6 ways you’re doing breakfast wrong

Breakfast sets the tone for your entire day’s eating style, so you want to make sure you’re doing it right.  Here are some breakfast tweaks to help get your day moving in a healthier direction.

1. You don’t eat it.  It jump-starts your metabolism so that you are running at full-speed and helps curb your appetite throughout the day so that you make better food choices at later meals. Plus, breakfast-eaters are less likely to be overweight or obese. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just 2-3 hardboiled or scrambled eggs with a piece of whole wheat toast will do it. Do not skip it!
2. You eat it, but you wait too long.  Eating breakfast within one hour of waking up is key to making sure you do not overeat at your meals later on.  If you really cannot make it happen, then bulk up your morning coffee into a 16oz latte using regular milk or unsweetened soy milk, to give you about 13 grams of protein, and eat a piece of fruit with it (like this health booster).  Then have another protein-packed small meal as a mid-morning snack, like that hardboiled egg or a mini perfect bar.
3. You’re eating cereal.  That old cereal and milk combo just does not cut it. It is too low in fiber and protein, the two things that fill us up and keep us satisfied.  If you truly cannot pass it up, then look for cereals with no more than 5 grams of sugar per serving. Use just 1/2 a cup and swap out the milk for 6oz of plain Greek yogurt with a 1/2 a cup of berries.
4. You’re drinking juice.  It does not matter if it says “no sugar added”, “cold pressed”, or “fresh squeezed”, all juice is the same when it comes to the amount of sugar, which is too much.  Skip the juice and chew your fruit!
5. You’re falling for “buzzwords.”  Granola, bran muffins, buckwheat pancakes, and agave, all fall into that seemingly healthy trap.  While granola may contain some healthy grains, like bran and buckwheat, it also contains a lot of calorie-dense ingredients like maple syrup.  And let’s not be fooled, maple syrup, agave and honey are all names for the same thing: added sugar.
6. You’re too into smoothies.  Lots of my clients love the grab-and-go aspect of the breakfast smoothie, but often it is made up of a lot of added sugar.  Instead, I get them to make their own, and you should too with this recipe.  And, please factor in some days where you are actually chewing your breakfast.

For more health tips or to up your overall wellness game with a personalized nutrition plan, email us at brigitte@bznutritionny.com or reach out to us here.

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