Breakfast Recipes to Start Your Day Off Right
In This Chapter
▶ Understanding the health benefits of eating breakfast
▶ Discovering quick low-glycemic breakfast options for people on the go
▶ Preparing delicious breakfast recipes in advance to be available for the week
▶ Whipping up tasty breakfast recipes when you have more time
Breakfast is the meal of weight-loss champions, yet it’s the meal most often skimped on or just plain skipped. People of all ages — adults, teens, and children — have different reasons for missing a healthy breakfast. Some feel they’re simply too busy in the morning to grab some- thing; others just don’t feel hungry in the morning. Whatever the reason, they’re missing out. Years of research show that a healthy breakfast each day benefits all age groups. However, the “healthy breakfast” part is what many of the people who do eat breakfast aren’t getting quite right. Their morning meal may be so low in calories and protein that it doesn’t do a sufficient job.
If you’re a notorious breakfast-skipper, or if you’re addicted to high-glycemic, sugary breakfasts, you may think throwing low-glycemic foods into the mix makes managing breakfast even more of a task. But I promise it’s easier than you may expect. Use this chapter to come up with some new ideas and motivation for breakfast. Whether you want a grab-and-go granola bar or a hearty egg scramble, numerous low-glycemic breakfast options await you for each day of the week.
Understanding Why Breakfast Is So Important
What’s all the fuss about breakfast? So much more than all that business about the importance of getting in three meals a day. Research is finding more and more health connections to breakfast, making it a meal that you don’t want to skip. The next sections cover just exactly why breakfast is such an important meal (other than “because your mother told you so”).
Reviewing the health benefits of breakfast
You probably give breakfast little thought as you wake up in the morning, but did you know it can actually help you with your weight-loss efforts, boost your job or school performance, and just plain make you feel better? So many benefits from one simple meal!
Following are some of the specific ways breakfast makes a big difference in your well-being:
✓ It refuels you for the day ahead. Breakfast literally means to break a fast. After eight to ten hours without food, your body needs to replenish its blood sugar supplies. Most importantly, your brain needs a fresh supply of blood sugar to use as its main energy source, because it doesn’t have any storage capacity like your muscles do. That means it needs to refuel each morning so it has the energy for sustained mental work. Your muscles also need a fresh supply of blood sugar to help fuel your physical activity.
✓ It improves your mood and attitude. According to research, breakfast-skippers tend to feel tired, irritable, and restless in the morning compared to breakfast-eaters, who show better attitudes toward work and school and have better productivity throughout the day.
✓ It strengthens your mental skills. Research has also found that breakfast-eaters have improved memory as well as better concentration and problem-solving abilities. Don’t believe it? Think of the studies of children who eat breakfast and have better concentration and do better on tests. Isn’t it amazing how one simple meal can help you perform better on mental challenges and tasks?
✓ It supplies you with ample nutrients. Eating the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day can be tough when you try to fit all of those servings into just two meals. Breakfast-eaters tend to get in more of their daily recommended vitamins and minerals than non-breakfast-eaters.
✓ It helps control your weight. Yes, that’s right. Eating breakfast can actually help you lose weight. Even though what you eat at breakfast still counts toward your total calories for the day, research shows that individuals who eat breakfast tend to feel more satisfied and eat fewer calories and fat throughout the day, making eating your breakfast each day an important weight-loss strategy. Eating a healthy breakfast also helps keep your metabolism running strong (flip to Chapter 8 for the full scoop on metabolism).
Feeling fuller for longer with the right balance at breakfast
Do you ever feel ravenous 30 minutes after eating breakfast? If so, you’re not alone. I often hear this complaint from my clients. The hunger you’re experiencing has more to do with what you’re eating than with normal hunger cues. Many people eat the wrong combination of foods in the morning, which can stimulate their appetite in a strong way. This is where your low-glycemic choices come in handy. When you eat a high-glycemic food for breakfast with little else, that food creates a spike in your blood sugar. Eventually your blood sugar comes crashing down, leaving you feeling famished. Eating low- glycemic foods for breakfast helps prevent this fast spike and keeps you feeling satisfied for longer.
The best way to avoid stimulating your appetite and guarantee you’ll feel fuller for longer is to combine low-glycemic foods with protein and/or fat, both of which (like low-glycemic foods) release energy more slowly. So, for example, instead of eating puffed rice cereal with a little milk, opt for oatmeal with wal- nuts and milk. Puffed rice is a higher-glycemic grain, and although milk has fat and protein, usually little of it is used on cereal. These factors lead you to feel hungry very quickly, whereas the lower-glycemic oatmeal plus the protein and fat in the nuts keep you feeling fuller for a longer period of time.
If you’re a breakfast-skipper, you may find that you don’t feel hungry in the morning at all, but when you start to incorporate breakfast, suddenly your hunger kicks into gear. Don’t worry. That’s a good sign! Your body should feel hungry in the morning (and frequently throughout the day) to signal that it’s time to eat. Hunger signals that feel like a gradual hunger rather than an extreme famished feeling are a sign of a good metabolism. Many individuals have fallen out of touch with what hunger and fullness feel like, which can make losing weight and maintaining any weight loss more of a challenge because they aren’t used to eating at the appropriate times.
Going on the Run with Grab-and-Go Starters
Some mornings you may not have time to prepare anything for breakfast. Other mornings you may find it hard to eat very much. Regardless of the circumstances, eating something small for breakfast is better than eating nothing at all so your body can replenish its blood sugar stores.
A good strategy is to have a quick grab-and-go starter and then enjoy a midmorning snack a little later. (This strategy works especially well if you find that eating one large breakfast in the morning can actually make you feel sick.) Spreading out your breakfast not only keeps you from feeling like you’ve eaten too much but also provides you with some blood sugar and helps keep your metabolism running strong.
Here are a few quick low-glycemic grab-and-go starter ideas:
✓ Two slices of whole-wheat toast with 2 teaspoons peanut butter or almond butter
✓ Two slices of whole-wheat toast with 1 ounce of melted mozzarella (a lower-calorie/fat cheese)
✓ One hard-boiled egg and two slices of whole-wheat toast
✓ 1 cup low fat yogurt mixed with 1⁄2 cup fresh berries
✓ 1⁄2 cup cottage cheese and a piece of fruit
Chowing Down on Cereals
What could be a more classic breakfast option than cereal? Most cold cereals tend to have a higher glycemic load, but some have glycemic loads that are in the low to medium range. If you’re a cold cereal fan, consider trying one of these options (just remember to watch your portion size):
✓ Cheerios
✓ Fiber One
✓ Kashi GoLean
✓ Kellogg’s All-Bran
✓ Kellogg’s Bran Flakes
✓ Life
Want another lower-glycemic breakfast option? Try hot cereals. Oatmeal and grits are two hot cereals that end up with a low to medium glycemic load as long as you stick to a serving size of 2⁄3 cup or less cooked cereal.
To give your hot cereal some pizzazz, try any of the following suggestions:
✓ Add your favorite low-glycemic fresh fruit. Berries, peaches, and even bananas work great in oatmeal.
✓ Make some quick baked apples and add them to oatmeal. Baked apples are soft and add a touch of cinnamon to your meal; see the following recipe.
✓ Spice up your oats with cinnamon, ground nutmeg, allspice, or cloves.
✓ Heat up your grits by adding jalapeños or hot sauce.
✓ Add cayenne pepper, chili powder, or cumin to grits to give ’em a kick.
✓ Sprinkle a little shredded cheese on your grits and let it melt in.
Getting a Quick Start with Smoothies
When you want a quick breakfast, smoothies are a healthy choice. They take just minutes to prepare, and you can bring them with you or drink them while you’re getting ready for your day.
The trick with smoothies is to watch how much you drink. Because smooth- ies are a beverage, they can be very deceiving. Restaurant and smoothie bar servings are much too large, giving you an excess of calories and sugar.
(More specifically, restaurant smoothies are often up to 24 ounces in size and total about 600 to 800 calories.) To make matters worse, people often think
of smoothies like they do a typical drink and eat more food with them, bump- ing their total number of calories for that particular meal way up. Limit your smoothie servings to 8 to 12 ounces and keep in mind that a smoothie is a meal in itself. You don’t need to eat other foods with it.
When making your own smoothies, try freezing the fruit ahead of time and eliminating the ice from the instructions. Doing so speeds up the smoothie- making process and adds a nice shakelike consistency without the risk of ice chunks. To freeze fruit, simply wash or peel it and place it in a freezer bag.
Following are a few low-glycemic smoothie recipes that range in flavor from fruity to nutty.
Preparing Ahead for a Week’s Worth of Fast Breakfast Choices
Doing a little preparation ahead of time is a great way to have healthy, home- made breakfasts on hand during your busy week. After you have them pre- pared, they become quick grab-and-go starters for your day. Following are a few make-ahead recipes that I think you’ll really enjoy.
Cooking Eggs for Breakfast When You Have More Time
Quick breakfasts are great for busy weekdays, but on the weekends, you may want to slow down and make a little something special for breakfast.
Pancakes and waffles can be a bit tough to prepare in a low-glycemic way, but low-glycemic eggs are easy to whip up. They also offer an excellent source of protein.
Eggs used to get a bad rap because of the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat they contain. However, recent research has shown that eggs actually have little effect on heart health. Previously you were only supposed to have three egg yolks per week; according to today’s recommendations, you can now safely eat one egg yolk per day.
Did you know egg farmers are now producing healthier options? Egg farmers who feed their hens natural foods, such as whole grains and vegetables, are selling eggs with lower saturated fat and cholesterol levels. Look for products that give you details on how the hens are fed for the healthiest egg choices.
Read on for some of my favorite low-glycemic egg recipes that are perfect for a lazy weekend morning.
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