Here is a great article by Julie Davis that was emailed to me.....
If you're running late or feeling tired, it's tempting to skip out on your morning meal. Here's how to work in a quick breakfast for the best start to your day.
Whether you’re up early to rush to an office or to get your kids out the door to school, or both, you may feel too pressed for time to deal with your own breakfast. But remember, skipping out on your morning meal also means losing out on that extra boost of energy and mental alertness that a balanced breakfast provides. Here are a few easy ways to work breakfast into your morning routine.
7 Ways to Squeeze in a Quick Breakfast
“Think of your body as a car going cross country,” says Barbara Schmidt, MS, RD, lifestyle specialist at Norwalk Hospital and a nutritionist in private practice in New Canaan, CT. “When you are going on a trip you have to put the gas in your tank before you leave, not when you get to the other coast. Breakfast gets your metabolism going, and you simply can’t do without it.”
1. Set your alarm clock for 10 minutes earlier. “How long does it take to have some cold cereal? It doesn’t really take that long,” says Schmidt, who suggests four quick breakfast choices: fresh fruit with yogurt; a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread; high fiber cereal, skim milk, and fruit; a breakfast wrap made with a whole grain tortilla filled with leftovers like sautéed vegetables or turkey; or low-fat cheese — no muss, no fuss, and no cooking involved.
2. Cut off nighttime eating at 9 p.m. You don’t want to wake up starving, but you want to have an appetite for breakfast. This is a mindset and a habit to cultivate, just like any other choice you make.
3. Do some advance planning. “You don’t want any spontaneous eating,” says Schmidt. “You want to plan what you’ll be having for breakfast.” This means shopping ahead for breakfast foods to have at home or convenience foods to bring to work. If there’s no refrigerator at work to store milk, fill up a thermos and take in with you to save on the expense of buying a half pint each day. If you have a long commute, buy a soft cooler tote or bag that will hold breakfast and maybe lunch, too.
4. Make breakfast the night before. No one wants to be dicing fruit in the morning and hunting around for the right container lid when up against a ticking clock. Do all your prep work the night before; place any refrigerated items in the front on the top shelf, and have your soft cooler bag on the counter ready to pack. If you usually take your lunch, adding breakfast will only require a few more steps.
5. Make eating breakfast part of your commute. Buy a quick breakfast on the way in. Coffee bars and convenience marts at commuter stations have gotten savvy about offering better breakfast choices. Pick up a yogurt parfait from the prepared foods section, a container of zero-fat Greek yogurt, or a yogurt smoothie from the refrigerator case. Cut up chunks of fresh fruit — always a better choice than juice, which has most of the fiber removed.
6. Stock essentials at your desk. If you can’t eat at home or on the way to the office, eat when you get there. “Healthy cereals can be bought in individual containers — you peel off the lid and it’s a bowl. Just add milk and eat it at your desk.” Focus on your breakfast, even if it’s just for five minutes. In a pinch, order in. You might not think twice about ordering lunch, but think of a breakfast delivery as an extravagance.
7. Be flexible about breakfast time. You may not be able to eat at the very start of your day — maybe you have to squeeze in an early workout or your workday starts with an 8:00 a.m. group meeting — but that doesn’t mean you need to slog through until lunchtime on an empty stomach. Have a small breakfast after your workout or right after your meeting.
Quick Breakfast Caveats
As important as breakfast is, making the wrong choices for the sake of convenience can undo all the benefits of breakfast.
- Skip most baked goods. “Today’s bagel is equivalent to six slices of bread,” warns Schmidt. “The only people eating bagels should be marathon runners. If you eat a bagel every day, you will look like that bagel without the hole: round. A bagel has too many calories to have at one time and is not high in fiber. And muffins are now small cakes with a whole lot of sugar.”
- Read labels for sugar content. Be aware of how much sugar has been added to packaged breakfast foods, even those that sound healthy, like granola bars. “Remember that anything ending in ‘ose’ is sugar — fructose, maltose — and so are honey and molasses. Many breakfast bars are glorified cookies. You have to compare calories, fiber, and protein. Some bars are small, so they aren’t filling although they pack a lot of calories,” says Schmidt.
It may take more thought than simply grabbing a doughnut from the coffee cart, but just a few minutes of planning at the start of each week can help make all your breakfasts quick and nutritious.
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