There are two reasons why it’s so important to eat healthy breakfasts. For one, it sets the tempo for the rest of the day. If you start off with a healthy meal, then it’s a lot easier to have healthy meals later in the day.
Second, it gets your metabolism going. When you’ve just woken up, you’ve gone at least 8 hours without food. Your body is in starvation mode and hordes all the energy it has. Eating a healthy meal gets your body OUT of starvation mode and INTO calorie burning mode.
Unfortunately, many people eat really unhealthy foods for breakfast or skip it altogether. This is a bad idea. No matter how busy you are in the morning, you need to take the time to prepare and eat a good, nutritious meal.
I’m going to give you five staples of healthy breakfasts that you’re going to love. No matter how much time you have in the morning to prepare, and no matter what your taste buds respond to, I promise you that you will like at least one of these staples.
They all have practically infinite varieties and combinations, so they should keep you busy for a long time. Let’s dive right in!
1. Eggs
Eggs are absolutely, positively amazing for you. Frankly, eggs are one of the healthiest foods out there, and regardless of your health and fitness goals, you should be eating them.
Some people are turned off by the high fat and cholesterol count of whole eggs. While egg whites are definitely healthy, the yoke contains the bulk of the egg’s nutrition. Don’t be afraid of eating whole eggs – nobody has ever had a heart attack because they ate too many eggs!
There are all kinds of ways to prepare eggs. You can scramble them, cook them over easy, poach them, or even hard boil them and store enough of them to last you the entire week. Because eggs have a neutral taste, you can experiment with different spices.
For example, if you sprinkle on some lemon and parsley, it’ll have a Middle Eastern flavor. If you add olive oil, garlic and basil, then it’ll have an Italian taste. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to cook ethnic food, there’s no better place to do it than on eggs!
2. Oatmeal
Oatmeal is a great weight loss food. For one, it’s packed with fiber, which will give you that “full” feeling longer. In addition, oatmeal is a complex carb, which means that it takes longer for your body to process and store it as fat.
Replacing simple carbs, such as white bread, with complex carbs, like oatmeal, is one of the fundamental changes that you need to make to your diet in order to maintain a healthy weight.
What makes oatmeal special is that, like eggs, you can create all sorts of neat tasting meals out of it. Try mixing it with apples and cinnamon, or play around with peanut butter and blueberries. The possibilities are endless!
3. Greek Yogurt
Who doesn’t like yogurt? OK, I know a few people who don’t, but come on, it’s delicious!
Now when I say that yogurt is a great breakfast food, I’m not talking about the ones at the super market that are loaded with sugar.
The absolute best kind of yogurt you can eat is greek yogurt: it is loaded with protein and contains no sugar. It does taste a little plain, which is why you may want to spruce it up with some…
4. Berries
A little earlier I reminded you about how important it is to avoid simple carbs such as sugar. Well that’s a little simplistic, because there are actually some sugars that are really good for you, such as those found in fruit.
In particular, berries are absolutely phenomenal for you. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries… whatever you can get your hands on. These don’t require any preparation and go with everything else on this list.
5. Green Tea
When it comes to beverages, stay away from the juice that you buy in the store. Most of that stuff is just sugary concentrate that won’t do much for you.
A lot of people drink coffee, which is fine. There have been many studies done on coffee, and it does not have any long-term negative effects on you.
That said, if you want a nice kick AND some serious health benefits, look no further than green tea. Green tea’s profile as a “wonder” drink only gets bigger every year, and the hype is real. It is loaded with antioxidants and will help wake up and focus your mind.
