Breakfast on the Run

In the prior post, I talked about a breakfast that takes time to prepare and can be enjoyed in a leisurely fashion on a weekend morning. What about those mornings when you are in a hurry and need to rush off to work? Breakfast truly is an important meal and should include foods that are friendly to your blood-sugar levels and will sustain you until lunch or a mid-morning snack.

It took many years before I could convince Larry that breakfast was probably the most important meal of the day. Once diagnosed as borderline diabetic, he listened a bit closer and has now become the "breakfast monitor" of the house, making sure that I have eaten breakfast as well. If you don't consider yourself to be a breakfast eater, like Larry, I encourage you to start - be consistent - and it will become a habit.

If you have time to sit for a quick breakfast, here are some suggestions:

1. Cereal, hot or cold.  When purchasing cereals, I look for a fiber content of at least 4 grams per 100 calories and aim for less than 5 grams of sugars. Make your cereal more exciting by adding small amounts of walnuts, berries, bananas or other fruits.  McDonald's now has oatmeal on the menu that has chopped apples, raisins, and cranberries, I had never thought of that combination before, tried it and found it to be quite good. I encourage you to be adventurous and not to be afraid to mix-up what sounds good to you!
2. Yogurt - I really love taking plain or vanilla yogurt and adding fruit and nuts.  My favorite combination is fresh mango and roasted (no salt) pistachio nuts.  What do you add to your yogurt?
3. Eggs and toast.  Simply toast a piece of whole grain bread and top it with a fried egg (I use non-stick spray).   I find that the combination of the protein and complex carbohydrates really keeps me going though the morning.

No time to sit down and flying out the door? Many times, unfortunately, I need to get on the road and didn't give myself enough time to sit down for breakfast.  For those mornings, I usually pop a piece of bread in the toaster while getting ready and then top it with peanut butter or almond butter and eat on the road.  If I have two minutes, I might top the PB with 1/2 a banana and a small amount of honey.  Once again the protein and complex carbohydrates are a great help in the morning.

That's it for my breakfast on the run - how about yours?