Eating a healthy breakfast is the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Breakfast gets your metabolism going in the morning, fuels your mind as well as body for the day and keeps you from eating a whole pizza at lunch because by noon you are starving!
Your mother always said, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” and she was right! But like many of our Mom’s… she stated this as she was dishing up a giant stack of pancakes and a rasher of bacon! So what you eat is just as important as when you eat it.
A healthy breakfast can also really set the tone for your eating habits the rest of the day. If you have already broken your healthy eating pattern in the am by skipping breakfast or digging into the donut box, the motivation to keep it up the rest of the day is going to be hard to muster up.
So keep breakfast healthy with whole grain cereal with fresh berries (pick a cereal with low sugar and high protein – I like Kashi! I love their frozen whole grain waffles too), a bowl of oatmeal topped with a few raw almonds and a dollop of low fat or fat free yogurt, load up on fresh fruits, scrambled egg whites with veggies – or if your on the run, grab a yogurt and a some nuts, or blend up a quick smoothie to drink on your way to work.
There are a ton of great frozen fruits available to toss in your smoothie. Trader Joes has a great Tropical Fruit Trio (mango, pineapple, papaya tossed in passion fruit juice) and Costco has giant bags of frozen NW berries that are super flavorful and super reasonably priced.
You can totally get creative with your smoothies too! I’ve created a recipe with the Trader Joe’s Tropical Fruit Trio, non-fat yogurt and some agave nectar—which is a low-glycemic sweetener (you can always use honey or a packet of no-cal sweeter too). I’ve also added some flax seed and a protein powder boost option… but go ahead — add some banana, OJ etc – or whatever strikes your fancy. It will jump-start your day!
Most of the time, people don’t eat breakfast because they don’t give themselves enough time to make something before they have to be out the door. So just give breakfast a little more planning time and you’ll be out the door every morning on the right foot for 2011!
Kathy’s Jump-Start Smoothie
This recipe is a great basic smoothie recipe… there are lots of things you can get creative with. Add a tablespoon of protein powder, a banana, change up the frozen fruits, add a dash of OJ or fat-free milk if you like your smoothie less thick or if you have a “challenged blender.” And if you love smoothies- be sure to get yourself a good blender. I love my Vita Mix!
Makes 1 serving
1/2 cup frozen fruits – such as Trader Joe’s Tropical Fruit Trio
1/2 cup fat-free or low-fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp agave nectar (or sub honey or a packet of no-cal sweetener)
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/2 – 1 teaspoon flax seed (the more seeds – the more “texture”)
Place ingredients in the order above and blend until smooth. Enjoy your healthy start to a great day!
© 2011 Kathy Casey Food Studios®
