Start the day off right

Eat Breakfast. You’re mom and grandma were right. If you want to lose weight and be healthy eat breakfast. If you eat breakfast you’ll have the energy to make it through the gauntlet of work to lunch without any physical or mental breakdowns; you won’t be as likely to have a sugary snack mid-morning, and you won’t feel like gorging yourself when you finally do make it to lunchtime.

Here is a list of good breakfast choices:

Cold Cereals:
My favorites: Nature’s Path ® brand Optimum Zen with cranberries and ginger.
Kashi ® brand Autumn Wheat.
Other lower glycemic cereals:
Kellogg’s ® All-Bran ®
Muesli
Kellogg’s ® Special K ®
And pretty much anything made by Kashi®

Tip #1: Eat it with whole milk, not 2%, low fat, or no fat milk. The Whole milk will satiate you better and longer without many more Calories or much more fat. We’re all about satiety here!
Tip #2: Eat it out of a coffee cup, not a bowl. A serving size of cold cereal is ¾ to 1 cup, so if you’re filling a huge bowl with 2+ cups of cereal it’s cheating.
Tip #3: You know better than to put ANY sugar on your breakfast.

Hot Cereals:
Oatmeal. Now the question was asked if there was a difference between instant oatmeal, 5 minute (regular) oatmeal, and the little packet of flavored oatmeal. Well, ask and you shall receive, although you may regret it. The glycemic index of old fashioned oatmeal is 58, steel-cut oatmeal is 52, and instant 1 minute oatmeal is 82! That is when you have the actual serving size, and make it with water. What about those cute little packets of instant oatmeal? All the sugars and flavorings of the little packets drives the GI number for those easy gems right through the roof. My GI Values book didn’t even list that one.

Eggs: Eat eggs every time you can. Eat them for breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, midnight snack. They are GOOD FOR YOU, they will NOT raise your cholesterol levels, they might even help lower your bad cholesterol, they are an excellent source of protein, minerals, and enzymes.

Cooking a two egg omelet is quick and almost as fast as cooking two eggs over easy. Just whip the eggs in a bowl with a fork, throw in a pan with a little bit of butter, wait 30 seconds, which is enough time for you to get any of the following out of the fridge to put in your omelet: black olives, chives, mushrooms, avocado, and/or cheese. I plan to post more omelet suggestions on my recipe blog soon.

Sausage, bacon, ham, etc.: The protein and fat in these breakfast meats won’t go to your hips unless you eat them with carbohydrates (hash browns, toast, croissants, etc.), so their good in a no-carb low GI way. But remember that they are chocked full of sulfites and sulfates, and ultimately these things are bad for you. My suggestion: It’s fine to have them once a week or so, especially if you’re not having sulfated meats at other meals.

Next we’ll discuss tips on healthy snacking at home and at work. I know; I’ve been promising this for a while now, but I’ll really try to get it done soon.