The Most Important Meal of the Day

You guessed it!  Be it ever so cliche, breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day.

See what I did there? I totally rhymed.

Fat Whitney NEVER ate breakfast.  First of all, Fat Whitney never made time.  Second of all, Fat Whitney always assumed no breakfast meant fewer calories and meant I'd get skinny.

Obviously that was false.

First of all, I'm going to start with "making time."  Notice I didn't say that Fat Whitney "didn't have" time?  With any of the lifestyle changes I've made, I didn't "have" time.  Meal planning, working out, etc. require making time and not making excuses.  If Nike taught me anything, its that we all need to just do it. 

I go to Grad School, work a full-time job, bartend part time, raise a dog, and work out 5 days a week.  I bet you have a long list of things you "do" as well.  I don't want to hear about it, because let me be blunt, what you're doing is not as important to your weight loss as what you're not doing right now.  I am neurotic about my planner.  EVERYTHING goes in there.  I schedule on Sunday for my entire week.  School due dates, things I've promised to do, both jobs, work outs, etc.  That way, I never run into a situation where I'm going from one job to the next with no supper and have to grab something quick like McDonalds.  If I ever AM in these situations, Subway is a great go-to place to go that isn't going to throw me off immensely.

Am I telling you that you need to plan in time for sex or bowel movements?  No.  Am I telling you plans can't change?  No.  I'm just telling you this is what I do, and for the most part it works.  Today, I just found out I have an impromptu Birthday Party to go to Saturday and its right during my scheduled work out.  So what am I going to do?  Get up earlier.

For someone who hates mornings, that sucks.  But so does being fat.

Now, this is why breakfast is important:

it gets your metabolism up and rocking right away in the morning.  It keeps you full until snack or lunch time, whichever comes first, so you don't over eat.  It gives you another opportunity to get in the nutrients you need to keep your body healthy.  I know everyone WANTS to lose weight, but depriving your body is worse in the long run.

Without further ado, by popular request, some breakfast recipes that I do.  Keep in mind, I don't have a husband, boyfriend, etc to cook for every morning.  Its just me, and I can eat whatever diet food I want without anyone making fun of me.

Breakfast 1:
Yoplait Light Fat-Free Yogurt (disclaimer about anything "fat free" or "light" or "low fat"...I'm not a huge fan.  First of all, I get that its good for weight loss...in small doses.  My theory is, everytime they remove an ingredient that contains fat, they replace it with a chemical.  Chemicals to me are gonna sit there all fatty like covering my abs or my thighs or my ass...God damn you thick girl genetics...and not make me happy.  But, I'm also a huge hypocrite because here and there I will do these things.) I like yoplait cuz frankly some of the flavors are delicious. Some people prefer Greek yogurt. I've personally never been a fan but if you are, I've heard it keeps you fabulously full.
Options to go with it: Fruit, Special K Cereal (literally, I put the cereal in the yogurt.  Sounds weird but super delicious.  Its like the same concept basically as granola on your yogurt.), Special K 90 Calorie snack bars, a piece of whole wheat toast, whatever you want really. Usually if I do yogurt with the Special K bar, snack is required before lunch.  You burn through that right away.

Breakfast 2:
Ground turkey, prepared like taco meat. I like this because after I make a batch, I can freeze it and take out portion sizes.  Put it in a skillet with red peppers, onions, black olives, whatever you like.  Fry it all up (cooking spray people, no butter), and then crack an egg over it.  Eat that with salsa on top.

This can also be done without meat at all.  You can do just the veggies and the egg, totally up to you.

Breakfast 3:
Smoothies!  More coming on this in an upcoming post.  I'm really enjoying the experimenting going into this one though!

Breakfast 4:
Dry toast with a fried egg on it, big bowl of fruit.

Breakfast 4:
Oatmeal!  I get the "fruit and cream" flavors, they're all right around 130 calories a packet.  I then add that fruit to it in substantial amounts.  Like peaches & cream with peaches...yum.  There's not a whole LOT in that packet but the great thing about oatmeal is that you don't need a lot, it sticks with you.

The beautiful, wonderful thing about breakfast is though I don't eat carbs in any substantial amounts, I can eat some carbs at breakfast!  You have all day to burn them, rather than loading up on carbs at dinner and doing nothing but going to bed shortly thereafter.

I must admit, breakfast is not always the most exciting.  But you can pull bits and pieces of the meals I throw together and use them how you'd like, too. If you have a smartphone, download myfitnesspal to help you track the calorie intake on your breakfasts. Shoot for right around 200-250 calories.

I will work on finding some more exciting ones that are possible husband pleasers, too...but for now, this is what I do.

Good luck! :)