See the problem with this? What is the common denominator? Carbohydrates, and sugar...neither very good in the "useful calories" category. Sometimes we would have orange juice or milk to wash that stuff down...but it wasn't very satisfying, and it certainly didn't keep my hunger at bay until lunchtime.
NOT GOOD!!!
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Period. It should also be your largest, but most of us don't have time for that...at least, if your house is anything like mine!
Why is breakfast so important? Because it jump-starts our metabolism. Think of it as the engine that keeps us running...providing fuel to all the body parts that need it. Food is our fuel, and if we don't keep our bodies fed on a regular basis (as in, every 3 hours or so), our metabolism engine goes into crisis mode and starts making us have "random" spikes or dips in energy. Ever wonder why you get hungry in the morning if you eat an early breakfast and have a late lunch...or why we give our kids snacks when they get home from school? Because the metabolism needs feeding!
When we're sleeping, our metabolism sleeps too. It's still working, keeping our organs operating and such...but at a much slower pace than when we're awake. And usually, the usable energy that we gave our bodies at dinnertime has burned off by the time we're heading to work in the morning. Unless you feed your body, your metabolism doesn't wake up until lunch...which doesn't make you much of a fun morning person!
Want to be a morning person? (Hint: skip the coffee; it doesn't help your body any...especially on an empty stomach) EAT BREAKFAST - a good one, composed of a simple sugar, complex carbohydrate, protein, and fiber. And always take a multi-vitamin...no matter how good our diet is, we can't give our bodies everything they need every day, so a good multi-vitamin fills in the gaps.
So what does that look like?
- fresh fruit, whole-wheat toast topped with natural peanut butter, and a side of probiotic yogurt
- fruit smoothie mixed with flaxseed meal
- whole-grain, low sugar cereal with milk and fresh fruit
- half a bagel topped with a slice of cheese, and fresh-squeezed fruit juice
We needed something easy, fast, versatile, and requiring as little preparation as possible. So we went for smoothies. The possibilities are endless; throw any fruit, dairy product, fiber source, protein source, spice, or mild-tasting vegetable into a blender and voila!...instant breakfast!There are a couple things my kitchen needs to be complete. First is an awesome blender. I'm partial to Oster blenders, especially the glass jar kind. Plastic jars crack when exposed to extreme temperatures (like your dishwasher), and the bottoms leak like crazy. Glass is also easier to clean.
Second is a good supply of frozen fruit. Peeled and sliced bananas freeze very nicely, and make a great base to any breakfast smoothie. Our freezer is also stocked with a nice variety of seasonal fruits: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. Throw any one or all of them into a blender to make a great-tasting smoothie!
Thirdly, among other things, is the book Smoothies For Life. This book is an amazing, easy-to-read resource for all things smoothie, and gives a great (brief) overview of additional health benefits for your smoothie...like soothing a sore throat, healing sore muscles after a hard day doing yard work, etc.It also has recipes for 150+ smoothies! Enough variety for you?
So I hope this gives you a good place to start with improving your breakfast lifestyle. You can go as organic or non-organic as you want...it's up to you. It's all about feeling better in the end anyway.
And that's what matters.
So I hope this gives you a good place to start with improving your breakfast lifestyle. You can go as organic or non-organic as you want...it's up to you. It's all about feeling better in the end anyway.
And that's what matters.
