Bright Ideas for Breakfast

Chandi Schwab
I can't stress enough how important it is to start your day out eating and getting your metabolism rolling. After 12 hours of sleep your body has been fasting overnight, and in the morning you are almost in the first stages of starvation. Skipping breakfast keeps your body in 'starvation' mode, while eating a good meal will give your metabolism a boost. If you're trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is keep your metabolism at this lowered state. Eating a healthy breakfast will increase your fat burning ability. Breakfast, therefore, can boost your energy levels as well as your metabolism for the day.

The 10 below are just a few ideas, but I’m sure you can think of many more. Look for protein without too much saturated fat. Look for whole-grain carbs. Look for low-fat dairy or soy options. Look for fiber and nutrients.

Oatmeal, flaxseed, blueberries & almonds.
To me, this is the perfect breakfast. Steel-cut oatmeal is probably the healthier choice, but if you are in a hurry, the instant kind will do fine (it doesn’t have as much fiber, but the other ingredients make up for that). After microwaving the oatmeal, add ground flaxseed, frozen blueberries, sliced almonds. You can add a little cinnamon and honey (not a lot) if you’re using the non-instant oatmeal. That’s four power foods, full of fiber and nutrients and protein and good fats, with only a couple of minutes of prep time. And very tasty!

Kashi Golean Crunch
Actually, any whole-grain, high-fiber cereal is a good choice, but I mention this particular one because it tastes prettty good. It has a high amount of protein and fiber, low sugar. Add low-fat milk or soy milk (which has 1/3 the saturated fat of 1% milk), perhaps some berries if you like.

Scrambled egg whites
Healthier than scrambled eggs. Add some onions, green peppers or other veggies, some light soy sauce or tamari, maybe some garlic powder, and black pepper, stir-fry with a little olive oil. Eat with whole-grain toast. Fast and delicious.

Fresh berries, yogurt, granola
Get low-fat yogurt(not non-fat, as it often has too much sugar) soy yogurt,or greek yogurt, cut up some berries or other fruits, add some healthy cereal. I actually use the Kashi Golean Crunch instead of granola, as many brands of granola have way too much fat and/or sugar.

Grapefruit with whole-wheat toast & almond butter or natural Peanut Butter
Add a little sugar on top of the grapefruit, and it’s actually pretty good. The almond butter is healthier than peanut-butter, with lots of good protein to fill you up.

Fresh fruit salad
Cut up some apples, melons, berries, oranges, pears, bananas, grapes … any or all or whatever your favorite fruits are. Add a little bit of lime or lemon juice. Perfect.

Protein shake with extras We use whey based protein powder, but soy works well too. Blend up with low-fat milk or soy milk, some frozen fruit of your choice, and perhaps some almond butter, PB, or oatmeal. That may sound weird, but it’s actually pretty good, and pretty filling. Banana adds great creamy texture. A little ground flax seed works well too.

Boiled eggs over Whole wheat toast
You xan use te whole egg or just the egg whites and spread over whole wheat toast.Yummy and filing.

Cottage cheese and fruit
Get low-fat cottage cheese. Add any kind of fruit. Apples, citrus, berries.

Gibb’s muffins & jam. While most muffinns you buy at the grocery store are just empty carbs with lots of fat (basically, cake), this is a delicious recipe with lots of fiber and nutrition. (A recipe from Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James — it’s her husband Gibbs’ recipe). Bake them the night before, and they’re perfect in the morning (and for days to come). A little honey or jam makes them perfect.

Gibb's Oat Bran Muffins
-2 ¼ cups oat bran
-1 Tablespoon baking powder
-¼ cup sugar or maple syrup
-2 Tablespoons chopped almonds
-handful of raisins or blueberries
-¼ cup shredded coconut (optional)
-1 ¼ cup nonfat milk
-whites of two eggs
-2 large overripe bananas

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Blend all other
ingredients into a puree and mix thoroughly with the dry ingredients.

Fill muffin tins, allowing some room for mix to rise. If you use
blueberries, it's easier if you add them by hand to the filled muffin
tin.

Bake at 450 F until top of muffins are brown (about 15 minutes). Makes
approximately 18 muffins.