Out of the Gym and into the Best Shape of Your Life. August Boot Camp Registration Is Open Now!   Register Online Today!

Most of us know that breakfast really IS the most important meal of the day.

The very name “break-fast” gives us an idea of why we shouldn’t skip this important meal - we are breaking a fast - our body needs nutrients after we sleep and have not eaten for 8-12 hours.

Pretty simple. Or is it?

For years I ate pretty much the same thing for breakfast.

A (BIG) bowl of cereal with milk
A couple slices of toast with butter and/or jelly
A glass of orange juice

Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

First of all, the serving size for cereal is 1 cup. I don’t know of anybody (I’m sure I’ll hear from you) that eats only 1 cup of cereal at a time. So in the interest of being somewhat realistic, my typical breakfast above consists of:

2 cups oat cereal
1 cup 2% milk
2 slices of bread
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of jelly
1 cup of orange juice

Probably less than many of us can (and do) eat.

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Calories: 748
Fat: 22 grams
Protein: 21 grams

Here’s the real kicker - There are a whopping 124 grams of carbohydrate and only 7 grams of fiber!

Don’t get me wrong, morning is one of the best times to get your carbs, as your body is ready to utilize them. The challenge is keeping our blood sugar in check. This plan ain’t gonna cut it.

Looking back now, I realize the fact that I was hungry an hour or two after breakfast was because my blood sugar was going wild after eating all those simple carbs. So I ate again, and again, and again…well, you get the picture.

So what’s the alternative?

Here is one that I personally enjoy -

Omelette made with:
2 whole extra large eggs
2 extra large egg whites
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 onions
1/4 cup green pepper
1/4 cup red pepper

1 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup strawberries

So what’s the breakdown?

Total Calories: 490
Fat: 15 grams
Protein: 30 grams
Carbohydrate: 62 grams with 9 grams of fiber (a much more ideal ratio)

This breakfast meets the criteria we have talked about in the past:

Lean protein with every meal
Vegetables with every meal
Complex carbohydrates at breakfast and workout time

Meal #2 will help you feel full longer because of the blood stabilizing effect of complex carbs combined with higher protein.

This is just one of many simple changes to your nutrition that can make a huge difference in how you look and feel.

A little more work? Absolutely!

Aren’t you worth it?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Blog, Coach's Corner, Nutrition, Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.