B-R-E-A-K-F-A-S-T. It is a meal that for some reason is extremely difficult for me to get behind. I love the idea of breakfast. The image of fluffy scrambled eggs, lightly salted with a touch of peper. Bacon that is just crisp enough, but still has that bend to it. It’s salty, a little greasy, and just plain delicious. Hash browns that are crunchy on the outside and slightly creamy on the inside, savoring every bite. And of course a rich, smooth, black cup of coffee. The aroma drawing me out of bed and giving me the perfect start to the day. The reality is I hate breakfast. I enjoy my sleep and I don’t want to waste a minute of it on unnecessary things like a delicious, hearty breakfast.
The other thing I know, however, is that breakfast is extremely vital for my health, especially weight loss and maintaining that loss. According to the Mayo Clinic, those who ate breakfast consistently:
• Suppressed midmorning hunger
• Elevated their basal metabolic rate
• Yielded fewer episodes of imbalanced, impulsive, or excessive eating later in the day
• Increased fiber intake
• Reduced dietary fat intake
• Encouraged improved health consciousness.
So how do I overcome this dislike to the time commitment it takes to make breakfast? I premake as much of it as possible and I keep it simple as possible. I will make a protein shake the night before, get bananas ready to go, and precook enough quinoa for the entire week. Then the only things I have to make in the morning are my three eggs, sunny side up, which I then mix in with the quinoa. I then shovel it down and I am on my way. It is an extra 5 minutes at most and well worth it. For some people it is just a protein or multigrain bar, which is better than nothing I suppose, but breakfast should be a time you are really fueling you body. I still consider it a nuisance, but a necessary nuisance to ensuring I am taking the right steps to being healthy.