Often the meal I get asked the most questions about is Breakfast.

You’ve all heard it’s the most important meal of the day, I’m not going to dispute that too much.

I’ve always eaten breakfast. I never leave the house in the morning without having eaten something but recently I have trialled skipping breakfast to allow me to have a mini fast. I did this around Christmas time as a damage limitation attempt after having big meals in the evenings, it did do the job but I’m a breakfast man.

I think it’s good for getting in the routine, gives me energy during the morning and it’s just a good start to the day.

DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU EAT THAT IS

I’m sure you’ve all felt that mid morning slump after being in work after a couple of hours, this often comes as a result of eating sugary breakfasts which get you through the morning initially but then comes the inevitable crash!

So today’s article is not so much about the benefits of breakfast (I’ve already written an article about this here).

It is more to do with what to eat for breakfast and what not to eat.

The breakfast source I wanted to begin talking about is cereal. Everybody’s favourite! Quick, easy, delicious and UNHEALTHY.

If you eat cereal for breakfast everyday then I’m sorry but it is no good for your waistline or your health.

Yes there are some ones which are better than others but if possible you should try to avoid.

I have a small ammount of muesli maybe once or twice a week with Greek yogurt/milk and nuts. Granola and muesli can be good (not so much everyday) just look out for the ones with the least amount of sugar in per serving.

This article is written for the perspective of someone who is looking to lose a little bit of weight and keep up a good physique.

There are so many cereals out there Corn Flakes, Bran Flakes, Coco Pops, Golden Nuggets, Weetabix, Rice Crispies, Shreddies to name just a few. They get you through good advertising by saying they are good sources of fibre and things like that to trick you into thinking they are healthy and nutritious, but they are all packed with sugar, plus then we go and add a teaspoon or two of sugar on top!

Even most of the ‘healthy’ ones are bad. By description something like ‘Yogurt Berry Crunch’ sounds good compared to Lion Bar Cereal doesn’t it? It may say on the front it’s full of fiber, good for your heart, Xgrams of whole grains, rich in vitamin etc etc.

Perfect… Is what the average person will think, and why shouldn’t they?

Because little do they know that often the case with these kind of cereals is they’ll have 50 plus ingredients and sometimes around 10 different types of sugars! And often may contain one of the worst foods if not the worst food for gaining fat, High fructose Corn Syrup! Plus adding on top loads of wheat, gluten and unhealthy oils unfortunately makes the majority of cereals a bad choice.

Cereals are obivously high in carbohydrates, in weight loss terms carbs on their own (with no protein or fat like cereal) is a big no go and a fat storing nightmare!

Also a couple of pieces of toast for breakfast everyday with a glass of orange juice is going to do your waistline no good either I’m afraid.

I don’t want to come across as negative but the reality of it is 80-90% of the foods you’ll find in the supermarket (even the healthy versions) aren’t healthy.

You do have to try harder to find healthier foods, you do have to cook and prepare your meals abit more and you do need to show more will power. But these things can be done and these things will separate you from the other 60-70%+ of people who are struggling with weight and health problems in the UK.

So to help you out here are a few actual healthy breakfast ideas. For the more carbohydrate rich breakfasts e.g. porridge this would be perfect after a high intense morning workout if you could wait until then.

– Porridge oats with honey/dessicated coconut/cinammon plus blueberries and nuts/seeds

– Greek yogurt, berries and selection of nuts

– Green smoothie – You can’t go majorly wrong. One ot try is 200ml of coconut milk, handful of spinach and blueberries/strabwerries then add a few cashew nuts/almonds.

– Boiled eggs and asparagus spears

– Mushroom, onion and tomato omelette

– Scrambled egg, spinach and choice of meat. Add chilli powder for an extra kick

– Smoked salmon, spinach and poached eggs

– Greek yogurt, low sugar muesli and seeds

– Bacon and eggs (occasionally)

– 1 piece of brown bread and peanut butter (good pre workout snack to have OCCASSIONALLY)

So I hope this proves that you can still have healthy, easy to make breakfasts. These foods will fill you up for longer and keep you going until lunch, giving you the best possible start to your day.

High protein breakfasts are great and there’s loads you can do with eggs so you’re onto a winner there!

Any questions just leave a comment.

Take care,

Jamie ‘Eat Breakfast’ Stedman

PS I’ve got a brand new sports massage website. Check it out here