Tasty Peanut Butter and Eating 30g of Protein Within 30 Minutes of Waking Up

Since January, I’ve been pretty disciplined about eating a hearty breakfast every morning. Since reading this blog post (based on Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Body) on eating 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up, I thought I’d try it out. The overarching principles of this “slow carb” diet include the following:

• Avoid “white carbohydrates”: bread, rice, potatoes, cereal, and any other carbs in these categories
• Eat the same few meals over and over again
• Don’t drink calories: stick mostly to water and unsweetened tea/coffee
• Don’t eat fruit (I like this because I’m allergic to most)
• Take one day off per week (eat whatever)

My breakfast typically looks like this:

• 3 eggs, scrambled or fried often with sauteed spinach (18g)
• 2 slices of turkey or pork bacon (6g)
• Icelandic yogurt (I prefer Siggi’s) with sunflower and pumpkin seeds (14g+)
• Coffee

Added up, I actually end up going beyond the 30 grams on most days. But as I’ve increased the amount of time spent working out (running, biking, swimming, and lifting), I find it helpful to eat well early in the day.

Before I start on my breakfast, I actually start off each morning with a heaping spoonful of peanut butter that I suck on while drinking a tall glass of water. This gets me around 2-3 grams of protein right away. In order to make this routine palatable, I’ve been going with Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Dreams and Bee’s Knees.

I’ve never been a huge fan of peanut butter. In fact, if asked to choose between peanut butter or jelly on a slice of bread, I would pick jelly 10 times out of 10. I’m a sucker for sweets, and peanut butter just isn’t sweet enough for me. I was first introduced to Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Dreams while participating in the NYC Century Ride three years ago. At the rest stops, they gave away free samples of the Dark Chocolate Dreams in their “Easy Squeezy” packs. I ended up consuming about eight of those that day. The next time I went shopping, I picked up a jar for home. More recently, I wanted to have a little bit more variety, so I picked up Bees Knees, which has been pretty tasty.

I don’t think these are really winning factors for me (it’s been all about taste for me), but they’re worth noting about Peanut Butter & Co.’s products (see website for full details). Their peanut butter contains no hydrogenated oils, no cholesterol, no trans-fats and, no high fructose corn syrup. They’re also made of USA-grown peanuts. I haven’t checked it out, but they own Peanut Butter & Co. Sandwich Shop in Greenwich Village.

My only concern with these Peanut Butter & Co. flavors is that they contain more sugar than regular peanut butter. Per serving (about 32 grams), Dark Chocolate Dreams and The Bees Knees contain 7 and 9 grams of sugar respectively. The same amount of Justin’s Peanut Butter contains just 2 grams. Oh well. I don’t sweeten my coffee, and I don’t eat any fruits, so I hope that balances things out.

One more thing I like about having peanut butter early in the morning: it forces me to drink water. Unless I’m working out and really thirsty, I find drinking water to be such a chore. There’s nothing like having sticky peanut butter in my mouth to make me want a nice cold glass of water in the morning. Slowly, I’ve conditioned myself to finish an entire glass of water before I go on to make my coffee. I’m pretty happy about this because I used to be the type to drink coffee and tea all day long with a forceful gulp of water at midday. These days, my water intake has grown considerably.

Are you a peanut butter or jelly person? Do you like any other types of flavored peanut butter or do you prefer sticking to the classic? Any other brands worth checking out? Post your comments below.