Jump Start Your Morning

Question: So, my question is pertaining to healthy breakfast eating choices. Every one's first response is usually oatmeal. Well, unfortunately for me, I HATE OATMEAL! For now, I pretty much eat a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal with soy milk and some fruit. But, I know that too much of any one thing can't be good. So can you please offer something better than cold cereal? ~ T.White

Answer: We have always heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day…and it is! But, this is the hardest meal for some to eat…especially me. For some reason, society has made us think that there are “breakfast foods” that we can only eat in the morning. Truth is…breakfast is what you want it to be. So, choose foods that you like and make sure you make healthy modifications. If you MUST eat breakfast foods here are a few options (food & beverage)…that aren’t oatmeal!

• Egg white omelet with veggies (bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc)
• Whole wheat muffins: bake them in the 12 pan; 1 muffin from the 12-pan is 1 serving.
• Whole wheat toast: use peanut butter or “I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter w/olive oil” on it.
• Fill up on your fruit during this time: it will help you to get the fiber you need for the day.
• Cottage cheese w/fruit (I don’t like cottage cheese…and you probably won’t either if you don’t like yogurt)
• Smoked salmon
• Orange juice (NOT sunny D)
• Cranberry juice: make sure to pay attention to the amount of sugar added.
• Turkey bacon unlike ground turkey is much healthier than regular pork bacon.
• One side of a whole wheat bagel
• An English muffin
• Whole grain pancakes (watch the syrup and butter you use)
• WATER, WATER, WATER

Remember: www.mypyramid.gov says make half of your grains “whole,” so if you are eating any grains be sure to check the label and make sure they are whole grains.

My Philosophy: What you eat in the morning doesn’t have to be “breakfast food,” just make sure its foods that you like and foods that will give you energy for the day.