Barack Obama eats a Michael Phelps breakfast?

October 1, 2008 2:03 PM

If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, what are the most important people in the political spectrum eating for breakfast then? Obama eats eggs, McCain eats cereal, Pelosi eats... ice cream? Politicians and reporters divulge their breakfasts inside the beltway.
posted by kerning (47 comments total)

MARION BARRY, current Ward 8 councilman, former D.C. mayor: At home, oatmeal, a peach or a pear, and a glass of juice. Over a morning meeting, as a treat, eggs benedict with a side of fruit.

Plus, some crack.
posted by delmoi at 2:05 PM on October 1, 2008 [5 favorites]

4 to 6 eggs? Cereal AND fruit?

That's more than I eat for dinner, sometimes.
posted by DMan at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Related: All the candidate's cars. Like lapel pins, the message here is go American, oh, and these days, go hybrid.
posted by caddis at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2008

Whoa. That sounds familiar...
posted by lunit at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2008

I guess no one would admit to eating waffles.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2008

instantrimshot.com/


But seriously, Obama's breakfast is pretty enormous.
posted by zazerr at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2008

Ice cream is a perfectly acceptable breakfast. You've got eggs, and milk, and ... carageenan, and uh ... sugar.

Oh fine. So I guess this means chocolate chip pancakes with blueberry syrup aren't good for you, either?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2008

Cronkite rocks:

My morning breakfast ritual is pretty much the same as it's always been—4,000 calories or so before swimming the four-by-100-meter race.... Not really

MetaFilter: ...Not Really
posted by GuyZero at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

4 to 6 eggs . . . Crank up the "Obama is going to drop dead of a heart attack" meme.
posted by The Bellman at 2:42 PM on October 1, 2008

4 to 6 eggs, I wonder what his cholesterol looks like. He's a smoker, too.

America needs you alive and well Mr. Obama, please go for the granola.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:44 PM on October 1, 2008

Eggs have a pretty negligible impact on lipid profiles. Genetics and exercise have a lot more to do with it. In all likelihood the extra protein helps ward off hunger and subsequent snacking. Breakfast, like 8 glasses of water a day, is over-rated and mythic nonsense for adults. Plus it gets in the way of caffeine absorption.
posted by docpops at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2008 [5 favorites]

But seriously, Obama's breakfast is pretty enormous.

The breakfast of a guy trying to quit smoking, perhaps?
posted by Thorzdad at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2008

Obama must have a seriously high metabolism. Who has room for all those eggs? and then who can get up and go to work after eating all that?
posted by rmless at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2008

Eggs have a pretty negligible impact on lipid profiles. Genetics and exercise have a lot more to do with it. In all likelihood the extra protein helps ward off hunger and subsequent snacking.

So those Egg Council creeps got to you, too, eh?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:56 PM on October 1, 2008 [5 favorites]

Obama may not have time for much lunch. On business trips when I'm paying $25 for the breakfast buffet I do the same thing to make sure I get my money's worth. One big ol' scoop of scrambled eggs is easily 3-4 eggs. Plus potatoes, toast, fruit, etc. You can cruise until 4 or 5 PM on a breakfast like that. I'm drooling here. I find eggs to be great but supremely unfilling, versus carbs. I could knock back 6 fried eggs if that's all I had available.
posted by GuyZero at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2008

And circumcision raises your HDL 20%, I'm pretty sure.
posted by docpops at 3:04 PM on October 1, 2008

Since we're on the topic, but not the FPP topic, does anyone else get morbidly sleepy if they eat breakfast?
posted by docpops at 3:05 PM on October 1, 2008

Wrong! They had Special K with banana.
posted by clearly at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2008 [3 favorites]

that was surprisingly interesting. reading those descriptions of personal breakfast choice made all those people (none of whom I know) seem somehow realer and more human to me. there is something so intimately personal about what one eats for breakfast, the article was like a little window into the private side of some very public people.

me, today I had delicious husband-made WAFFLES!!! cause I'm not a politician :D
posted by supermedusa at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2008

No response from Palin there. She'd have you believe it's moose hash and eggs, but I'll bet it's puppies.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2008 [7 favorites]

On business trips when I'm paying $25 for the breakfast buffet I do the same thing to make sure I get my money's worth.

To each his own and all, but that just never seems like a good idea.
posted by kingbenny at 3:19 PM on October 1, 2008

Doesn't Obama also work out like a madman, though? I'm with the people who say he has an insane metabolism.
posted by scrump at 3:22 PM on October 1, 2008

Go To Work On An Egg.
posted by mandal at 3:24 PM on October 1, 2008

It all goes to his ears.
posted by dirigibleman at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

No response from Palin there. She'd have you believe it's moose hash and eggs, but I'll bet it's puppies.

She probably has no idea and will claim that she has "a vast variety of sources" from which she gets her breakfast. Then she'll start talking about Alaska. Not about breakfast in Alaska. Just Alaska.
posted by bibliowench at 3:42 PM on October 1, 2008 [7 favorites]

No response from Palin there.

She has ice cream too.
posted by mandal at 3:46 PM on October 1, 2008

“Doesn't Obama also work out like a madman, though?”

Yep. He’s in shape, but he’s a little skinny. He needs the protein to build muscle. Once you start getting older you start losing muscle mass. A lot of older people do areobic exercise to keep off the fat but forgo the weight work. Muscle burns fat too. He’s been eating those met protein bars as well. They’re not bad for you, but they really screw up my bowels. Eggs are a much better option when you have time.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:15 PM on October 1, 2008

Eggs...but no bacon?


MUSLIM ALERT!!!!
posted by DU at 4:48 PM on October 1, 2008

Let them eat shit.
posted by VicNebulous at 6:53 PM on October 1, 2008

Yep. He's in shape, but he's a little skinny. He needs the protein to build muscle.

C'mon -- don't make Obama out to be a health freak -- he just quit smoking at the urging of his wife.
posted by VicNebulous at 6:57 PM on October 1, 2008

What? No Colon Blow? You'd think all of those polled would have something to expel.
posted by fijiwriter at 7:20 PM on October 1, 2008

Surprisingly, I actually enjoy seeing these "mundane" details about the candidates. Bonus awesome points to the link about what cars they drive. Not that any of this really affects who I vote for because I already decided, but these are those little details that are just nice to know for completionist's sake.

(Now this just leaves the "pets" question...)
posted by Yoshi Ayarane at 7:24 PM on October 1, 2008

I've no doubt that Mike Barnicle is a diner guy, but I bet that when he got into specifics, (Egg white–ham omelette, period. No toast, no home fries. Large O.J. and a cup of coffee) he was actually just stealing ideas from the guy sitting next to him at the counter.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 7:34 PM on October 1, 2008

I can eat fifty eggs.
posted by Paragon at 7:43 PM on October 1, 2008

I can eat fifty eggs.

Aw, god damn it. Thanks for reminding me. RIP CHL.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:45 PM on October 1, 2008

C'mon -- don't make Obama out to be a health freak -- he just quit smoking at the urging of his wife.

The smoking athlete is sort of archaic, but it's still possible. My dad has always been very athletic and works out every day (used to run, too, until his knee wouldn't let him anymore), and he quit smoking about the same time as Obama. His lung capacity was always good, but that doesn't mean it won't give you cancer.
posted by krinklyfig at 8:21 PM on October 1, 2008

he quit smoking about the same time as Obama

I meant to say age, rather than time.
posted by krinklyfig at 8:21 PM on October 1, 2008

Barack's 46 and he's still thin. But 6 eggs a day? Madness. If they're the cholesterol-free kind, that's much better but still rather fattening. And who knew Nancy Pelosi was so hardcore?
posted by zardoz at 9:14 PM on October 1, 2008

Kids stay off the coffee it'll drive yeh NUTS.
posted by not_on_display at 9:45 PM on October 1, 2008

I love the whole eggs = fall over dead heart attack. There are so many more diets in the world that have loads more (albeit I don't know what kind of cholesterol) than our diet here in the States, yet they don't seem to be keeling over from massive infarctions.

Ah, the joys of causation and correlation...
posted by ZaneJ. at 9:50 PM on October 1, 2008

Ice cream is a good breakfast. It soothes the stomach and satisfies. In my 20's I did this and lost weight.
posted by Goofyy at 11:16 PM on October 1, 2008

I love bacon and eggs for breakfast. None of this little shards of cardboard cereal business.
posted by oxford blue at 11:21 PM on October 1, 2008

Mr Christopher Hitchens, pundit, genius, channeler of Orwell, looks good without a shirt on — "Old-fashioned Irish oatmeal with salt, plus espresso and two squeezed oranges, which together give me the strength to mount my ROM [Range of Motion] exercise machine for the four-minute workout."
posted by Wolof at 1:19 AM on October 2, 2008

Mr Christopher Hitchens, pundit, genius, channeler of Orwell, looks good without a shirt on — "Old-fashioned Irish oatmeal with salt, plus espresso and two squeezed oranges, which together give me the strength to mount my ROM [Range of Motion] exercise machine for the four-minute workout."

Yeah I thought that was funny, he manages to sound arrogant just talking about his breakfast.

I can eat fifty eggs.

While we were watching Cool Hand Luke for the first time my roommate bet me that he could eat fifty eggs in an hour. He failed miserably (I think he ate about ten) and had to pay the whole power bill that month, but I've got a great photo of him grinning and holding a huge bowl of hard-boiled eggs, before he realized what a mistake he'd made.
posted by Who_Am_I at 5:56 AM on October 2, 2008

Eggs are good for you.

Anyone who says different has been brainwashed by Kellogs into believing that {cardboard + milk + sugar} = a good breakfast.

I just can't eat cereal these days.. its horrible stuff.
posted by mary8nne at 8:47 AM on October 2, 2008

On Nancy Pelosi's choice: I've always said (since I've been an "adult") that the best part of being an adult is that I can eat ice cream WHENEVER I WANT.

Ha, suck it, my 8-year-old self. I CAN HAVE ALL THE ICE CREAM I WANT!
posted by fiercecupcake at 12:00 PM on October 2, 2008 [2 favorites]

Yeah. Can we get over the "eggs are bad for you" thing once and for all? Eggs are perfect little bundles of incredible nutrition.

You might not like them, or eating them in the morning, but they're pretty darn good for you.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 3:14 PM on October 3, 2008