Let’s liken our body to an automobile, you wouldn’t think about getting in your automobile and trying to go a half a mile to the grocery store with no fuel in the tank.  Just like your car, your body needs fuel.  You have to have fuel in your vehicle for it to run and not only do you have to have fuel, but you have to have the proper fuel.  We would not think  of putting diesel in a gasoline engine, we would put only gasoline.  So, let’s think of our bodies as our vehicle and we need to start our day with food because we have been fasting overnight and our reserves are exhausted. They are down in the bottom; in fact most people’s blood sugar is the lowest in the morning.

Your reserves are down and you need to refuel, that is why breakfast is so important. Another fact that most people are unaware of about our bodies is that about  four hours after we have eaten our last meal our body begins to revert from using our fat store to using our glycogen and our muscle stores of energy, this even happens during the night. Luckily we don’t need as much energy during the night, but it still will switch us from the fat stores to glycogen and muscle stores.  By getting up, running around, getting ready  and getting to work, and not first refueling our self, we are setting our selves up for muscle loss.  We are not giving our body a good source of protein in which to fuel the energy need. Another time we will talk about proper fuel.

Until then…

Have a great day!

Dr. Jo Lynn Hawthorne