Image: Matt Karp. Nc, ND 2.0. Accessed Jan 6, 2015.
Happy New Year!
The first month of the year is a great time to review our goals and set new ones for the months ahead, hence the tradition of New Year’s Resolutions. For some of us, New Year’s Resolutions usually bring on a sense of dread. Regardless of how lofty or realistic a goal is, envisioning the end result always seems much easier than planning the steps to get there. This year, we shared some of our New Year’s Resolutions with each other and came up with a list of fitness & health hacks to help us stay on track for the year.
Thou Shall Eat Breakfast
Weekday mornings are chaos in our separate households and it’s easy to fall into a breakfast rut: eating the same thing over and over again or worse, skipping breakfast altogether. For kids and adults alike, breakfast is an opportunity to load up on nutrients that will power us through the day. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, skipping breakfast is directly tied to more volatile blood sugar levels. Spikes and dips in blood sugar (especially dramatic ones) affect everything from appetite to mood swings. Overloading on sugar with, say, donuts for breakfast, is also harmful. Large doses of sugar, particularly after several hours of not consuming any food, causes blood sugar levels to spike, and then drop, all the more drastically. Picture a roller coaster in your bloodstream.
So, keeping blood sugar levels balanced is key to starting the day off on the right foot. This is where a balanced breakfast comes in: eating within 2 hours of waking can help the body maintain balanced blood sugar levels, resulting in less mood swings and a reduced tendency to binge eat at lunch (for me, inhaling a bag of chips whilst waiting in line for my sandwich comes to mind.) Besides, aren’t we all less grumpy when we’ve been fed?
Image: nineminutes. NC, ND 2.0. Accessed Jan 7, 2015
Time-saving Breakfast Hack #1: Blend It
Smoothies are a great way to whip up breakfast in a jiffy. For the extra time-pressed, these wonderful concoctions can be enjoyed in a travel cup on-the-go. Smoothies can be made with as few as three ingredients. For some inspiration, check out this impressive list of three ingredient smoothies from BuzzFeed.
We shared our favorite smoothie recipe, the Green Giant Juice, a while back. Loaded with fruits and vegetables, the Green Giant Juice is great for detox or with other breakfast food. If a smoothie is all you have time for, a mixture of grains (for protein and fiber), almond milk, fruit and vegetables would be more filling.
Try these combinations on for size:
- 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 banana, 1 stick celery, 1 one inch slice of ginger
- 5 tbsp chia seeds, 1 green apple, handful of spinach, handful of grapes, 1 one inch slice of ginger, water to blend
- 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1 tbsp flaxseeds, 2 bananas, 1 tsp of cocoa powder
- 6 frozen strawberries, 1 small orange, 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1 one inch slice of ginger, 4-5 baby carrots, water to blend
Image: Wendy Copley. CC by NC SA 2.0. Accessed Jan 8, 2015.
Time-saving Breakfast Hack #2: Toast It
For a sit down meal, toast makes a solid base for a sweet or savory breakfast. Out of a list of 21 energy-boosting toast recipes from BuzzFeed, these ones appealed to us most:
- chia seeds, banana and almond butter
- cream cheese, berries and basil
- refried beans, salsa, cilantro and a fried egg
- avocado, edamame, sprouts and lemon juice
- kimchi, hard-boiled egg and sesame seeds (umm YUM!!!)
Inspired? Go forth and spice up your breakfasts! Now that food is covered, we will move on to fitness resolutions next week, so stay tuned.
