Apr
9
Breakfast
Filed Under Eating Healthy
To celebrate our new start here at 60 IN 3, I’m going to devote this week to starting out your day right. Most people dislike mornings. You’re tired, you want some more sleep and you definitely don’t want to head to work. Well, I can’t help you with work, but I can help make your mornings a bit better in other ways.
The first and most important part of the morning is breakfast. You just slept for 7 to 9 hours. You’ve had nothing to eat in that time and your body needs energy. You might be awake, but your body is still thinking about sleep and that means you’re a bit slow. You’re like an engine that’s running on fumes. You need some fuel to really rev up. So breakfast is a great opportunity to get your metabolism going and increase your energy level.
The problem is that most people skip most breakfasts and eat too much when they do have it. That was my problem too. I would usually skip breakfast and head straight to work. On days that I would eat something, it was usually multiple eggs, some bacon and a few pancakes. That’s worse than no food at all. When you overload your body this way it actually slows down your metabolism. Those grandslam breakfasts were killing me slowly, and they weren’t very healthy for my wallet either.
These days, I try to have a small and healthy breakfast each morning. Just enough to get me going but not enough to make me feel bloated and slow. If you’re a numbers person, you’re looking to get about 1/6 of your calories in the morning. For me, that means between 400 and 500 calories. Rather than count calories every meal, I just came up with a list of possibilities. So each day I eat something different. I never get bored and I never feel like I’m eating the same thing over and over.
Here’s my list of healthy breakfasts:
- Dried fruits and nuts - Careful not to overdo this one. Dried fruit and nuts have a surprising amount of calories in them. So be sure you know how much you should and shouldn’t eat. Also, try to stay away from the salted variety of foods. Too much salt is a bad way to start out your day.
- Piece of whole wheat toast with a bit of cheese on it and some vegetable like a tomato - I love cheese. It’s high in fat but ok in moderation. Plus there are so many varieties of it. You can try out a different type each morning and always feel like you’re eating something new. Stay away from butter or margarine though. The cheese is enough.
- One egg - Eggs are a great source of protein. One egg has about 210 calories in it. Like the cheese idea above, it can be eaten in a variety of ways. Hard boil it the day before if you want a quick breakfast or scramble it with some vegetables for a healthier meal.
- Whole wheat bread, hummus and a vegetable - This one is a little high in calories, so try not to overeat it, but it’s a great way to add some variety. Hummus is a middle eastern spread made from garbanzo beans. It’s healthy, but a bit high in fat. Try it with a tomato or maybe a cucumber.
- Breakfast wrap - One of my favorites. Take a small fajita (whole wheat if possible), put diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and spinach inside. Add a little bit of feta cheese and enjoy. It’s like the Greek version of a burrito but much healthier.
- Fresh fruit - If I’m really in a hurry, I’ll just grab a couple of pieces of fruit. Bananas, apples, oranges, pears, they all make a great breakfast.
LIST 1
Some of you might be asking, “what about cereals?” Well, I’m not a big fan of cereals. The good ones don’t taste very good and the bad ones are not much more than sugar. In general, when something is sugary it’s usually a warning sign that it’s not very healthy. That goes for cereal bars, granola bars, “fruit” yogurts, morning smoothies and a whole lot of other items that food industry would like to sell you. Take a look at the ingredients and you’ll see that a lot of that sweetness comes from stuff like high fructose corn syrup or plain sugar. Those are not exactly healthy ingredients.
So start your day off right, eat something healthy and come back tomorrow for more information on healthy breakfasts.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Comments
4 Responses to “Breakfast”
Leave a Reply
I think 1 egg has only about 75 calories, so it’s even better than you suggested. Of course it does have some saturated fat, so don’t overdo it — but don’t worry too much unless you have high cholesterol.
@Canadian
Exactly. For me, an egg is ideal because it’s also a good source of protein, which I’m a bit light on due to being a vegetarian. And yes, overdoing it is bad, starting out your day with a four egg omelet is not healthy!
@Canadian
Actually, I did a bit more research and this is what I found:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c201t.html
So yes, the egg looks good!
[...] may also be interested in this previous 60 in 3 article, which was part of a series on how to start your day right. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to [...]