hmmm Breakfast

BREAKFAST! I love that the word 'breakfast' is literally 'break-fast'. You 'fast' while you sleep and then you get to wake up to a glorious meal. The MOST important meal! But why? Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Let me break it down for you.

First off, the reason I'm sure most of you are interested in, is that breakfast kick starts your metabolism. During the night, you don't need as much energy and your metabolism slows down. Once you wake up, your metabolism speeds up again, but without a healthy breakfast to provide the nutrients and energy your body needs, your metabolism can't sustain a higher level for long. When it realizes it can't sustain because you're not going to feed it, it slows right back down again. And we all knows what happens when your metabolism slows down! (And if you don't because you're new to my blog, metabolism is slow, you store fat. Now go read all my other posts!) If breakfast isn't had, your body doesn't process your next meal as quickly and tries to hold onto those nutrients. Since it didn't get any morning fuel, it tries to hold onto the afternoon meal as long as possible — instead of burning it right away.

According to MSNBC Health, eating breakfast can increase your metabolism by as much as 10 percent. This means you actually burn MORE calories during the day BECAUSE you ate! Revolutionary. A very common misconception is that if you skip breakfast, you'll lose weight. Seems like common sense. However, research shows that people who skip breakfast end up eating MORE throughout the day than those who did eat breakfast. Remember, restricting ALWAYS leads to overeating. Not only that, but they also don't get the metabolism boost so the calories (and extra calories!) they consumed aren't being burned as quickly as they could be if they had eaten the most important meal of the day.

Also, after sleeping for eight hours and being without food during the night, our brain and muscles need energy and fuel to function. And the glucose in food (as well as the vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and protein) is how we get this energy. With this rush of nutrients and glucose to our brains, we are better able to concentrate, focus, be productive, and be in better spirits! Another cliche..."No waking up on the wrong side of the bed!"

Now, the two most common excuses I've heard from people for not eating breakfast is "I'm not hungry in the morning!" and "But I don't have time!"

My answers are "Do it anyways" and "Yes you do".

Breakfast is a habit. But, you have to MAKE it a habit. Very few people are actually truly hungry in the morning. I am almost never hungry right when I wake up. However, I eat anyways. Because it's a habit. I know the benefits, I want the benefits, I get the benefits. Because I eat breakfast.

You don't have time to eat breakfast? Yes you do drama queen. My go to breakfast? A greek yogurt with cinnamon, a piece of turkey sausage, and a piece of toast with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I eat the yogurt while my sausage is in the microwave and my toast is in the toaster. I am literally done with breakfast in 10 minutes. So don't even.

Now, what DO you eat for breakfast? Like every other meal: Protein, carb, fat.

• Two eggs and a piece of toast with 1 tbs. peanut butter
• Greek yogurt with nuts, 1/2 cup oats (makes 1 cup oatmeal)
• Two pieces of toast with peanut butter and banana
• Two pieces of toast with an egg and 1/4 avocado (and salsa mmm)
• Two waffles with jelly and a greek yogurt
• A bowl of cereal with 1 cup milk and a banana

And so on and so on and so on. In order to properly start your metabolism, breakfast should be 300-500 calories. Just try and get a protein, carb, and fat in there. But if you can only squeeze two, make them carbs and fats. Carbs with give you the fuel you need to start your day and the fats will feed your brain after the long night's sleep. Don't forget your brain is 2/3 fat :)  Now for some delicious food porn this early in the morning. If this doesn't trigger your hunger I don't know what will! x