Are You a Breakfast Eater?

“It’s the most important meal of the day” – we hear it all the time.  But do you eat breakfast every day?  I hope so!

Here’s why breakfast is so important: We all want to burn calories… Guess what?  when you sleep your metabolism slows down (also when you haven’t eaten during the day for over 4-5 hours).  So breakfast will “break your fast”! It revs up your metabolism.  Ideally you are breaking your fast within 1-2 hours of waking.

Do you find you are hungry quicker on days you eat breakfast?  That’s because you revved up your metabolism – you are burning calories.  This is a good thing!  However, if you get hungry within 1-2 hours of eating we need to look at what’s on your plate…

This concept applies to all meals but for many of us we simply notice it more at breakfast….  To feel satisfied eat a balanced breakfast.  What I mean by balanced?  You need carbs (check, easy right?) but you also need protein (where we stumble).  Many folks will eat a quick granola bar, bowl of cereal but if those items are mainly carbs (and easily digested carbs), you will be hungry quickly.    Here’s what needs to be included to help slow down the rate of absorption:

• Fiber – (Fruits, Vegetables, whole grain cereal – more than 3 grams per serving, oats, whole grain toast, whole grain english muffins, brown rice, quinoa – yes, really breakfast doesn’t need to be “breakfast” food)
• Protein – (eggs, greek yogurt, meats, meat substitutes, tofu, nuts, seeds)
• Fat – (eggs, greek yogurt with fat, meats, meat substitutes with fat, tofu with fat, nuts, seeds) You will likely get fats with your protein source so not much concern but thought you should know it’s helpful!

Like many healthy habits I find many people aren’t eating breakfast because of time.  So here are some suggestions for eating breakfast in a hurry:

• Peanut Butter Granola* with milk and 1/2 cup fruit of choice
• 1 small banana with 1T peanut butter and low-fat milk
• Oatmeal with 1T natural peanut butter (must be natural for blending)
• 1/2 Bagel with low-fat cream cheese or peanut butter
• Greek Yogurt with sliced fruit & granola
• Fruited low-fat muffin** or whole grain bread with one hardboiled egg**
• Smoothie made with 1 cup milk, 1/2 banana, 1 serving frozen fruit of choice, 1 T peanut butter, and 1 T ground flax-seed (can prepare the night before but doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to make)
• Toasted whole-wheat English muffin with lean ham and low-fat cheese, fruit of choice

*I have a fantastic Peanut Butter Granola recipe – if you make from scratch (super-easy!) you will save quite a bit of money! Contact me for the recipe.

**Make up a batch of muffins/scones, eggs and granola on the week-ends for a very fast breakfast!

So do you eat breakfast?  Any other struggles?