At the peak of New Years, many of us commit to a resolution with a particular goal in mind. Whether it’s weight loss, eating healthy, exercising, paying off debt, or earning more income. If your goal is to eat healthy and nutritious food this year, whether it’s to support weight loss or help reduce symptoms of a chronic disease/condition, then it’s time to be accountable and take control over what you’re eating.
I challenge you to a week of planning your healthy breakfasts!
There’s no need for me to remind anyone that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But a healthy breakfast prepares you for your day. It’s the first meal after a short fast from food where your body receives energy, balances your blood sugar, affects your mood, focus, mental clarity, and hormones, and helps to stabilize you until lunch time instead of snacking by 10:00 AM.
Whether your goal is to eat healthy or not, having a better breakfast will help you feel better. So let’s help you easily plan your breakfasts this month!
I avoid putting too much time and effort into thinking about breakfast (because I’d rather use my brain power to think about dinner) so this is the strategy I use and that you can incorporate to include a variety of nutrients, colours, and foods into your breakfast meal.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – Overnight Oats
Thursday, Friday – Smoothies
Saturday, Sunday – Eggs
Overnight Oats
My favourite breakfast ever! I’ve been enjoying a variation of overnight oats for the past three years, and I’ve looked forward to eating breakfast ever since.
This can easily prep this in 5 minutes on Sunday evening, making individual containers and having it ready to go each morning. Overnight oats contain oats and chia seeds and fresh fruits, which are two high sources of fibre, which helps regulate your digestion, detoxify the body of waste and toxins that build up, and balances the blood sugar so you feel full until lunch time. Overnight oats are also balanced with protein and fat, which means it’s a macronutrient balanced meal (protein, fat, fibre)!
Smoothies
If you don’t want to make another batch of overnight oats mid-week, then smoothies are a quick and nutritious breakfast option and you can use fresh or frozen ingredients. You can make them the night before or in the morning in less than 5 minutes.
Smoothies make it easy to fit in your intake of fruits and vegetables, like adding leafy greens, cauliflower, or zucchini without tasting it. Add a source of protein, like protein powder, grass-fed collagen, or hemp seeds to create a macronutrient balanced meal.
Eggs
The weekends tend to be when people desire a full, hot breakfast and have more time to be creative in the kitchen. Eggs (the whole egg, yolk and whites) are a great source of protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and choline, which is important for brain health.
A great weekend breakfast is eggs with some healthy carbohydrates and fats to create a balanced meal, like sweet potato hash, avocado, plantain, and rye toast.