VS. 
I am very sleepy today.
You know that kind of tired where your brain feels fuzzy and you wake up already thinking about falling back asleep? Yeah, that is how I feel today.
But enough about me.
Yesterday, I was reading through Eat This, Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More!, the invaluable nutrition resource by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding that I have told you about in an earlier post.
Well, there is one very interesting page titled, “When You Need to Wake Up and Go” where Zinczenko and Goulding discuss with the reader the foods that are good, and not so good for helping to open your peepers.
What’s more, according to Eat This, Not That, not eating breakfast will cause you to “drag all day — and even put on the pounds.” Here are some of the proper choices that the authors suggest a good little breakfast eater put on his or her plate:
- Eggs and Whole Wheat Toast — “Eggs are a great source of protein, and having them for breakfast sets you up for a perfect day of eating.” The authors go on to say that Saint Louis University researchers found that people who eat eggs for breakfast consume 264 fewer calories the rest of the day than those who eat bagels and cream cheese. Whoa! Who woulda thought that a little egg could make such a big difference?!
- Cottage Cheese with Berries — I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand cottage cheese; I have just never been able to tolerate the texture. But, apparently, this fruit and cheese curd combo will produce “slow and steady levels of blood sugar, not a sudden spike,” like your Eggos may. Another protein and fiber-rich pairing includes two scrambled eggs stuffed into a whole wheat pita.
Did you know? Waiting more than 90 minutes after waking to eat breakfast may increase your chances of obesity by nearly 50 percent?!! Yikes!!
- Post Original Shredded Wheat – The book suggests that all breakfast cereals should have 5 grams of fiber and less than 5 grams of sugar per serving in order to be deemed a good breakfast option. “The fiber will help keep your belly full and your blood sugar levels stable.” The authors suggest that if shredded wheat is too boring for you, adding mix-ins, such as strawberries or raisins will give ho-hum cereal an extra punch.
Unfortunately, the book delivers the fateful news that one of the worst (but oh-so-tasty!) menu options for the morning is a bagel and cream cheese. “At 500 calories and 20 grams of fat, this classic is one of the worst ways to start your day.” The combo has been shown to cause a dip in energy and a spike in hunger before lunchtime should even be a thought in our brains. In addition to bagels, croissants, doughnuts, danish and pancakes all fit the bill as “Not That” foods. Kind of a bummer, but good to know … I guess. ):
So, I am still feeling very yawnish, but now this post has made me hungry. What ever will I eat for breakfast? Hmmm….
By the way, if you have not yet taken yesterday’s survey about volunteering, please do it now! I am hoping we can all inspire each other to do more for our communities!!
Pure Bar Organic Chocolate Brownie Bar
Eat, Pray, Run 
Very helpful!! Did not know that about eggs or 90 minutes upon waking…I just thought it was eat breakfast whenever…good to know…want to keep obesity at bay!!!! xoxo
I feel like my day is incomplete without eggs. They are just such a wonderful start to the day! Good to know they are serving a helpful purpose 🙂 And cottage cheese…yum. But, I must say, I love a bagel sometimes. I eat my bagels with cottage cheese on top instead of cream cheese sometimes. That helps…right? RIGHT?? The 90 minutes is also good to know. I probably usually do this… I am starving as soon as I wake up. My only problem is that I run before breakfast sometimes. I know that’s not good but I hate food in my stomach right before running. 😦
I love you
Amanda
Well, it all makes sense now. No more bagel and cream cheese for me :*( If only college had even remotely appetizing eggs. I guess I’ll just stick to my Fiber One bar!)
xoxo kristina
very interesting, unfortunately bagels and cream cheese are one of Cole and Brooke’s favorite breakfast foods. I get many of my cereals in the organic section and I frequently buy ones with 10-13 grams of fiber. I’m eating one right now called Smart Bran with 13 grams. I must admit however I do mix it with another cereal to make it yummier. I’m with Amanda, I’m ready to eat as soon as I get up. If I have to wait, I usually get sick to my stomach. Thanks for all the good info. Caroline
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Thanks
As a dietitian, I congratulate anyone who can bring to the attention of many the importance of breakfast. I often hear from clients that they’re not hungry when they first get up, so they ask “why should I eat?”. For so long people have been told not to eat if they’re not hungry. Now it seems that everywhere the new word is “eat your breakfast even if you’re not hungry.”
Actually, your mother probably told you to eat your breakfast when you were younger and her mother told her to eat breakfast. It seems that today’s generation, in its hurry to get to wherever they’re going, has decided that since they’re not hungry anyway, breakfast can be skipped.
Do you know what breakfast means? It literally means “to break the fast.” Let’s say you had dinner at 6:00 PM the night before. It’s now 6:00 AM and the alarm rings. You slap the snooze button and figure you’ll grab a couple of more zzzz’s. After 2 or 3 rounds of slapping the snooze button, you finally become conscious of the fact that if you don’t quickly dress, you’re going to be late for work. Since you’re not hungry, you skip breakfast. But, if you don’t have breakfast, you haven’t fed your body anything for over 12 hours. While your liver can store some of the calories you ate during the day yesterday, it used up those calories during the night. So it needs to be replenished for whatever the new day has in store for you.
Even if you’re not hungry, it doesn’t mean you don’t need some nourishment. And I can promise you that by 10:00 AM, your stomach is going to be roaring. That’s because by 10:00 AM, you haven’t supplied any calories to your body for over 16 hours. Imagine that you did eat breakfast at 7:00 AM and then didn’t eat again until 11:00 PM. Can you imagine yourself going without sustenance for that long during the day? Then why assume that your body doesn’t need anything after 12 hours at night? I know…you figure that you were just sleeping. Where’s the calorie burn in that? Well, your body is burning calories, albeit at a lower level than when you’re running around during the day.
People will often think that the fatigue they’re feeling mid-morning is because they didn’t have breakfast. That’s partly true. But it also may come from being dehydrated. Let’s face it, you didn’t have anything to drink for 12 hours from dinner until breakfast time. Having that one cup of coffee to get you going in the morning is far from enough. How about taking a bottle of water with you on your way to work so you can start contributing to that 8 glasses per day requirement? I know a lot of people don’t like to drink tap water because, sadly, the water of many municipalities just doesn’t taste good. It’s not easy to down 8 ounce of water when it tastes so lousy. So, opting for bottled water makes sense. I have tried various brands of water (Aquafina,, Dasani, SmartWater) and find that SmartWater really has the cleanest, purest taste. I hear it’s been distilled in such a way that it removes stuff you don’t want. And then they add natural electrolytes, like calcium, magnesium and potassium, stuff you do want. Maybe that’s why it tastes so good. But don’t stop there with only one bottle. You’re going to need to make a concerted effort to stay hydrated throughout the day or come around 2:00 in the afternoon, you’ll be catching yourself drifting off to sleep during that meeting,