It's the most important meal of the day, after all.
I hope you had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and are feeling refreshed and ready to go.
Because it’s time to get to work.
Hopefully you set some achievable, sustainable goals for your 2025.
Some goals that you can look back on accomplishing and feel proud of yourself for getting it done.
But maybe you need some help nailing down exactly how you’re going to reach those goals.
The brass tacks, if you will.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll dedicate this newsletter to simple, actionable steps you can take to improving your diet and fitness.
This week, I want to tackle something that comes up for a lot of clients who are looking to dial in their nutrition:
Why you should probably eat a bigger breakfast
I get it. Life is busy. There’s barely time to stuff an Eggo into your kid’s mouth before you have to rush him off to school and get yourself to work. Maybe you pick up a large coffee and pastry on your way to the office, and that’s “breakfast”.
But if you want more energy and focus, or to be able to lose more weight this year, you need to eat something more substantial than a blueberry muffin.
Who has time to actually make, much less eat, a big breakfast, you might ask?
Plus, isn’t skipping breakfast good for you?
Ok, look, fasting definitely has its place as a useful tool in your health journey. But you can have a good fasting window and still eat a filling breakfast. (We’ll talk about that in another newsletter.)
Starting your day with protein, fiber and fat will keep you full and fueled up until at least lunch.
While eating a carb-forward meal for dinner can improve sleep and help fuel your morning workouts, eating protein, fiber and fats at breakfast energizes you for the day ahead.
Carbs provide energy, fiber slows digestion, protein repairs muscle and tissue, and fats aid digestion and hormones. Ultimately, you’ll probably eat fewer calories overall as well.
It also sets you up to make better food choices the rest of the day. When you feel full and energized, you’re less likely to go raiding the snack cabinet at work or seeking out a sweet pastry at Starbucks.
That large coffee and pastry? You’ll crash and burn by 10am.
So what does that actually mean though, “eat a bigger breakfast”?
It means I want you to eat actual food. Not just a toaster waffle, not a bowl of cereal, and not just a protein shake.
Actual. Real. Food.
For those with time in the morning, a bowl of sauteed veggies, sausage and eggs is an amazing way to start the day.
Depending on how much time you have, you can always pre-cook the veggies and sausage and just scramble up some eggs, and throw everything into a glass container to bring to work.
Or make a batch of hard boiled eggs, and pack those up with some of those sauteed veggies.
Or just grab a couple of hard boiled eggs on your way out the door.
Make a tasty yogurt parfait with low-fat Greek yogurt, chia seeds, berries and nut butter. These can even be made the night before.
Oatmeal can be a good choice, but it needs to be eaten with additional protein and fat, otherwise it’s just a bowl of sugar.
There are a ton of ways to get more breakfast into your morning, no matter how much or how little time you have.
With any luck, this makes your mornings easier, and not more stressful.
Because this needs to be something you can stick with long term and make a part of your daily routine.
So finding the thing that works for you in your life is key.
Which I know can be tough, and super discouraging. And when you get discouraged, you fall back onto old, bad habits.
Let me help you take the guesswork and struggle out of eating more breakfast!
A personalized nutrition and fitness program will help you find the strategies that work for you for long term success.
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