Ah yes, the fabled most important meal of the day. Breakfast is often overlooked by many adults due to time constraints and is instead replaced by a quick coffee and whatever is laying around at the office (although not really anymore...sigh). As corny as it may sound, breakfast really does set the tone for the day and is a way to begin getting nutritious food in your body early on if set up correctly.
Even with the lack of a morning commute these days, many still claim to not have the time or patience to whip up a nice breakfast. Yea, then maybe don’t do an omelette with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese with a side of a made-from scratch bread. While that sounds lovely, there are other ways to have a nutritious breakfast that won’t require you chopping vegetables for 20 minutes.
If you workout in the morning, then you would want to consume these after your workouts, and you can make them a bit heavier. Before your AM workout just have something light to give you some quick energy (banana, slice of toast with peanut butter). If you are working out later in the day, then have a decent sized breakfast. Either way, you want a nice amount of protein (at least 20 g), along with some fats and carbs based on your goals/when you’re working out.
SMOOTHIE
While protein powder isn’t everyone’s favorite, it really is disguised very well in a smoothie. This takes literally 3 minutes to throw together and is very easily taken to-go.
There are so many routes you can go with this and you can play with the proportions as you please. The base will usually be a fruit/fruit blend of some kind and you can buy frozen fruit mixes at any grocery store. Mixed berry, tropical blend with mangoes, pineapple, whatever you please. Just be mindful of how much fruit you’re putting in.
Then you add whatever flavor protein powder you wish, some peanut/almond butter (don’t go too crazy), and other ingredients that you see fit! Use any liquid to fill it (water, almond milk, milk, etc.) and bam, you’re all set.
OATMEAL W/ GREEK YOGURT
Oatmeal is a great whole grain that is packed with fiber and can keep you full and satisfied. You can have plain oatmeal and put in frozen berries (they thaw really nicely in the oatmeal), or have the pre-flavored packets. Have this with 1 cup of low-fat greek yogurt with some honey in it for flavor and you have yourself a high protein, moderate carb, low-fat breakfast.
EGGS W/ TOAST
This one will take a little more time and require using a stove but if you are more of a savory breakfast person then this is the last breakfast food high-protein source, unless you don’t mind chicken at 7 AM. Just remember, for every gram of protein that an egg has, it also has a gram of fat (albeit healthy omega fats). So 2-3 eggs should do it, and you can have some whole grain toast/english muffin/bagel. Again, don’t go too crazy with the bread here; if you are trying to drop body fat then this is where you might want to monitor the amount of carbs you’re eating, especially if it's not following a workout.
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Obviously these aren’t the only healthy breakfast options but you get the idea. You want some sort of high-protein source (namely protein powder, greek yogurt, or eggs), and a low to moderate amount of carbs/fat depending on your goals and when you exercise. Just remember, foods like peanut butter and high-protein cereals are fine, but they are NOT primarily a protein source. They are a fat and carb source, respectively, that happen to have SOME protein in them.