Why you should eat Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day (and an extremely delicious one, in my opinion). It provides you with some of the essentials and nutrients that lead to increased concentration and energy for the day. Many people claim they don’t have time for breakfast, but it doesn’t require much more than 5-10 minutes to receive that extra nutrition and health benefits of breakfast.

Why you need to eat breakfast…

Break the fast and wake your metabolism: Breakfast is called what it is called because you are literally, breaking the fast. Since you have starved your body and depleted most sources of energy, you need to re-fuel. During sleep, your body’s metabolic rate slows down and burns fewer calories to conserve energy. Eating breakfast wakes up your metabolism and begins to burn calories. It is important to keep eating and maintain your metabolic rate up throughout the day.
People who skip breakfast are more likely to be overweight/obese. They tend to get extremely hungry and end up overeating at other meals. They often justify it by thinking, “well I didn’t eat this morning, so I can eat more now”.
Alertness. Studies show that people who eat breakfast are more alert and do better on tests than people who skip breakfast. Breakfast helps improve memory and the retention of new information.
Nutritional Value: Breakfast foods generally contain lots of essential nutrients/vitamins that your body needs, if the right choices are made… of course!

What to eat for breakfast:

A balanced and nutritious breakfast should provide some protein, a reasonable amount of complex carbohydrate, a little fat and a variety of vitamins and minerals. Protein at breakfast helps to keep hunger away because it takes longer to digest than carbohydrates. Calcium-rich protein food such as milk or yogurt are also good choice for breakfast.

Other healthy and quick options:

Whole grain toast with peanut butter or hummus (my fav: Trader Joe’s 100% Whole Grain Fiber Bread)
Whole grain cereal, aim for less than 5-6g of sugar and at least 6g of fiber (my favs: Kashi Go Lean, Fiber One Bran Cereal, Shredded Wheat Vanilla Almond)
Low fat yogurt with flaxseed or nuts (my fav: Fage 0% with the jams)
Plain instant oatmeal with berries and 1 tsp of brown sugar

And my favorite breakfast …

4 egg whites

¼ tsp garlic

1 handful of spinach

5-8 sundried tomatoes

Whole grain toast or pita