So far this isn't working!
Firstly, someone changed the time on my alarm waking me at midnight (well, four minutes too) with the shocking sounds of a saxophone booming out at top volume! Not pleasant! Of course my 6.30am alarms were deleted in the process.
The night before last, I crashed at 11pm after imbibing a lovely bottle of wine so exercise kinda went out the window! Then last night I went to bed around 1am so waking up this morning at 7am was pretty impressive, exercise or not! Maybe I was pushing for too much???
Breakfast is doing well though so I am pretty happy with that!
Now, to solve my 'waking' issue I am taking on a new tact.. a star chart! Well, kind of anyway! In the Women's Health Magazine, there was a free calander care of John West Tuna Slices with a lovely 'well cut' man decorating each month! This calander is my start chart for the year! Each month I will chose a habit to focus on and change, something from a health perspective and something from a 'mum' perspective.
January will be spent reinforcing my morning exercise and getting the kids and myself to make our beds in the morning!
In case I don't get back in to blog today - Merry Christmas!
Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Breakfast...
.. is the most important meal of the day!
Why?
We have all heard this but how many of us start the day off with a truely healthy nutritious breakfast? Myself, I usually have a quick bowl of cereal washed down with a cuppa tea or a bacon and egg McMuffin washed down with Coke Zero and a hash brown a couple of hours after my morning cuppa!
A quick scope of scopus (a scientific database) gives a scary picture of what this means for my health.
Women who skip breakfast (based a college student survey followed up for five years) were more likely to have absent or irregular periods and to suffer from constipation, and also had a poorer perception of their own health (Fujiwara & Nakata 2010). Now I only read the abstract but I could surmise that this may be an affect of a lack of fibre - which is what I perceive as the main dietary benefit of breakfast.
Another aspect to the importance of breakfast is the timing of food consumption - both in kick-starting the metabolic processes in the body and also the importance of cicadian rhythms. The amount of sleep we get is also linked to obesity. There is a nice review (Laposky et al 2008) titled "Sleep and circadian rhythms: key components in the regulation of energy metobolism." which provides a good overview of research on this topic.
As a non-expert I would say that breakfast is important because:
What makes a healthy breakfast?
While it is pretty easy to spot a healthy meal from a perspective of being low in fat and sugar and additives, what makes a healthy breakfast? What is a good balance of nutrition with which to kick start our metabolism and set ourselves with a balanced system to prevent cravings?
Firstly, I would think that fibre is hugely important in the mornings. Fibre lines our gut to protect the microvilli that absorb nutrients, it also provides a chemical barrier so that the nutruients (particularly the sugars) reach those microvilli evenly rather then in bursts. I dont' 'know' this however, it seems intuitive to me from the various things I have learnt over the years - please double check these 'facts'!
Secondly, a complex carbohydrates for energy are a must! Some fruit and cereal should provide a good source of energy to get through till lunch. This is also a great way to get fibre as most complex carbs come with fibre!
Thirdly, protein would also be essential to providing the nutrition required for the early half of the day - often the most productive physically! Protein is also great for long-term satiation - so we feel full longer. Where to get protein? Egg or diary is pretty good for a breakfast protein given most of us couldn't stomach a steak at that hour!
So what are some breakfast options?
No cooking required!
Muesli, fruit, and yogurt
170g Forme yogurt
40g muesli (Select crunchy)
Blueberries
1 Lge Strawberry
1/2 banana
This is my fave breakfast, only I don't always have fruit on hand! It can also be a pain having to finish a big tub of yogurt as I hate the thought of old yogurt!
egg on toast
more to come....
Why?
We have all heard this but how many of us start the day off with a truely healthy nutritious breakfast? Myself, I usually have a quick bowl of cereal washed down with a cuppa tea or a bacon and egg McMuffin washed down with Coke Zero and a hash brown a couple of hours after my morning cuppa!
A quick scope of scopus (a scientific database) gives a scary picture of what this means for my health.
Women who skip breakfast (based a college student survey followed up for five years) were more likely to have absent or irregular periods and to suffer from constipation, and also had a poorer perception of their own health (Fujiwara & Nakata 2010). Now I only read the abstract but I could surmise that this may be an affect of a lack of fibre - which is what I perceive as the main dietary benefit of breakfast.
Another aspect to the importance of breakfast is the timing of food consumption - both in kick-starting the metabolic processes in the body and also the importance of cicadian rhythms. The amount of sleep we get is also linked to obesity. There is a nice review (Laposky et al 2008) titled "Sleep and circadian rhythms: key components in the regulation of energy metobolism." which provides a good overview of research on this topic.
As a non-expert I would say that breakfast is important because:
- it's already been 8+ hours since you last ate - your body would be in some kind conservation mode after that long without food - longer will make it even worse.
- it will kick-start your metabolism and have it working in balance with your sleep/wake cycle
- you can make sure your metabolism is healthy and balanced setting you up for the rest of the day
- an opportunity to ingest a healthy balanced meal and get important nutrients like fibre, without cravings influencing you
- can prevent over-eating or bad choices made due to extreme hunger and cravings that happen if you dont' eat breakfast
- any meal at home is one you have more control over ingredient wise
What makes a healthy breakfast?
While it is pretty easy to spot a healthy meal from a perspective of being low in fat and sugar and additives, what makes a healthy breakfast? What is a good balance of nutrition with which to kick start our metabolism and set ourselves with a balanced system to prevent cravings?
Firstly, I would think that fibre is hugely important in the mornings. Fibre lines our gut to protect the microvilli that absorb nutrients, it also provides a chemical barrier so that the nutruients (particularly the sugars) reach those microvilli evenly rather then in bursts. I dont' 'know' this however, it seems intuitive to me from the various things I have learnt over the years - please double check these 'facts'!
Secondly, a complex carbohydrates for energy are a must! Some fruit and cereal should provide a good source of energy to get through till lunch. This is also a great way to get fibre as most complex carbs come with fibre!
Thirdly, protein would also be essential to providing the nutrition required for the early half of the day - often the most productive physically! Protein is also great for long-term satiation - so we feel full longer. Where to get protein? Egg or diary is pretty good for a breakfast protein given most of us couldn't stomach a steak at that hour!
So what are some breakfast options?
No cooking required!
170g Forme yogurt
40g muesli (Select crunchy)
Blueberries
1 Lge Strawberry
1/2 banana
This is my fave breakfast, only I don't always have fruit on hand! It can also be a pain having to finish a big tub of yogurt as I hate the thought of old yogurt!
egg on toast
more to come....
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