I am not a morning person. I used to be a morning person, awake each morning before my alarm went off. I would take the dogs for a long walk and sometimes even fit in a workout. There was a time when I actually straightened my hair each morning! About a year ago, some sort of internal clock must have flipped and since then, I can barely drag myself out of bed. I've picked up the habit of repeatedly hitting the snooze button, a morning practice I used to constantly nag my husband about.
The funny thing is I’m not really a night person either. My 10:30 bedtime is pretty much set in stone. If you had to put a name to it, I suppose I’m a needs-eight-hours-of-sleep-and-two-cups-of-coffee type of person.
The only thing that gets me to jump out of bed is
knowing I have an extra-delicious breakfast waiting.
Food is my morning motivator. Shocking, isn't it?
I know intermittent fasting is all the rage right now,
where you go about 18 hours without eating, generally from dinner until lunch the next day. While I'm open minded to it, in general, I'm not a big fan of it. Everyone is different and if you're healthy and in tune with your body, feel free to experiment and see how you feel. But for most people, I really do think breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Most large scale studies examining breakfast link skipping the meal with health risks. The most recent study found a 27% increase in cardiovascular disease in men who skip breakfast regularly compared to those who eat it daily. Another found an 20% increased risk of diabetes associated with skipping breakfast just once a week!
In my experience, the choice to skip or eat breakfast has a powerful impact on the choices you make for the rest of the day. Skipping breakfast can depress your mood and energy level. Just a small difference in energy and mood can be the difference in making it to the gym, or heading home to a bag of chips. Eating breakfast seems to stabilize blood glucose, probably a big part of why skipping breakfast is linked to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Most people who skip breakfast make up for it later, either with larger portions or making an unhealthy choice out of ravenous hunger.
Are you a breakfast skipper? If you're not hungry in the morning, try thinking of it as a morning snack, and eat a piece of fresh fruit and handful of nuts or a hard boiled egg with whole grain crackers. If you have a tendency to hit the snooze button a few too many times, be prepared with grab and go options like chia seed pudding or overnight oats. And of course, if you plan something super delicious, like this breakfast sandwich filled with crisp cucumber, creamy avocado, smoked salmon, and a runny fried egg, there's no way you'll want to skip.
4 slices 100% whole grain bread (always Ezekiel...)
2 tablespoons pesto
8 thin slices of cucumber
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
2 ounces smoked salmon, in chunks or slices
2 fried eggs, preferably with runny yolks
Handful of arugula
Toast the bread to your liking. Spread two slices of bread with pesto. After making this sandwich for a week, I learned there is a science to layering the toppings. Start with the cucumber, then the avocado. Layer the smoked salmon on top of the avocado, then the arugula. Top with the fried egg an another slice of bread. Cut in half, letting the runny yolk ooze (runny yolk is the only time oozing sounds yummy in reference to food).
In my experience, the choice to skip or eat breakfast has a powerful impact on the choices you make for the rest of the day. Skipping breakfast can depress your mood and energy level. Just a small difference in energy and mood can be the difference in making it to the gym, or heading home to a bag of chips. Eating breakfast seems to stabilize blood glucose, probably a big part of why skipping breakfast is linked to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Most people who skip breakfast make up for it later, either with larger portions or making an unhealthy choice out of ravenous hunger.
Are you a breakfast skipper? If you're not hungry in the morning, try thinking of it as a morning snack, and eat a piece of fresh fruit and handful of nuts or a hard boiled egg with whole grain crackers. If you have a tendency to hit the snooze button a few too many times, be prepared with grab and go options like chia seed pudding or overnight oats. And of course, if you plan something super delicious, like this breakfast sandwich filled with crisp cucumber, creamy avocado, smoked salmon, and a runny fried egg, there's no way you'll want to skip.
Fried Egg and Smoked Salmon Breakfast Sandwich
Makes 2
Adapted from Avocado Pesto
4 slices 100% whole grain bread (always Ezekiel...)
2 tablespoons pesto
8 thin slices of cucumber
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
2 ounces smoked salmon, in chunks or slices
2 fried eggs, preferably with runny yolks
Handful of arugula
Toast the bread to your liking. Spread two slices of bread with pesto. After making this sandwich for a week, I learned there is a science to layering the toppings. Start with the cucumber, then the avocado. Layer the smoked salmon on top of the avocado, then the arugula. Top with the fried egg an another slice of bread. Cut in half, letting the runny yolk ooze (runny yolk is the only time oozing sounds yummy in reference to food).
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