Welcome to Week 6 of 52 Weeks to a Healthier You! Last week, we took a look at our eating habits by using a food diary. This week, we’re going to start improving our diets by…drumroll…eating a healthy breakfast!
A lot of adults don’t eat breakfast at all. Personally, if I have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, I pretty much lose my appetite. So it’s very easy for me to have a cup of coffee early on and then nothing until nearly noon. Turns out that’s terrible for our health. (Shocker.)
Let’s take a look at why we need to eat breakfast and get a few healthy breakfast ideas for the most important meal of the day!
Disclaimer: I am not a health or fitness expert. Please consult a medical professional before starting any new health or fitness regimen.
Image: Mara Zemgaliete / Dollar Photo Club
Why We Should Eat Breakfast
According to WebMD, eating breakfast sets the tone for the rest of our day. Think about it: How often have you been out running errands and realized suddenly that you were STARVING? What did you do? I’ll tell you what I did. I made a beeline for the nearest drive-thru, where I proceeded to order something extremely unhealthy. And that’s what happens when we skip breakfast or go too long without eating in general. We end up ravenous and we make bad food choices later.
Sometimes we think that skipping a meal will lower our caloric intake and help us drop pounds faster. However, the meal we skip should NOT be breakfast. Eating breakfast can actually reduce our risk of serious health conditions, including heart disease and obesity. Time.com suggests eating something that will stabilize our blood sugar levels, which means skipping the sweet rolls. *sob*
Healthy Breakfast Ideas
If you’re at a loss as to what to eat first thing in the morning, try these suggestions!
- Whole grain English muffin with scrambled egg white and spinach
- Scrambled egg, one strip turkey bacon, roasted asparagus
- Oatmeal with fresh fruit
- Green smoothie (We’ll be talking more about these in an upcoming week!)
- Whole grain cereal with skim milk, soy milk, or almond milk and fresh fruit
- Low-sugar yogurt with granola, honey, and fruit
- Baked sweet potato with cinnamon and honey (That one’s from the Time.com article. Sounds great!)
Do you eat breakfast on a regular basis? If so, do you have any healthy breakfast ideas to share? Let them loose in the comments! For even more support, join our 52 Weeks to a Healthier You Facebook group!
one tip that’s made a huge difference in the full spectrum family is putting hot cereal on the stove the night before – whole grains like steel cut oats take forever otherwise…