Weekly Meeting Topic Week 20: Breakfast is for Champions!

I think the topic of this blog entry says it all!  Once upon a time during my teens I wouldn't eat breakfast.  I used to sleep as late as I could, showering the night before, rolling out of bed 10 minutes before the bus would show up, get dressed and knock back a cup of tea (I have never been a coffee drinker) and hop on the bus and go to school.  If I did grab something to eat, it was always a chocolate chip muffin from the caf.  Healthy eh?  No wonder why I went from a size 13 to a 16 in high school!  I don't think working in the grocery store helped either.

One day during another one of my many migraines in high school my art teacher asked me if I ate breakfast.  Well, we all know that answer... no.  I recall that the idea of eating in the morning used to turn my stomach.  At that point I started trying to eat in the morning.  Now I often find I'm certainly hungry and ready to eat in the morning!

Why is breakfast important?  Well like gas in your car, its fuel for your body to get you up and going!

What are the benefits of a balanced breakfast?

1. Helps avoid snacking and overeating
2. Provides energy for activity
3. Boosts concentration and focus
4. Delivers nutrients for good health

Let me share with you some of my breakfast favourites:

• Reduced sugar apple cinnamon oatmeal (instant) with raisins
• Fiber 1 Crunch Original cereal with banana, raisins & milk or bananas, strawberries & milk
• Peanut butter roll up - small whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter on it, roll it around a banana
• Smoothie - 3 frozen strawberries, 1/3c frozen mango, 1/3c mixed field berries, 1 banana, 1/2c milk, 1 small container of low fat yogurt, 1/2c water, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder, sometimes a dash of honey to make it nice and sweet, it tastes like candy!
• Yogurt parfait
• Mini bagel & light cream cheese
• Hard boiled egg on whole wheat toast
• Apple with peanut butter and raisins

Can you tell I like bananas and raisins?

My leader shared a recipe with us and actually had a little sample, it wasn't bad and a good idea to have in the fridge

Marianne's Dog's Breakfast (aka: Breakfast of Champions)

• 2c quick oats
• 1/2c bran flakes
• 3/4c orange juice
• 1/2c milk
• 1/4c honey
• 1 apple, grated

Mix all the ingredients together, keeps in the fridge for 1 week
1/2 c = 6 points, supposedly this is super filling!

So what are your breakfast go-to meals?

Wow!  Saturday is getting closer and closer!  My 10K at the Ottawa Race Weekend is that evening!  Eeeek!