Fix it Fridays: How do you break your fast?

Over and over again I have clients telling me how they struggle with a morning routine when it comes to their nutrition.

I know you’ve all heard the lecture on how breakfast is a must and how important it is for your daily health and long term health goals. If you haven’t, the gist of it is that eating a balanced, healthy breakfast ensures that you’ll kickstart your metabolism for the day ahead, be less apt to choose sugary, starchy snacks throughout the day, have improved energy, mental capacity, and generally be less of a grump. Hanger is real.

I give this lecture to clients a lot. Most often, the response I get in return is the “but I don’t have timmeeee” statement.

You’re talking to the Queen of morning procrastination, and yet I still manage to get something into my digestive system before my first commitment of the day. It’s possible, all you need are the tools!

There are a few basic recommendations for what to include in your morning or start of the day meal. To achieve balance, we want to have a dose of protein, some fats, and perhaps some unprocessed form of carbohydrates as well. Variations off of this depend on the person, their dietary needs and desires.

Sources of protein for the breakfast time include eggs (these also have some hella good fats and other important micronutrients in them!!), meat, legumes, whey powders or other protein powders, yogurt, nuts, nut butters, etc.

Sources of fats include: eggs, yogurt (go Greek here), nuts, meats.

Sources of choice carbohydrates include: breads (choose the least processed and most whole grain you can.. the more seeds you see the better!), oats and other grains (think muesli or oatmeal).

For myself I know I do best with more protein and carbs in the morning.. my go to’s are scrambled eggs with cheese, fried eggs on toast (with jam cause I’m a jam fiend), whole-grain toast with peanut butter, or a tortilla with peanut butter, chia seeds, and jam. I also often do smoothies, which we’ll talk about in a second. As I mentioned before, I don’t like getting out of bed  until I absolutely have to.. so all these go to breakfasts I just listed take about 5 min to make. 10 min Maximum.

Another thing I loooooove to do on the mornings I just don’t feel like eating much is make smoothies. Smoothies are excellent because you can make whatever flavour suits you, get your important nutrients in, and take them to go. Seriously, they rule!

Here’s a starter smoothie recipe for you, since it’s strawberry season 🙂

• 1-2 cup ice
• 1 cup fresh strawberries (or frozen)
• 1 banana
• 1-3tbs of peanut butter
• 1 scoop protein powder (vanilla is best with this mix)
• 3/4c-1cup greek yogurt (unflavoured/no sugar added)
• 1-3 cups liquid (water, milk, nut milk, coconut milk)

For those of you out there reading this thinking “but I don’t get hungry in the mornings..”, I hear ya. Finding something light, or packing yourself healthy snacks to have on hand are two good options for these people. One of my personal favourites is watermelon and a big glass of lemon water for those mornings when my system is just not wanting anything much first thing. Hydration is another very important consideration for the mornings, and fruit like watermelon is packed full of water and good things to boost energy in the mornings. Lemon water helps staunch sugar cravings, and is great for our gut. Along with this, having various fruits, veggies, and nuts packed to munch on through the day will help prevent ongoing sugar cravings, or not so great snacking, while keeping energy levels even.

Let me know in the comments what your favorite way to break your morning fast is!