Picture this, your alarm screams at you at 5 or 6am. You think to yourself you’ve got a full on day ahead and need to get to work NOW. You skip breakfast and just grab a coffee as you run out of the door or at one of those drive throughs on the way to work. You get to work and are straight into it. Ten o’clock arrives and you are fading fast, your energy is below low, you can’t think straight and you are ready to eat the first thing that walks past you.
Do you know it’s dangerous to not feed your brain regularly? Think about it, you’ve not fed all night and your blood sugar is at its lowest. With your blood sugar so low it’s really hard to think straight. Also if you skip breakfast your metabolism is delayed in kicking in which means increased weight gain because your body goes into starvation mode and stores everything when you finally do eat.
Bottom line FOOD IS FUEL. It’s the same as your car. If you don’t fuel up your car or worse put the wrong fuel into it you either don’t go anywhere or the car struggles before it finally breaks down from the wrong fuel.
Like your car when your body is fed good quality fuel consistently it works. Now you get a little more leeway with your body than you do your car. With your body it needs to be the majority of the time and not all of the time. So you even get to be human and miss every now and then. The problem is people are being VERY human and are missing more than they are getting it right.
Today I want to give you just a couple of basics to get you going on the right track with your food and in particular with some breakfast suggestions. The first tip is to make sure that you get a bit of protein with every meal. Protein is meat, eggs and dairy or if you are vegetarian legumes, nuts and seeds etc.
From my experience the fastest breakfast a fruit smoothie. Made on milk and make it low fat if you want, throw in some fruit like a banana or even better a handful of blueberries. You can buy berries frozen all year round and research has shown that blueberries have the potential to lower your cholesterol and they taste great at the same time.
Also add a handful of raw nuts like almonds for protein as they contain the good fats that feed your brain and if you want you can add some whey protein powder. Wiz it up in the blender it takes just a few minutes to make, it will hold your energy, tastes great and you can take it on the run with you if you need.
The next breakfast idea is good old eggs on toast. You can boil them, scramble or poach them, even make an omelette with anything you find in the fridge like tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and cheese. Just make sure you serve it on wholemeal bread so that you don’t spike your insulin and you are off and on your way. It takes a few minutes more than the shake but again it will hold your energy well and that’s what we are looking for.
If you are into the cereal thing makes sure you add a handful of nuts like almonds to get the extra protein. If you are like me I am into porridge in winter which is all carb so you still need to add some protein. Grab a handful of raw nuts and seeds add some berries to get the extra vitamins as well and you have a balanced healthy breakfast.
The reason I go on about including protein with meals is that protein is important in your diet and you need that balance between carbs and protein, not just carbs. Protein is also useful because it helps to make muscle in your body and the more muscle mass you have the less fat you have. So if you would like more muscle and protein to each meal.
NOW if you did run out the door in a hurry and skip breakfast there is more chance that you will go for some crappy snacks instead of food that feeds you energy. If you hit the 10am munchies make the effort to find a healthy sandwich shop or Subway something like that where you can get a balanced snack or lunch containing some protein, carb and vegetables. There you can order a wholemeal wrap or sandwich, skip the butter ask for avocado instead fill it up with protein and yes remember that’s the meat, eggs etc, add some salad (I also like to add some chilli’s like jalapenos to help fire up your metabolism as well) and you’ve got a meal that will feed you energy for hours.
If you need a snack during the day instead of looking for sweets etc crap at least have a container of nuts and seeds at your desk. If you are a road warrior whose work revolves around driving, keep a cooler esky in the car with the same kind of snacks in it. If you are a guy go aim for having a handful of pepitas which are pumpkin seeds as a snack most days. You can buy them at the health food shop and research has shown they are really effective at helping to prevent prostate cancer. So they’re a must.
Now that it is summer another great snack is frozen fruit. When fruits like grapes are in season throw some in the freezer and then take them in your lunch pack. Frozen grapes are the best snack on a hot day they really help to refresh your brain.
If you have been known to go looking for chocolate in the afternoon, at least wrap it around something healthy. Grab dark chocolate coated almonds. You have the protein in the almonds to balance out the chocolate and dark chocolate at least has some nutritional value where milk chocolate doesn’t.
Remember it’s not what you do 5% of the time that matters it’s what you do the majority of the time so be consistent and your body will love you for it.
You don’t want to be dealing with safety issues at work because you ran out of the house in a hurry and now can’t think straight. It’s worth the tiny effort to feed your body properly.
