Monday, February 7, 2011

Time to Rethink Breakfast

Throw out your preconceived notions about what you should eat for breakfast.  This meal is just like any other time of the day when you sit down to satisfy a hunger.  The classic American thoughts about what should be eaten for breakfast usually included grain based foods such as pancakes, waffles, cereals, doughnuts, toast, or bagels.  Often these nutritionally void foods are covered in a sweet, sugary substance.  What a crappy way to start the day.  No wonder road rage has become such common problem.  People are leaving home unrested and under nourished.  After their blood sugar spikes and then crashes, the result is a hungry person.  They are missing many nutrients from their morning meal also leading to hunger.  


Hopefully I have convinced you to reconsider what you eat in the morning.  Other classic choices for breakfast are eggs, bacon, sausage, and other such breakfast meats.  These are great options if you have time to get up and cook them.  What I am proposing to you is to open your morning food selections to anything you would normally eat during other meals of the day.  Left overs are a great option for breakfast.  If you are eating right and cooking large meals you will most likely have some great options available to you hot and ready to go in seconds.


Just last Thursday I had an interesting morning meal that would be deemed extremely weird by most accounts (maybe not in Korea).  On Sunday we made 2 large racks of pork spare ribs and I had some of those left over.  I also recently made a large batch of homemade kimchi .  So for breakfast that day, I took 1 minute and 48 seconds to whip up a satisfying and nourishing meal.   I was busy at work and never felt the urge to stop and get something to eat till way past noon.


On many other occasions I will make a smoothie that includes a little fruit, some liquid Vitamin D3, liquid cod liver oil (lemon flavored, no fishy taste), some vanilla whey protein powder, mixed up in some water.  Not the sugar bomb smoothies you will buy at take out places but it's not too bad and is packed with some good nutrients.  It isn't "real food" but it is a decent modern compromise.  There are other times when I am not hungry at all and will just not eat anything.  That's an interesting idea, not hungry = skip breakfast.


So when you are faced with the challenge of figuring out a good food option after you get out of the shower in the morning, think outside of both the Pyramid and the box.


CP

3 comments:

MAS said...

This winter I am experimenting with daily 16 hours fasts (Leangains method). I have found that eating eggs right before bed provides the most satiety. So breakfast is now dinner and vice versa.

Chuck said...

MAS:
do you do the BCAAs before your workout?

Megan said...

I couldn't agree more! My favorite breakfast is usually leftovers from the night before.