Breakfast is Your Most Important Meal

MindfulEats breakfast favorites: latte, McCann's steel-cut oats, scrambled eggs, avocados and NYT (recipe below)

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper ~Adelle Davis

You know those days when you're at the top of your game - witty, wise, energetic, handling all that comes your way with nothing short of brilliance, drawing everyone into your orbit with your magnetic attractiveness, all while radiating goodness and joy? Yeah, you know those days.

Do you want to have more of those all-star days? Consistently? Have breakfast! Starting your day with the right type of fuel sets up your day for success. This works because:

• Breakfast breaks the fast you've been on since before bedtime. (That's why it's called breakfast, get it?) If you had dinner at six, and you get up at seven, that's 13 hours with no food! Your glucose levels are low. You need food to get your metabolism revved up.
• It helps you lose weight. People think skipping breakfast or just having coffee helps them lose weight, but obese people are more likely to skip breakfast than thinner people. You get ravenous and end up eating more calories during the day. Ah,the irony! If you have kids, breakfast is even more important for them! Children need food for brain and body development. If they go without breakfast, it's an even longer fast. This semistarvation can create physical, intellectual and behavioral problems. If they have behavioral problems, check and make sure you are feeding your kids high-quality, nutritious food on a regular basis (including breakfast).

What to do: Eat Breakfast

1. Have a food plan for the week that includes breakfast so you don't need to think about what to eat. Thinking when you just got up is tough! If you don't have a plan, read this post and create your Mindful Battle Plan!
2. Take the time for breakfast, you deserve it!
3. For an ideal breakfast, have something from each of these groups: 1) fresh, whole fruits and vegetables or unsweetened juices, 2) whole grains like hot steel-cut oatmeal or cold whole grain cereals, whole grain bread/toast, 3) protein like eggs, peanut butter or lean meat (salmon, grilled chicken).
4. Don't have time at home? Pick up breakfast on your way to work and eat at your desk.
5. We don't always have time for the ideal breakfast, so stock up on healthy, whole-grain unsweetened cereal or cereal bars for the days when you need to grab and go.

Menu / recipes for an easy, filling breakfast: (this is usually a weekend breakfast for MindfulEats)

1. Steel-cut oatmeal: boil 1c. of hot water and add 1/4c. of steel-cut oats. Simmer for 30 minutes, until chewy to the taste. Add 1T ground flaxseeds, milk, berries or dried fruit as desired.
2. Scrambled eggs with avocado slices: use a fork to whip 2-3 eggs per person with 3T milk. Heat a frying pan on medium with 1T butter. Add a little garlic if you would like a kick. Pour in the eggs, and continue stirring with wooden spoon until set and scrambled. Slice up some avocado and put on plate.
3. Latte: use your espresso machine to create a latte, or have a big mug of tea/coffee.
4. Grapefruit or other fruit.  
5. The New York Times: the paper version. Give your eyes a rest from the screen, and breeze through articles you might not normally read.

Want more info? Try this WebMD article and this Mayo Clinic article.

What I ate: 16 oz. green juice, 1 hard boiled egg, 2 tangerines, 1 oz. pumpkin seeds, 1 oz. almonds, 4 squares dark chocolate, 1c. quinoa, sauteed asparagus + tempeh, 1 apple, 1 slice chocolate cake, frisee + goat cheese + radishes + grape tomatoes + Schoolhouse Kitchen Balsamico Vinaigrette (yum), 1/2c. Israeli couscous, sauteed eggplant + tomato, 2T Pinot Noir/Cabernet sorbet, 2 cups Bengal Spice tea, 1 cup hot chocolate, 60 oz. water

Exercise: 10 min. stationary bike, 30 min weights