There’s a reason why they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, there are many — research shows eating breakfast helps stabilize your blood sugar, maintain your weight, boost energy and, in general, offer a ton of bodily benefits.
But 1 in 10 adults fess up to skipping that most important meal, with rationalizations ranging from not enough time to lack of an appetite. If you fall in one of those camps or somewhere on the spectrum in between, there are fortunately a few things you can do to board the breakfast bandwagon.
1. Prioritize a.m. noshing
If you tend to run out the door without giving breakfast so much as a second thought, then you’re a lot like me. The chaos of the morning envelops you and, before you know it, you’re running 10 minutes behind and have to scoot your booty out the door. The best way to ensure this doesn’t become a habit? Eat before you do anything else. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and fix your plate prior to putting on your makeup or getting dressed. In doing so, you’ll retrain your brain to think of breakfast as a pertinent part of the getting-ready process.
2. Pre-make your breakfasts
Will you have to set aside some time on Sunday afternoon to prep your breakfasts for the week? Sure. But, really, what’s an hour or two compared to how good eating a nutritious breakfast will make you feel every single day for the rest of the week? Thanks to Pinterest, there are enough clever ideas for make-ahead breakfasts to keep you satiated for years.
3. Break out the blender
Not all of us lucked out with the kind of culinary skills required to whip up a gourmet breakfast on the go. Enter: the smoothie. Not only are these protein-packed drinks portable, but they’re also quick, tasty and full of good-for-you stuff like antioxidants. Since fall is upon us, embrace the season by trying a yummy pumpkin smoothie.
4. Keep a fruit basket nearby
If you’re in need of a breakfast option that doesn’t require culinary prowess, but you’re just not a liquid breakfast kind of gal, reach for a piece of fruit. When it comes to healthy breakfasts on the go, these guys wrote the book, am I right? Plus, they’re light and easy to digest, so you won’t feel sluggish after making a banana your morning meal.
5. Don’t skimp or skip
Obviously, right? You can’t nail breakfast every morning if you don’t eat it. We’ve already discussed the pros of chowing down in the a.m., which means there are just as many cons when you skip it. You don’t want to skimp, either — the best breakfasts are a balanced mix of food from at least three of the following food groups: proteins, fruits, veggies and whole grains.
6. Eat when you’re actually hungry
Just because everyone advocates eating breakfast doesn’t mean you should force yourself to eat when you aren’t hungry. Doing so could actually lead to weight gain in the long run. Rather, get to know your body’s peak craving times. If your tummy rumbles every morning around 10 a.m., that’s the ideal hour to break out that piece of fruit or other healthy breakfast-on-the-go you brought to work with you.
7. Savor your morning meal
It’s not uncommon for rushing to become the modus operandi in the morning — you’ve got lots to do, and a limited amount of time to get it done before walking out the door. But stopping to smell the french toast, as it were, can actually improve the quality of your day (and life). In a study for Psychological Science, it was determined that the more preoccupied people are when they eat, the less intense their tasting experience is. This diminished tasting experience in turn causes us to eat more to overcompensate, and we all know how that turns out.
This post was brought to you by Trop50.
More breakfast ideas
14 Deliciously weird things to put in your pancakes
Breakfast cookie pie will become your favorite morning meal
Jump on the latest superfood trend with healthy matcha muffins
Leave a Comment