I was tasked by my employer with writing about bad breakfast foods the other day and it was a fascinating assignment. I had to give a lot of thought to breakfast. I love eggs, so it wasn't as bad as it might sound.
I was researching breakfast foods which might not be as healthy as one would think. Obviously, donuts and waffles are not exactly "health food," but there are other things that might surprise you -- like fruit juice. Fruit juice is mostly water and sugar. Read the labels.
I like the "Simply ____" family of products - their Simply Lime is delicious. They are known for the Simply Orange juice. Also delicious. However... one 8 oz. glass has 23 grams of sugar. Check out the label. Yikes.
No matter what type of diet you are on -- low calorie, low carb -- you are screwed if you drink 8 oz. of that juice. If you are on a low fat diet you're okay - there's no fat in orange juice. (Pretty gross idea though, right?!?)
You don't have to drink juice at breakfast. Sugary stuff will give you a "sugar high" but then you will come crashing down a bit later -- not fun.
Below, my breakfast. Eggs over easy on toast, and a cup of tea. I often scramble spinach into my eggs but I didn't this morning. I have to have good protein in the morning or I feel lethargic all day.
If you are like most people, you need breakfast. You need to jumpstart your morning with some fuel for your body. You've been asleep all night, so you need to literally break the fast = breakfast. I was raised by parents who believed this wholeheartedly and impressed on me the idea that breakfast is absolutely necessary. Skipping it was a sin. My brother, who never liked breakfast, would often take a poached egg and swallow it whole, just to avoid controversy. [Ironically, he told us not long ago he now realizes why breakfast is important and he never misses it.]
My father was one of those rare people who jumped out of bed raring to go, every morning. His Big Ben alarm clock sounded at 6:30 on weekday mornings, and he was up and running. I liked to watch him shave and comb his hair in the morning. He would listen to the radio in the bathroom while he did it, and then slap on some aftershave before putting on his clothes. He always came out of his room looking sharp, with a little bounce in his step.
Dad wasn't a big breakfast guy on weekdays, when I was a little girl. I don't recall him eating more than a piece of toast. On weekends, he made sausage and eggs, and usually leathery omelets.
My mother always made sure both her kids had eaten well before school. There was no getting around it. We also had to be inspected. I never went off wearing clothes that were wrinkled or had holes in them. (My daughter bought a pair of jeans with holes in the knees, some years ago, and I was horrified. So was Mother. It was a fad, though, so I tried not to let it bug me.)
According to 4 Reasons Why You Should Never Skip Breakfast, eating it is good for memory and weight loss, and people who eat it have fewer heart issues or diabetes. This is my favorite takeaway from that article:
"Weight Loss: In one recent study, people who ate breakfast as their largest meal lost an average of 17.8 pounds over three months. The other participants consumed the same number of total calories per day, but ate most of their calories at dinner, according to the study published in July in the journal Obesity. The large-dinner group only lost an average of 7.3 pounds each over the same time period."
This article, 5 Reasons Why You Should Never Skip Breakfast, offered more insights. "Researchers found that skipping meals first thing in the morning could lead to an inflammation increase, which has been shown to contribute to metabolic impairment and the risk of obesity and diabetes. Sounds like it’s time to start piling your plate with anti-inflammatory foods in the a.m. We recommend eggs scrambled with spinach and tomatoes or a simple cup of yogurt with an apple on the side."
My son doesn't like to eat right after he gets up. I have learned to give him about 30 minutes' lead time and then put something in front of him, even if it's just a glass of milk. He eats the most food at night, which would be bad except that he is skinny, so I am not fussing.
I will end this little lecture with a memory. When I was a little girl, I loved to sit at the table in the kitchen of my grandparents' house here in Atlanta and watch my grandfather make breakfast. Bacon was broiled on a broiler pan in the oven. Coffee was made in a percolator -- I would sit mesmerized, watching and listening to that rhythm. Eggs were scrambled and fluffy. Toast was made in a toaster, buttered on one side. My grandmother appeared when breakfast was on the table.
I thought that was how it should be. Men made breakfast and women ate it. On weekends, my dad made breakfast and gave Mom a break.
Adulthood proved I had been given a false impression of marriage, but so be it. I still maintain everyone should eat breakfast, and if the husbands want to stay married, they would do well to get in the kitchen and fix it...
