3 Breakfast Mistakes Sabotaging Your Body Composition

What if the way you’re starting your day is the reason you’re stuck with low energy, struggling to build muscle, and always fighting hunger?

Today, we’re diving into the 3 biggest breakfast mistakes that are sabotaging your body composition goals and, of course, how to fix them.

Read carefully, because these simple changes could transform your energy, performance, and results.

Ok, we’re going to go through these 3 breakfast mistakes from least to, most critical. 

Oh, by the way… I’m Jonathan. My wife Blakley and I own and operate Digital Barbell. We’ve been helping people like you get stronger, build muscle, lose fat, and be athletic at any age for over a decade.

Since 2019 our coaching business has been 100% online. When we’re not at home in Texas you can catch us working from the road in our Airstream.

We’re on Instagram, YouTube, and we have a Podcast on Apple, and Spotify.

How Many Calories Should You Eat For Breakfast?

Breakfast Mistake #1 - Not Eating Enough Calories at Breakfast 

Maybe you grab half a banana, nibble on your kids’ leftovers, and call it good, or maybe you’re counting on the calories in your coffee creamer to last you until noon. 

The thought process is “I’m busy in the mornings, and I’m not that hungry, why waste those calories on a big breakfast?”

Don’t do it. Starting your day with too few calories downregulates your metabolism and leaves you feeling sluggish by mid-morning. Eating a tiny breakfast also leads to more cravings later in the day, especially for processed snacks and candy. 

Your workouts also suffer, your recovery takes a hit, and by the evening, you’re so hungry that you end up eating whatever’s convenient even if it doesn’t line up with your health goals. 

We’d recommend having a breakfast that’s around 400-500 calories, with a good balance of protein, carbs, and a little fat. 

This one might take some time to get used to, but eating enough calories in the morning is key for sustained energy, fueling your metabolism, avoiding that mid-morning crash, having productive workouts to build muscle, and keeping you from being ravenous at night.

Alright, now that we’ve covered why eating too little is a problem, let’s talk about another common breakfast mistake that’s just as sneaky.

How Much Protein Should You Eat At Breakfast?

Breakfast Mistake #2 - Having Pastries, Not Protein For Breakfast 

Why do we do this? Well, sugary pastries are marketed as quick, easy, and delicious. As soon as you pass the produce section in the grocery store you’re faced with countless tempting options.

Costco has more baked goods than shopping carts, and every coffee shop you stop at in the morning has scones, cinnamon rolls, and pieces of cake disguised as muffins. 

The tradeoff is that they’re loaded with sugar and refined carbs that spike your blood sugar, giving you a quick energy boost followed by a crash that leaves you dragging by 10 a.m. 

Worse yet, they’re low in protein and high in calories, which means you’re missing out on the key macronutrient your muscles and metabolism need to make changes to your body composition at the same time you’re overeating carbs and fat. 

One blueberry muffin from Starbucks has a whopping 425 calories. 

Just for a little perspective…That’s the same number of calories in a McDonald’s double cheeseburger. 

A Terrifying Comparison

425 Calories Eaach

Let’s dive into why having protein at breakfast is so critical.

Eating about 25-30 grams of protein at breakfast helps stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which is the process your body uses to build and repair muscle tissue.

Starting your day with protein sets the tone for muscle recovery, satiety, and sustained energy throughout the day.

If you have a pastry, instead of protein for breakfast, you’ll stay in a muscle-wasting vs. muscle-building state until you finally get around to lunch. That’s a missed opportunity. 

For years, our go-to breakfast was scrambled eggs and oatmeal, but lately, Blakley and I have been on a breakfast smoothie kick. We take a cup of high-protein skim milk, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a frozen banana, and a handful of frozen raspberries and blend them up. It tastes amazing and packs about 40 grams of protein.

We’ve put together a PDF with 10 high-protein smoothie recipes. Click the button below to grab it.

If smoothies aren’t your thing, think about eggs, low-fat milk, greek or Icelandic yogurt, and cottage cheese as high-protein breakfast options. 

Now, let’s get into the biggest breakfast mistake of them all. If you’re guilty of this one, you’re not alone—but it’s time to fix it.

Should You Skip Breakfast If You Want To Lose Weight?

Breakfast Mistake #3 - Skipping Breakfast

This one’s super common, especially for people trying to lose fat.

You think, ‘If I don’t eat breakfast, I’ll burn more fat since I’m fasted, and I’ll save those calories for later.’

Or maybe your mornings are just chaos—getting yourself ready for work, getting the kids off to school—and eating feels like one more thing you don’t have time for.

The problem is that just like having a tiny breakfast, skipping it altogether leaves your body running on fumes. No energy in, no energy out ya know.

And just like having pastries for breakfast, you’re not having protein to kick your body into muscle-building mode.

I know you might not feel hungry in the morning, especially since the caffeine coffee is an appetite suppressant, but as your blood sugar dips, your energy tanks, and by mid-morning, you’re tired and ravenous.

As we all know, that sets you up for poor food choices later like raiding the break room for leftover donuts, or if you work from home, grazing on snacks every time you pass the kitchen. 

If you’re the person who’s skipping breakfast because you’re trying to lose weight... 

The most important factor for body composition change isn’t what you eat in the morning, or at night for that matter.—it’s how many calories you eat over the course of the entire day, week, and month.

We can tell you after coaching hundreds of people just like you, that skipping breakfast might save you calories early on, but it often leads to overeating later in the day, canceling out any potential benefits.

If you’re someone who works out in the morning, avoiding breakfast is even more counterproductive. Your body needs fuel to perform, recover, and adapt to training. Skipping breakfast after a morning workout robs you of the nutrients needed to stimulate recovery and muscle growth. 

For more tips on fueling your workouts, check out our podcast episode about pre and post-workout nutrition.

Simplifying Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

Click The Photo To Watch on YouTube

Instead of skipping it, commit to starting your day with a balanced breakfast. It doesn’t have to be complicated. A few eggs, a serving of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, some oatmeal, and fruit. Boom, you’re done in 10 minutes.

Ok, let’s recap: Not eating enough at breakfast, eating pastries instead of protein, and skipping breakfast altogether are sabotaging your body composition, energy, and performance. Fix these, and you’ll feel stronger, stay fuller, and finally see the results you’ve been working for. Remember, the key to progress is consistency.

If you’re ready to take your nutrition and training to the next level, we can help.

Over the last 12 years helped hundreds of people improve their body composition.

We’ve found that there are 10 main reasons you might bet working out, but don’t look like it.

The good news is that all 10 are easily fixed.

We’ll email you every day for 10 days sharing why the things you’ve tried before haven’t worked, and what to do instead.

Just click the button below and we’ll take it from there. Have a great day!

Jonathan & Blakley