Recently, I did a volunteer presentation to some kids about having a healthy breakfast. I realized that the information I was presenting to these children is extremely relevant to adults as well. The amount of people who chose to SKIP breakfast is shocking. Those who believe that by skipping breakfast will help them to lose or maintain a certain weight are sadly wrong. I’m going to share with you some of the information I presented to the kids, and why it is important to get a healthy breakfast. Also, I have an example of a healthy breakfast to show you! Read on people!!
To start, the main reasons people skip breakfast are because they don’t have enough time in the morning, they don’t have any breakfast food, and because they are not hungry. These are not excuses! If you don’t have time in the morning, wake up earlier! I know this seems impossible to most people, even myself! But, by setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier and making a quick bite to eat, you will feel 10x better than you would have from that extra 15 minutes of sleep!
Another thing you could do to try avoid skipping the most important meal of the day is to eat breakfast as soon as you get up! Sometimes we think we have enough time to do things in the morning, and so we take our time getting ready, and then we realize we have to catch the bus in 5 min so we decide to skip out on breakfast. This is not good! Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up in order to avoid doing this.. OR, when you wake up, make your breakfast and bring it with you to get ready. This is what I do! I make a smoothie every morning and bring it with me when I go do my hair and makeup, then whatever I don’t finish, I put in a to-go mug and take it with me!
If you feel like you don’t have enough time, you can make something the night before, or pack some leftovers, or a granola bar to take with you on your way to school, work, or wherever it may be.
Now… you may be wondering why it is so important to eat breakfast. The list goes on and on and on. For people in school, it is shown that students who consume breakfast have better grades and attendance! This can be applicable to those who work- you are on time more often, and you are more successful in your workplace.
To continue, when you eat breakfast, it is easier to maintain a healthier weight. When people skip on breakfast, they tend to overeat in the later hours of the day. It is harder to burn off this energy, and therefore people who skip breakfast tend to GAIN weight rather than lose weight.
One more point I wanted to bring up is that by eating breakfast, you are helping to supply your body with the vitamins and minerals it craves and needs. For example, calcium from ilk & alternatives, fiber from grains. These are only two of the tons you get through eating breakfast food.
So, what does a healthy breakfast look like? And what can you do if you are not a breakfast eater? Well.. lets answer the later question first.
If you are not a breakfast eater, don’t worry!!! You can train yourself to crave breakfast. Start off slow – incorporate food from one of the four food groups into your diet every morning. This could be – a glass of milk, an apple or a banana, maybe a piece of toast. For a while, continue eating from one of the food groups. After a few weeks, start eating from two of the four food groups, and then eventually work up to eating from three! Your body will adjust to your morning meals, and eventually, you will wake up WANTING breakfast!
A healthy breakfast consists of THREE of the FOUR food groups. I usually stay away from meat and alternatives in the morning, but lots of people like eggs, sausages, BACON (evil!!). Examples of healthy breakfasts include a bowl of cereal (milk & grains) with an apple on the side (fruit). A piece of toast with peanut butter (grains  & meat alternative) with a pear, or a peach). Whatever you eat, make sure its healthy and from 3 of the food groups.
One of my go to breakfasts is Greek Yogurt (milk alternative) with berries (fruit) and ground up flax seeds and chia seeds (grains). In this breakfast, I have covered three of the four food groups. Not only is it a healthy breakfast, but it takes all of 2 minutes to make. I always grind a large amount of flax and chia seeds so that I can just grab them when I need them. Flax seeds have AMAZING health benefits, which I will be posting a blog about soon (stay tuned!!) and I recommend incorporating them whenever you can. However, you can only gain the benefits of eating Flax seeds if the seeds are GROUND! Human bodies do not have the enzymes required to hydrolyze the hard coating off of the seeds, and therefore they become useless without being ground. See below some pics of my favorite go-to breakfast (other than smoothies – which you can find on my Instagram )
What are your healthy go-to breakfasts?! Do they have three of the four food groups? Comment below to share!
xx
With Love, Meg
From Meg, With Love 