Written by: Lori Bergman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As a nutrition coach I can tell you that breakfast seems to be one of the hardest meals for people to choose what to eat. At some point in our journey, a client will say, “I’m sick of eggs, yogurt, and cereal.” My answer to that is always the same.
“Who said those have to be your only choices?”
The best breakfasts are ones that are mostly unprocessed, a nutritionally sound choice to help you reach your health goals and, most of all, filling. While eggs are an excellent choice for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, eating the same thing day in and day out can get tedious and boring, no matter what it is. Choosing a variety of foods not only prevents mealtime boredom, it also provides your body with a multitude of vitamins and minerals. The only way to do that is to vary your choice of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. So, I ask you this: “why can’t we have meat, chicken or fish for breakfast?”
Hear me out on this one.
The whole idea of breakfast is to break the fast that you have done between your last meal at night and waking up in the morning. The choice most people make is to have a smaller breakfast, either because they aren’t very hungry when they wake up or they are simply conditioned to think of certain foods as breakfast foods and stick largely to those choices. But, if you look at when you eat during the day, you don’t always have a chance to have a snack between lunch and dinner therefore, it’s equally possible that there is the same seven or eight-hour gap that we have during the night between our last meal and our waking up.
So, I ask you again. Who said we can only have what is considered lunch and dinner food for lunch and dinner? Why did breakfast get left out?
If you think of your meals in terms of Meal 1, Meal 2, and Meal 3 rather than the standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it helps change our mindset about what we can choose to eat. There are no longer five or six options open to us. Now the world is your oyster and you can eat anything you want. Now, imagine for a moment that you chose to have a 3 ounce (100 gram) piece of salmon and roasted potatoes as your first meal of the day instead of a large waffle with a side of bacon. Which do you think would keep you satiated longer?
I’m not knocking the waffle with bacon because there can certainly be a place for that in your food plan but, in terms of fullness and getting a nutritionally sound meal, that salmon hits all the high notes. If you decided to have that as your first meal of the day, you will likely notice that you won’t have that feeling of being overstuffed like you would after eating the waffle, plus you’ll get the health benefits of the omega-3 fats of the fish, which are important for heart health and brain function.
Whoever decided that breakfast food was limited to eggs, cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal are missing the point. Nutrition is supposed to vary to allow the body to get as many vitamins and nutrients as possible so that it can thrive and remain healthy. Lean protein is important for muscle repair, weight loss, and keeping the structural framework of cells in the body intact. By constantly changing up your meals, you are improving your body’s ability to fight off infection and viruses by providing it with the essentials for good health.
Once you try it, you’ll see that choosing lean meats, chicken or fish at any time of the day will make a difference in how you feel. You might find that you won’t have as many sugar cravings or be as hungry between meals. The nutrient-dense meal instead of the carb-heavy meal will keep your blood sugar from spiking and dropping, your energy level will remain more constant, with less fluctuations, meaning you’ll feel better during the day. Plus, your body has an easier time of processing meat earlier in the day than later, so that big steak you have in the evening isn’t always the best idea.
When I tried this way of eating years ago, it felt strange at first. I made steak and salad for my morning meal and, I will admit, it took a few days to get used to having all the different meats in the morning. But, once I started, I saw how my body reacted and then it became easy. I was less hungry throughout the day and found I had a lot more energy. Even keeping a normal portion size was easier. I think the strangest part of it all was the reaction I would get from other people when I explained why I was eating like this. My reply was simple.
“Why not?”
Lori Bergman, Executive Contributor Brainz MagazIne
Lori Bergman is the founder and President of Alithini Nutrition, a health and wellness company that works with clients to help them achieve their nutrition goals and become the healthiest version of themselves.
After having gone through years of yo-yo dieting herself, Lori became passionate about furthering her education in nutrition and learning how to balance a healthy lifestyle without extremes. She became Natural Health Practitioner, received a certification in Exercise Nutrition as a level 1 coach as well as receiving a certificate in Nutrition and Healthy Living with Cornell University.
She is an internationally published author of a cookbook, Kitchen Confident, and a mom of a teenager.
