Breakfast Club!

I’m sure you’ve heard it before, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” I prefer to think that all meals are created equal, but—nonetheless—it’s important to have breakfast and do it right.

I won’t go into the details about why breakfast is important—we all know breakfast is important for energy and health; we just choose to ignore it. Do yourself right and stop ignoring breakfast!

Breakfast doesn’t need to be a large or complex meal. Every person is different, so you need to experiment with different options to see what kind of breakfast gives you the best start to your day. As you try different things, these are the basics: get a minimum of 15 grams of protein and 10 grams of fat (ideally, heart healthy fats). Carbs are easy to get at breakfast; Americans are obsessed with carbs at breakfast (just think about the cereal aisle at the grocery store—it has its own aisle!).

You want to make sure you’re balancing your carbs with your protein. So, if you’re eating 15 grams of protein, then you’ll want to get about 15-25 grams of carbs. The point of balancing breakfast this way is to get enough protien and fat that you're not hungry for a while, but enough carbs that you get a boost of energy to start your day.

As you try different options, you may find that having too many carbs at breakfast makes you hungry too soon in your morning (sending you looking for snacks and knocking your calories off for the day). You may find that protein from certain foods seem to keep you satisfied longer. You may find that a lower calorie breakfast with a small snack in the middle of your morning is the best way to get you to lunch.

One of my favorite breakfast options is a low-fat version of my mum’s Frittata (one serving):

1 egg, 1 Tbsp of part skim ricotta, 1 oz. of low fat mozzarella cheese, and 15 pieces of Turkey Pepperoni

I throw everything together in a mini frying pan. Add a piece of toast or some fruit to balance out your carbs (the whole meal is under 300 calories) and you’re good to go for the morning!