It's a typical day on the road. Your plane got in late the night before, and since the business day to come is jam-packed with meetings, you figure you'll spend an extra 20 minutes in bed instead of eating breakfast. After all, you can always down some coffee while putting on your make-up. By the way, is Jane the only one who is flabbergasted that hotels so often put coffeemakers in the bathroom? Sure, it's close to a water source. But, Jane asks, would you choose to position your coffeemaker in your bathroom? But Jane digresses. Her point is this: Caffeine alone will not get you through the morning. Your brain and your nervous system need non-caffeinated fuel to get your engine running, especially after an eight to 12 hour "fast" (that's why it's call breakfast, after all). If you don't supply that fuel through food, you'll run out of gas during the day. Simply put, you need to eat within an hour of waking up.
But, Jane, you say, I skip breakfast all the time when I'm on the road and I still manage to get my work done in the morning. Fine, girlfriend. Then how about this argument? Skipping breakfast may put you on the fast track to weight gain and heart disease. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (February, 2005), researchers say skipping breakfast may lead to added pounds as well as an unhealthy heart. Another study found that healthy women who skipped breakfast ate more during the rest of the day and developed higher "bad" LDL cholesterol levels than women who ate breakfast every day. So, get ahead, skip breakfast. But don't be surprised if you find yourself unable to fit into your lovely Chanel suit after a year of constant business travel.
Now ladies, breakfast in the form of say…a doughnut…is almost as bad as not eating at all. Any nutritionist worth her salt will tell you that eating a cruller in the morning will give your body a cruel burst of pure sugar. While you may enjoy a brief buzz, you will wreak havoc on your metabolism for hours to come. Your blood sugar will plummet and within an hour or two, you'll start feeling irritable, you will have difficulty concentrating, you'll get fatigued, and you'll be ravenously hungry. Not exactly the proper ingredients for a successful business day. The best way to keep your blood sugar stable and your appetite under control, many nutritionists agree, is to fill up on protein for breakfast -- ideally, an egg-white omelet or nonfat yogurt. At the very least, avoid foods whose prime ingredients are white flour and sugar.
Time was when breakfast in hotels meant greasy eggs and bacon, or an over-priced bowl of sugar-laden cereal. But the times have changed, and many hotel companies are now offering their clients healthier choices in the A.M. For example, Wyndham's new Fields and Sun breakfast program represents a complete overhaul of the breakfast menu. Among its components are the use of higher quality, healthier ingredients; greater use of local produce; and updated menu items like freshly-made smoothies, organic cereals, and granola that contains no refined sugar, no fructose, and no trans fats.
The old adage is true. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So Jane says eat up, but eat healthy.
The posts in this column express the views of the author, not the views of Wyndham Worldwide, any of its subsidiaries or affiliated entities.
