Knowing what you should eat for a healthy breakfast interesting topic. I’ve covered how to eat a breakfast that will help you lose weight before, but this post goes into more depth around other aspects of understanding your nutrition and why a healthy breakfast is important.
In the video I speak about why a solid understanding of what you’re eating, and what reactions you have to certain foods, will help you to understand what the best types of food are to eat throughout your day.
Breaking Down The Programming
One of the hardest things when it comes to breakfast is that you need to breakdown all do the programming that the cereal companies have brainwashed us into thinking that we need to eat a sugary cereal for breakfast.
Lots of time they brand this as “healthy”, which it isn’t.
But, there’s one key question you should ask yourself:
What do I want to get from my breakfast?
For me because I’m busy running Lancashire’s leading personal training company, I want something that is quick and easy. I haven’t got time to be cooking something amazing first thing in the morning nor do I want to.
Breakfast should be about:
- Feeling full
- Feeling sated (meaning that you’re satisfied)
- Giving your sustained energy
I’ve experimented quite a bit and done a lot of research over the years and what I’ve discovered is that meat/steak actually sustains me more than anything else. And that’s why I recommend the meat and nuts breakfast.
This gives me (and lots of other people) more energy instead of eating some cereal or a snack bar.
The Downward Spiral
Lots of people get caught in a trap when it comes to breakfast and it’s hard to get out of it.
They get caught in the trap and their energy just goes down and down every day, and it can be a little disheartening when you look back over the month to see how tired you’ve been. The process goes something like this:
- You wake up late one morning and think you don’t have time for breakfast
- You grab anything (piece of fruit, snack bar, cereal)
- You feel tired
- Reach for coffee or cookies (or both)
- It gets to lunch time and you’re super hungry
- You do more grabbing (or get a proper meal)
- Now you’re behind on morning nutrition and trying to catch-up
- You have your evening meal, but you’re still tired
- But, you’re still hungry (because your body is lacking nutrition from the morning)
- You eat more
- Sleep isn’t as good as normal because of your nutrition
- When you wake the next morning you’re tired and everything starts all over again
Breaking The Habit is Important
What’s important here is to break the cycle of this bad habit. If you don’t then it stacks with other not so great food choices throughout the day and you end up going into a negative spiral.
Weekends tend to be good to break this cycle because they’re usually when most people are off and can actually reset themselves from their normally busy weeks.
Or, if you get a day off during the week then use this day to break the cycle. Change and adapt some lifestyle factors that will put you in a good position for the future.
How Do You Reset?
Make yourself a decent breakfast and feed your body properly. This means that through the day you’ll have sustained energy and at night time you won’t feel as exhausted and hungry as you would do if you didn’t properly eat.
Get a decent night’s sleep and then wake up in the morning and do the whole thing again.
Your body will thank you for it.
Steak for Breakfast, Really?
Yes.
I know lots of people say that they don’t want to eat steak for breakfast and here’s some reasons they choose:
- I don’t have the time
- I can’t stomach it that time in the morning
- I can’t eat steak for breakfast
So, what’s the solution?
- Get up earlier to make your breakfast
If you need your body to work properly then it needs fuel. To do that you need a healthy breakfast in the morning to help fuel you through the day. If you have to get up early to get ready for work then you need to wake up half an hour earlier to prepare your breakfast. It’s as simple as that.
- Cook your breakfast and take it with you
Cook your steak or whatever protein-based breakfast and take it with you to work. You can then eat it at your first break or when you have a gap between clients.
How to Start the Day
Personally, I like to start the day with a black coffee. This is because it stimulates cortisol and you want cortisol to be high first thing in the morning.
Then the moment you can you should eat your protein breakfast.
The great thing about eating protein for breakfast is that you’ll have more energy throughout the day.
Why Protein for Breakfast?
The meat and nuts breakfast has been proven to help you over other types of breakfasts in the morning.
Why?
Well, they help you produce two neurotransmitters that switch your brain on, fire you up and get you motivated for the day.
These are acetylcholine and dopamine. They help to get you moving in the morning.
What other things can you eat apart from steak?
- Any form of meat
- Any form of fish
- Eggs (eat them slowly though)
- Legumes
If you start the day with a carbohydrate (like cereal or toast) then your body will crave more carbohydrates. So, if you’re trying to avoid sweets and cakes and things that aren’t great for you then if you start your day with a sugar (which carbs are) your body will crave more sugar throughout the day.
And that will probably lead to you gaining weight.
But, if you start your day with a protein then your body will want more protein.
Which one would you like to be?
A carb craver or full of energy.
It’s time to take that next step and realise that taking control today will help you in the months and years to come.
Want some help with that?
Schedule a consultation with one of our health professionals.