I’ve heard for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Before a big test, or job interview, or anything important, people always say to “eat a good breakfast” as part of their tips on preparation. It makes sense. It starts you out in the morning, and even without research to back it up, it just sounds reasonable. I mean, who wants to be in the middle of a job interview and have their stomach start growling, right?
I’m not a breakfast eater. I never have been, so eating breakfast is hard for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I love breakfast food and could eat it for any meal. Unfortunately in our home, that doesn’t happen because according to my husband, “you can’t eat breakfast foods except in the morning.” Yeah, I know, it’s weird. Most people I know love having breakfast food for dinner once in the great while.
But back to the point. Most of my life, I have rarely eaten breakfast. At most I’d do cereal, a bagel, or a shake. But given that research mostly says that it’s an important meal, one of my goals is to start eating it on a more regular basis. The problem is that almost all breakfast food either is unhealthy or has an unhealthy connotation. The obvious ones like donuts and Pop Tarts, but also bagels, sugary cereal, bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, syrup, etc…
It’s like, the fat is too high in bacon and sausage, the cholesterol is too high in eggs, and don’t even get me started on the bread-based items. It’s all pretty confusing when try to avoid all the things that the world (or internet) tells you to avoid.
If breakfast is the key to reducing hunger, increasing metabolism, and weight loss though, there has to be a happy medium besides fruit, granola, and yogurt every single morning, right?
This week, my breakfast has looked a lot like the photo above (well, except I like my eggs scrambled). Eating bacon and eggs seems contrary to what I’m trying to do, at least in my mind. But again, my goal here is to start eating healthier. Even if there may be a bit more fat, cholesterol, or calories in my breakfast, it’s coming from natural sources compared to the Pop Tarts I was eating a week and a half ago, and definitely makes me feel better than skipping breakfast, as has been my norm for many, many, years.
Don’t get me wrong, we won’t be having bacon and eggs every morning, but as we’re moving this week and trying to clean out our fridge, it seemed like a good idea to make use of the food we buy and always plan to eat, but end up throwing away. It just seems that if I’m going to get in the habit of eating breakfast, I should just start with something I actually like, and something that feels like I’m cheating the system.
So, what breakfast foods do you go for? Obviously, bacon and eggs are not going to happen every day, even if for practical reasons. But any quick and easy ideas would be appreciated.
Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day for me.
*Note: I am a fan of egg whites, and I’m aware that most of the cholesterol (and calories) is in the yolk. In fact, I prefer the whites to the yolk, but I am trying to look at food different and for its overall nutritional value. So yes, egg whites are an option for me.
