For many of us, mornings and breakfast time are a challenging time of the day. Either we aren’t hungry, we don’t know what to eat, we fall in the trap of eating the same thing day after day and get bored with the lack of variety, or we are too busy for a healthy meal.
Why are we writing about breakfast?
Looking at literature, many sources consider breakfast to be the most important meal of the day citing that people who eat breakfast have improved concentration, improved weight management, are less likely to overeat later in the day, and have more favorable cholesterol levels when compared to those that don’t eat breakfast.
But… where do you start to make a healthy breakfast part of your daily routine?
We are here to help you with 5 tips to make breakfast a healthy habit of yours:
- Start. The hardest part of adding a healthy habit is starting. If you don’t regularly eat a healthy breakfast, or you find that breakfast typically consists of overly processed foods like sweetened cereals or baked goods, start your work on this healthy habit by finding grab and go items like a piece of fruit, a greek yogurt, or a hard boiled egg. If you find that you aren’t hungry first thing in the morning, eat a small amount of food first thing in the morning and then later add a balanced, healthy mid-morning snack.
- Prepare. If mornings are busy, prepare some easy breakfast items to have ready to eat in the morning. Here’s a couple quick breakfast recipes that are great to prepare ahead of time, and grab for a healthy start to your day:
Double Chocolate Overnight Oats
- Rethink it. Think outside the (cereal) box. Don’t limit yourself to traditional breakfast foods. Leftover dinners with eggs and vegetables can make a healthy breakfast. One of our favorite breakfasts is made with leftover meatloaf muffins, sauteed spinach, berries, and a hard-boiled egg.
- Pack it. If mornings are busy, and you find yourself not having time to eat breakfast at home, try packing healthy grab and go items or prepped items to take with you as you walk out the door, and eat on your way to school or work. Write down your healthy items or recipes that you choose and challenge yourself to gradually include other healthy items to add more variety.
- Change gradually. Remember that adding in a new healthy habit doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect right away. The most important thing is that you are open to starting a new healthy habit. If you aren’t familiar with eating breakfast, make this change gradually to avoid getting overwhelmed. Add a healthy breakfast on two mornings at first, then increase to three mornings a little later once you start building this into your routine. Eventually, you can make it a goal to eat a healthy balanced breakfast every day.
Need an accountability partner to help make breakfast one of your healthy habits? We are here to help! Book a free intro using this link: https://sycamorecrossfit.com/programs/nutrition/