Getting healthy is an important goal to many people in these days. Healthy habits help to control weight, which is important in preventing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other weight related illnesses. If you are trying to adopt a more healthy lifestyle, it is important to start with your breakfast. Many people, due to their busy lifestyles, opt out of eating breakfast.
Skipping breakfast has many consequences however. If you don’t eat breakfast, your blood sugar will spike, which can lead to an increase in fat storage. Breakfast is also the first meal you will eat, which means that if you eat the correct foods, you will get a gain in energy and sharper focus throughout the day. It can also prevent starvation, and ensure that you do not overeat throughout the day.
Eating breakfast can also ensure that you do not over portion your lunch, and can lower LDL, or bad cholesterol. By skipping breakfast, you slow your metabolism, which results in fat being stored longer. As a result, you have a higher tendency to overeat during your next meal, which results in weight gain and an increase in your LDL cholesterol.
Eating a healthy breakfast can help you to lose weight, but what should you eat?
Here are a few ideas..
Banana Pancakes
These aren’t your typical banana pancakes. Avoiding processed carbohydrates is a great way to work towards greater health. An added benefit to not having any processed carbs in your breakfast is that you avoid having a sugar crash. Carbs like white flour are processed by the body to turn them into sugar, which results in a sugar crash, even if you didn’t have any other sugar.
To make pancakes without any added sugars, you only need a banana and two eggs. Simply mash the banana very fine, and then mix in the two eggs. In a cast iron or nonstick griddle heated to about medium heat, pour enough of your mix to make a few silver dollar sized pancakes. Cook them for thirty seconds on each side and serve with maple syrup or agave nectar. If you want to make more than one serving, just use twice as many eggs as you use bananas.
Veggie Omelette
This option is always a favorite. Eggs provide ample protein, and vegetables provide the simple carbohydrates that your body needs to make it until lunch. The combination of these two makes for a perfect breakfast. To make a delicious vegetable omelette, finely slice vegetables that you like. Some good vegetables for omelettes are onions, fresh mushrooms, peppers, and tomatoes. You may even want to add some ham, turkey, or bacon to your omelette.
Add your sliced vegetables to a pan with oil or butter on medium heat and saute them until just soft. In the meantime, whisk together a couple of eggs with a drop of milk and salt and pepper. Add this to the pan and let it cook until the edges begin to show some firmness. At this point, flip one side onto the other and let cook for another couple of minutes. You now have the perfect, nutritionally balanced breakfast.
Not Just Greek Yogurt
Those of you who have to leave quickly in the morning may have already tried having Greek yogurt for breakfast, but that can get kind of bland over time. Adding things to your Greek yogurt makes it more interesting day in and day out, and can also have some added health benefits. Berries and dark chocolate are high in antioxidants and go great with yogurt. You might also want to add some granola or nuts for more protein and greater satisfaction.
Egg Cups
If you really don’t have the time to make breakfast in the morning, you may want to consider making egg cups on your day off to be eaten throughout the week. Even though they get made ahead of time, they are still super easy to make, and only require you to dirty a couple of dishes in the process. Chop up some vegetables like mushrooms, kale, spinach, onions, and tomatoes according to your taste. Whisk together a dozen eggs and add just enough milk to make sure that they will be fluffy.
Add your vegetables and mix them in. Get a muffin pan and thoroughly grease it with Pam or something similar, or, better yet, use paper muffin cups. Pour your egg mixture into each cup and bake the pan for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees. After they have cooled, you can put them in a baggie or Tupperware to keep in your fridge for breakfast for the week.
Oatmeal Plus
Oatmeal has been a breakfast staple for a very long time, but not everyone is a fan of it in its bland, standard presentation. There is an easy way to fix this. Just like Greek yogurt, oatmeal is a great medium for adding more healthy ingredients. Adding apples, hazelnuts, and flaxseed to your oatmeal gives you a breakfast full of healthy fat, fiber, and calcium. The combination of sweet and tart flavors make sure that your palette isn’t offended by blandness.
Dinner For Breakfast
Most people have this strange notion that we need to eat eggs, cereal or toast for breakfast. That is simply not true. Oftentimes, leftover dinner from the night before can make a delicious breakfast, so long as you can get over the fact that they aren’t breakfast foods. There is no reason you can’t have a steak salad for breakfast.
If you can’t wrap your head around eating non-traditional breakfast foods, you can make use of healthy about food delivery services from companies like Activ Eats. Also your previous night’s dinner can be reformed in a more traditional breakfast. If you had steak and vegetables for dinner, you may want to make a steak and veggie omelette. Personal recommendation: steak, mushrooms, and onions make for a great omelette.
Breakfast Burrito
Here’s another one that is great to make ahead: the breakfast burrito. Get a package of burrito sized tortillas, and add any ingredients that your heart desires. You can use eggs, meat like steak or ham, veggies like onions, mushrooms, or tomatoes, cheese, and salsa to fill the tortilla. Then wrap the tortillas and freeze them individually for the next week or even month. You can simply heat these burritos up in the microwave, your oven, or on a pan on the stove, and take them with you on the go.
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