The Most Important Meal of the Day?

Well, that's what some say. I don't know if I would agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I think that all of your meals are equally important. I do, however, agree with the idea that eating a well-balanced, healthy breakfast can set the tone for the meal choices you make throughout the day. Although, of course, there is always room for redemption. ;)

With all of that being said, if you eat a sugar-filled pastry for breakfast you're probably going to be hungry very soon after, and by the time lunch hour hits you'll be ravenous, and we all know what happens when you get thathungry, you eat whatever is in sight. And those "things" in sight tend to be processed, full of empty calories, and leading you right back into the cycle of starvation and a crappy dinner. You know how those days are, we've all had them. Not only do we feel so hungry that we will eat anything, but our cells remember how goodthat taste of sugar was in the morning, and so we want more!

So what if you just skip breakfast altogether? I know a lot of people just don't eat breakfast, I used to be one of them. I thought I would just wait until I felt extremely hungry to eat, that way I would consume less calories in the day, right? More like wrong. This excerpt from an article written about a study at Princeton University describes what happened when they restricted sugar-dependent rats from food for four hours after they wake:

"The researchers conducted the studies by restricting rats of their food while the rats slept and for four hours after waking. "It's a little bit like missing breakfast," Hoebel said. "As a result, they quickly eat some chow and drink a lot of sugar water." And, he added, "That's what is called binge eating -- when you eat a lot all at once -- in this case they are bingeing on a 10 percent sucrose solution, which is like a soft drink."

I don't know about you but I feel gross after drinking a soda! I stopped drinking soda in college, and I really didn't drink it much before then, except as a kid. But every once in a while I would crave the taste of soda, so I would buy a small one, and within a few minutes I felt disgusting. My stomach would bloat, I would have to belch constantly...basically it was not a pretty picture is what I'm saying. And so, I'm no longer tempted to drink soda. And that's not even mentioning the ingredients! Don't worry, I totally won't go there right now.

So back to sugar for breakfast. Processed white sugar is devoid of all nutrients. Sugar raises your endorphin levels, the feel-good chemical, creating a temporary high or elevated mood. With regular sugar consumption your brain develops a dependency to it. And your body requires much more sugar to reach that high again. Just the same as any other addiction like with drugs or alcohol. The problem is, most people don't realize how much sugar they are consuming. According to the USDA, "Sugar—including sucrose, corn sweeteners, honey, maple syrup, and molasses—is ubiquitous and often hidden. In a sense, sugar is the number one food additive. It turns up in some unlikely places, such as pizza, bread, hot dogs, boxed mixed rice, soup, crackers, spaghetti sauce, lunch meat, canned vegetables, fruit drinks, flavored yogurt, ketchup, salad dressing, mayonnaise, and some peanut butter." So if you can consciously avoid it, why wouldn't you?

Through my personal experience, the only sweeteners I recommend with pure confidence, and the only sweeteners I use myself, are: Agave, xylitol (a natural sweetener derived from the birch tree), and stevia; all of which are safe for diabetics. I also occasionally use raw honey.

Okay, now, back to breakfast. When you skip breakfast, or any meal for that matter, your body isn't sure when it's next meal is coming. If you typically eat frequent meals and skip one very once in awhile your body won't totally freak out, but watch out for bingeing! However, if you are constantly skipping meals, your body tends to store your food as fat, in order to prepare for another meal possibly not being eaten. Kind of like survival of the fittest. By "cutting calories" you are essentially storing fat, in other words, gaining weight. If you aretrying to lose weight, cutting calories within your meals is the way to go, not cutting out meals altogether.

Now that you know the importance of breakfast, here are my top recommendations for a well-balanced way to break your fast! Enjoy!

Tofu Scramble
Recipe:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 block firm tofu
2 small tomatoes, diced
large handful of spinach

-Heat vegetable broth in a large, nonstick pan over medium high heat. (You can also use water, or 2 tbs. olive oil if you aren't watching your weight). Crumble tofu over the broth, I just take out one large piece at a time and crumble it with my hands. Add salt and pepper, and any other spices you like. I like to add dried basil, or if I make it Mexican style I throw in some tomatillo salsa, about 2 tbs. Cook until the tofu softens and add spinach. If the liquid evaporates, add more broth, just enough to cover the pan. I make this at the beginning of the week and reheat a serving each morning. I usually don't add the spinach until the day of, so that it doesn't wilt. Have fun with this, use whatever vegetables you like. Mushrooms, green peppers, get creative!

Oatmeal with Fruit & Nuts
1 serving Steel Cut Oats
1/2 banana, mashed
2 tbs. any kind of nut (almonds and pecans are good choices)
1/4 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp. cinnamon

-Once oatmeal is cooked, add almond milk and heat (with oatmeal), in a small sauce pan. Add the mashed banana. (Just mash it in a bowl before adding to the pot). Stir until hot. Remove from heat. Stir in cinnamon and nuts. Enjoy! I like to eat this with some tempeh bacon to balance out the high carb content with some protein.

Tempeh Bacon
1 tsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, diced
1 package tempeh
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or a low sodium soy sauce

-Cut tempeh into thin slices. Put the slices in a large, flat bowl with garlic, apple cider vinegar, and Bragg's. Let marinate 1-2 minutes. Heat olive oil in a large, non-stick pan over medium low heat. Pour entire contents of bowl into pan and cook. Turn tempeh to brown both sides. Serve.

Greek yogurt with Fruit and Agave

1 serving non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fruit or berries (my favorite is blueberries)
1 tsp. agave
Cinnamon

-Put yogurt and fruit into a bowl, drizzle with agave and sprinkle some cinnamon. Yum.

Egg White Omelet

Olive oil spray (Trader Joesmakes a great, affordable option), or just enough oil to wet a nonstick pan
1/4 cup egg white
1/4 cup favorite veggies
1 small handful spinach

-Spray a medium, non-stick pan with olive oil spray. Cook veggies in pan about 2 minutes, until soft. Add egg whites and spinach. Use a spatula to lift the edges of the egg as they whiten, then turn the pan to let the egg spill over into the edge. Repeat until there is no more run off. Flip half of egg mixture onto other side, to form a half circle. Flip omelet until both sides are brown. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Fruit
For those of you who still prefer a lighter breakfast, eat a piece of fruit for breakfast! Another option is to add some nuts to the mix. I like blueberries with almonds or orange pieces with almonds. I'm kind of an almond girl! =)

Protein Shake
See, My Favorite Protein Shake!

-or try your own combination:
-1 scoop of your favorite protein powder
-1/2 frozen banana
-1/4 cup other fruit (optional)
-1 tbs. nut butter (optional)
-3/4 cup non-dairy milk

Protein Pancake
These are the BEST protein pancakes I have found! This recipe comes from the girls at Tone It Up!
TIU Protein Pancake Ingredients:

-1/4 cup egg whites
-1 scoop vanilla protein powder
-2 tbs vanilla almond milk or skim
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tbs ground flaxseed

After above ingredients are mixed together add 1/2 banana (mashed)- mash first, then add!!
Add a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries
Pour into a pan that has been sprayed with olive oil cooking spray- heat on medium. Cook one side until you see the little bubbles… just like cooking any pancake! Flip over (careful!) and cook on the other side until the middle is done (peek inside with a fork).

Cereal!
-1/2 cup of a high fiber, high protein and low sugar cereal
-1/2 banana, sliced
-unsweetened almond milk

The cereals I like are the Kashi Go Lean cereals and the Whole Foods 365 brand Protein & Fiber cereal.

I hope you're looking forward to breakfast tomorrow as much as I am!!!

<3,

Elizabeth