Breakfast – do you or don’t you?
One of the more common questions I get asked, is what to eat for breakfast. It’s a tricky one, because we all know that it’s the meal which breaks our overnight fast and the one which keeps us going through until lunchtime, but when we’re covered in children with hair to brush, laces to tie, lunches to make and kids to deliver to school, there really isn’t time for a healthy breakfast. Is there?
If we’re talking a full English, then no probably not. At least if your house is anything like mine between 7 and 8.00am, then there isn’t. But even if there was, would that be the best thing to eat? Don’t get me wrong, I love a proper cooked breakfast, particularly if the bacon and sausages (and tomatoes and mushrooms come to that) are from www.finandfarm.co.uk. But it wouldn’t fuel my morning and get me through to lunchtime without the need to pick. Unless of course I had all the croissants, toast and muffins to go with it….
On the other hand, it would be very easy to skip breakfast altogether and save a few calories, right? Right, but only up until you’re so ravenous that you spend the rest of the day picking.
Ideally, you want a bit of variety in your daily food intake. But when there’s time pressure around breakfast and you need something quick, easy, nutritious and tasty, this is my fall back. Ok, hands up, I have this most days. I love it and it really does see me through until lunchtime, including a workout or a run.
Raw oats (I can’t bear porridge – the texture makes me gag), a spoonful of chia seeds (if you’ve never heard of them google the benefits – amazing superfood, no taste and makes the oats creamy), spoonful of linseeds, 4 or 5 brazil nuts, handful of berries (fresh or frozen), good shake of cinammon and then I juice 2 apples and chunk of ginger and leave it all to soak for a couple of minutes (just time to get kids’ teeth brushed!). NB I prefer jumbo oats, much bigger and therefore more to chew as well as maintaining more of their nutrition, simply through not having dried out like the sawdusty standard oats.
If the sound of raw oats sounds a bit grim, try it. Honestly, juice some apples, add some seeds/nuts/berries/whatever you’ve got and try it. Haven’t met anyone yet who hasn’t been converted, however put off they were initially.
Just this week, one of my clients converted to this, reluctantly. The reluctance was around eating too much at breakfast which would then affect her weight loss. She’s had this every day this week and her weight loss for this week? 4lbs. #itworks
Go on, try it. Dare you.
