for him when school starts on Monday. Eggs, grits, ham, fruit, maybe pancakes or a waffle on some days. Maybe some biscuits, too. That's a good idea. They're growing. They need those nutrients and calories, and I've heard that breakfast eaters often do better grade-wise, too.

As for Phelps, all I can say is WOW! I wish I could eat like that and only have 4% body fat!

Maybe he should try for the Mustard Belt on the 4th.

I'm trying to get our son to eat a better breakfast. I fix him cheesy eggs with bacon and toast on days he has workouts. He used to eat poptarts or cereal on the others. Now he is eating bagels with cream cheese. We always pack him a good lunch.

The attention given to Phelp's unbelievable diet has actually helped me with my 15 year old. It has actually given his crazy dad some credibility when I rave to him about packing in the calories.

He is a "hard gainer" and I remind all to regularly to eat, eat, eat.

HE still thinks Dad is crazy, but for a while I have the Phelps diet to reference.

The reason, as I understand it from reading books on sports nutrition, that breakfast is so important, is that it does what its name implies, breaks what should be the longest fasting period of the day. Sports nutrionists try to keep insulin levels from spiking and falling and the way to do that is to eat more often.

The big thing these days in sports nutrition is nutrient timing...being able to give your body the right dose of carbs at the right time to build muscle. WIthout timing nutrient intake, complete workouts can have a 50% less positive effect on the body.

One of the great examples in one of the books I read, was the author was the nutritionist and dietician (he's an RD and PHD), for the womens long distance runners in the olympics. One of his athletes, a gal who had never been a real medal contender before, took the bronze by running the fastest 5 mile stint of anyone in the marathon. She did it between miles 20 and 25 and credited it all to having the right nutrition to be able to have the endurance she did.

Also according to this book, which had a table of all current PED's and nutrients that an athlete could take, and listed the benifits and detriments of each, the most benificial and safe PED an athelete could take? Caffiene. As long as the athlete was not a regular caffiene user, it was shown to give great benefit. A regular user develops a tolerance to it.

Advanced Sports Nutrition by Dan Benardot

Nutrient Timing: The Future Of Sports Nutrition by Ivy & Fox (this one was a bit redundant to the first but reinforced the importance of nutrient timing concepts)

CPLZ has it right, however I was under teh impression carbs give the energy and protein builds muscle. However, for max performance it all has to be right amounts and his breakfast is most likey fulfilling those requirements.
They did a segment last night on the local news at a local diner, serving the reporter Phelp's breakfast.
He gets his protein from eggs and lean ham. It's also lopsided with tons of carbohydrates (he also eats 2-3 huge bowls of pasta per day)needed to later turn into the sugar needed for energy (he consumes 2000 calories in energy drinks as well) for his training. My daughters ex was a swimmer (who missed a trip to the 2004 Olympics by 1/10 of a second) and his "swimmers" diet was similar, based on his training and competition schedule. Swimming is somewhat unique as while doing the sport it natually builds muscle where others have to achieve that in the gym.
Also remember, he is eating that much at breakfast because likely that is his main meal before Olympic competition. Normally high carb diets aren't that healthy for us regular folks.
He also consumes, two cups of coffee with breakfast.

quote:

Originally posted by fsmjunior:
He is a "hard gainer" and I remind all to regularly to eat, eat, eat.

We have one of those in the house. I bet him he wouldn't weigh 150 when he hit six feet. Coming down the stretch he's 5'11", 145. I told him my winnings would be used to purchase Ensure.

His sister weighed 115 when she hit 5'9". She's now 5"10", 150 (and still looks thin).

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
... however I was under teh impression carbs give the energy and protein builds muscle.

You're right, I neglected to mention protein...

Always someone to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Another thing you got to remember about Phelps having to eat so much is he is buring about that many calories per day. If an average person ate that many calories per day he would be huge. But because Phelps gets in the pool and trains MUCH harder than an average person. If he is taking in 8,000 to 12,000 calories per day he is probably burning almost the exact same number.