The Importance of a Good Breakfast

I don't know about you but I was brought up in a house where you ate a proper breakfast every day of the week. This would include porridge followed by bacon and eggs and toast!! Needless to say my three brothers and I have always been highly active individuals with healthy appetites and were lucky to have a Spanish mother who cooked everything from scratch. No processed, ready made meals ever entered our household. In fact, our fish was caught in the nets we put out on the beach at night (yes, we lived on the beach in Wales), our fresh produce came from the retired green fingered neighbour who always grew far more than he could ever eat and our meat and dairy came from the local organic farmer...so I suppose you could say we had a perfect diet! I remember pleading with my best friend to invite me for dinner at their house because they always had baked beans for supper with fish fingers and frozen fries! Makes me laugh now, to think that it was a treat for me to eat the junk food.

But I digress...back to the importance of breakfast . Most of us as adults start our day with a cup of coffee and a breath of fresh air. We race around getting the family ready for the day or getting ourselves ready for work without considering the effect of starting our day with an empty tank. I equate morning grumpiness with empty stomachness and who enjoys being or being with a grumpy person first thing in the morning. After many hours of fasting, while you are hopefully sleeping, your body is ready to re-fuel and start the fire burning. Many people believe that by skipping breakfast they will sucessfully manage to reduce their overall calorie intake for the day but sadly this is not the case. Eating breakfast actually helps you to lose and maintain your ideal body weight. By filling your belly with the right kinds of food first thing in the morning you are setting yourself up for a succesful day of healthy eating. You will be less tempted to attack the carbs mid-morning because you will not be experiencing crazy, un-controllable cravings for something sweet.

What you eat for breakfast is also a very important factor in keeping off the weight. Not all cereals are good for you, in fact, I doubt any cereal is really good for you as they are packed full of sugar, fat and many artificial additions despite the "Healthy" label that the manufacturers stamp on each box. I have noticed that when my children have cereal, they are never quite satisfied and will be asking for food again within an hour. However, when I make them a fine plate of scrambled eggs with wholemeal toast, they are firing off all cylinders until lunchtime! I think that says it all.

I do understand that starting the day with a full english breakfast is neither practical nor palatable for many modern households, but a couple of scrambled eggs takes all of 2 minutes to throw together with minimum smells or washing up. Eggs are a great source of protein, vitamins and good fats and it is a myth that eggs are bad for us and that our cholesterol will hit the roof...sorry, but that would be a cause of all the artificial cereals, breads and artifical low fat spreads we choose to eat. Porridge is always a winner and if you are worried about cholesterol, then allow the modest oat to soak it all up and eliminate it from your system. You can add a myriad of things to your porridge and make it a different and yummy meal every day of the week.

To make a quick and easy bowl of porridge simply add 1 cup of cold water to 1/2 cup of raw organic oats and cook over a moderate heat for about 10 minutes.  Make sure you stir as it has a tendency to stick to the pan and splutter all over the place! To this you can add any of the following depending on what you prefer; handful of seeds; a chopped apple; sliced banana; honey; ground flaxseeds; frozen berries; Dried apricots, dates or figs or all 3; maple syrup or simply a sprinkling of cinnamon. Once you have that down you I promise you will hear no rumblings until lunch time.

It is also a good time of the day to take your daily dose of Omega 3 in the form of a fish oil capsule. I can't emphasis enough the importance of this little gem of oil. Omega 3 is essential for our wellbeing and because we do not get enough from our diets, it is necessary to add a supplement. Not only will it keep your heart healthy, but it will also help women banish any monthly breast tenderness and PMS symptons as well as give you glowing skin.

Summer is finally here folks, even though the weather is playing an un-predictable game with us here in Geneve. I know that many of you ladies are starving yourselves in preparation for the inevitable beach appearance. All this could be avoided and there would be no need for this pre-summer panic and manic diet obsession if you followed a healthy eating programme throughout the year. Just think how great it would be to put on your bikini at any time without feeling self conscious. Eating breakfast, eating organic and well structured regular meals will give you the body you desire and deserve. No more excuses about having junk food or high sugar/fat snacks in the house for the kids either, your kids deserve better than that and teaching them good eating habits at an early age will help them avoid a future of bad health. De-toxing your cupboards will keep you away from temptation and free your children from their sugar addictions too!

Well, that is enough of my lecturing for now, please feel free to comment on this blog and or ask any questions regarding your health and fitness, I would love to hear from you!

"Your greatest wealth is your health"

Tamara