NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST

Skipping breakfast is not only a bad idea because you will find that you will have no energy to get the things you need done for the day–done….but it also wreaks havoc on your metabolism.  If you want to lose weight, you have to kick start your metabolism every morning with protein and high fiber, low carb food.  If you grab some cereal, pop tarts, a latte, a donut, a muffin, regular carb toast–you are setting yourself up to be a fat-storing machine, who will crash later from the surge of sugar with little protein or good nutrients to sustain your body or your mind for the day.  If you skip, you will continue to be on a sugar roller coaster!  You will feel sick and you will have weight issues.

Also, parents, don’t send your kids to school with no breakfast in their tummy or give them what they like (as if they know what is good for them) and give them cereal, pop tarts, a big glass of sugar (I mean OJ or other juice or milk).

**And by the way, if you suffer from immune deficiency diseases like CFS or Fibromyalgia, try to force yourself to get up before noon if you are a late sleeper and eat something so you can fight your condition.  This roller coaster affects you more than you know.  You can always go back to sleep afterwards….but eat something!

Some breakfast examples:

Quickies: Most of this is good for vegetarians as well.

1.  If you are in a hurry, make sure you have hard-boiled eggs to grab.  They are easy to make and some stores like Trader Joes has ones that are done and peeled in bags.

2.  Protein drinks in cans that are low in carbs. Check labels.  Trader Joes has two that are excellent.

3.  Low carb, high protein energy bars.  NOT high carb granola bars!  I mean like Oh Yeah, Power Crunch, Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, etc.

4.  Two tablespoons of almond or peanut butter on some Paleo Bread by Julian Bakery (Julianbakery.com)

5.  A couple of mini low fat baby bells or some low fat cheese and for some, you could use some turkey slices rolled up.

(fast food emergency:  No pancakes and syrup!  Why don’t you just hook the kid up to a sugar drip instead? Just get eggs and bacon.  Even the white bread English muffins are no good–sugar spikes! and how do you expect them to stay focused at school, especially the ADHD ones with a sugar spike and then fall of energy?)

Not so quick, but not hard to do:

1.  Make a smoothie.  Put in some coconut, almond or rice milk in a blender with some protein powder and berries.  Now you have a nice energy drink.

2.  Greek yogurt with some berries (and even a spoonful of almond or peanut butter)

3.  Chicken sausage, or an egg or egg whites or an omelet with some spinach, tomato and feta cheese or whatever you like.

4.  Make low carb pancakes.  Simple new recipe I found out about:

**Two tablespoons of oat bran, two tablespoons of greek yogurt, egg whites and cinnamon for taste.  Cook in pan.**

5.  Last choice!  Oatmeal is higher in carbs, but if you eat it, no more than 1/2 cup of it.  OATMEAL IS A HIGH CARB FOOD.  Half of a cup is 27 carbs.  Make it larger than half of a cup by putting in for the protein–walnuts and almonds are good and some blueberries or other berries are good too.

REMEMBER:

YOU DON’T NEED GRAINS IN YOUR DIET TO SURVIVE.  YOU NEED PROTEIN, VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND WATER!

If you want to lose weight and feel great, you have to eat a small or normal proportion of food at every meal, including snacks.

You have to breakfast, lunch and dinner with a protein snack between them and one after dinner.  If you skip, your metabolism gets messed up.  Try to find time the night before to prepare your six meal choices for the day, but make sure you don’t skip breakfast!