The 60 Second Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it’s also the most hurried time of the day. We just woke up, we’re in a hurry, we’re getting dressed, looking for our keys and trying to make it out the door. Most mornings, I have about 5 minutes to spend on breakfast, if that. So how do you get a good healthy meal into that time?

The Fast and the Bad

Unfortunately, some of us choose to rely on fast food restaurants for our breakfasts. We go for things like the Egg McMuffin or a breakfast burrito. Most of these selections have too much fat and too many calories. Here’s a great example of something you shouldn’t be eating, the Hardee’s Breakfast Burrito.  Seriously, if you’re thinking of starting out your day with 920 calories and 60g of fat, well then, I just have nothing to say to that except that you’re probably reading the wrong blog.

Good Breakfasts Start At Home

For me, the best breakfasts are simple things that I made myself.  Here’s a good example:

1. Take one whole wheat wrap.  I like the smaller, taco shell sized variety rather than the larger, burrito sized variety.  These have about 60 calories and a decent amount of protein and fiber.
2. Crumble one hard boiled egg onto this wrap for another 90 calories or so.  The hardboiled egg can be prepared at any time.  You can make a batch of them and then store them in the fridge for days.
3. If you like warm food, microwave the wrap right now for about 20 to 30 seconds.  Otherwise, keep going.
4. Add a few leaves of spinach and some chopped up tomatoes.  Again, these are both things you can prepare ahead of time or things you can easily make in a few seconds.
5. Season to your liking.  I usually add a bit of Tapatio sauce because I like spicy things, but it’s good as is.

Nutritional Content

Total calories for this breakfast are around 150.  These calories come from a mixture of healthy carbs (the veggies and the whole wheat wrap) plus healthy protein and fat (the wrap and the egg).  You’ve also got a good amount of fiber in this breakfast (from the wrap and the veggies).  The carbs will get you the quick energy you need in the morning and the fat plus the protein will keep you satisfied for a while.

Convenience Factor

If you hardboiled the egg in advance then total preparation time is less than 1 minute if you’re not chopping up veggies and around 2 minutes if you are.  It’s even a portable breafast which you can take with you on the run.

Alternatives

If you’re not the biggest egg fan, feel free to substitute something else in there.  A bit of cottage cheese, a few pieces of lean chicken or fish, they all work.   Whatever you substitute should be a good source of healthy fat and protein to make this a balanced meal.

Summary

There’s no reason to start your day off at a fast food place or coffee house.  You can easily make a quick and healthy breakfast at home that will get you started and keep you going.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!