The New American Breakfast Action Plan

The New American Breakfast
Action Plan
by Bonnie Minsky MA, MPH, LDN, CNS

(pages 1&2)

Out with the old…in with the new!
We have put the kibosh on the tired,
unhealthy Standard American Breakfast
and replaced it with something healthily exciting!

Table of Contents:

Eating a Balanced Breakfast “On the Go”
Breakfast in 10 minutes or less
Breakfast in 30 minutes or less
Breakfast in 1 hour or less
Eating Out for Breakfast
Pantry Essentials
Refrigerator/Freezer Essentials
Natural Foods Shopping List
Notes

Breakfast Facts

Breakfast is THE most important meal of your day. Yet, 7 in 10 Americans skip it! Breakfast is the tone setter. Breakfast reduces your hunger throughout the day. With a sufficient breakfast, you won’t be pining away for a huge lunch that will bog you down.

Think outside the box! The New American Breakfast is not dissimilar from what we know as lunch and dinner.

School children perform much better when they have a balanced breakfast.
A recent study in the August edition of Journal Physiology showed enhanced memory and test performance simply by eating breakfast. And those students who ate the healthiest breakfast showed the best performance.

The standard American Breakfast sets us up for failure. How many of us can eat pancakes and bacon or fast food every day of the week? Not many. So then we go the Continental Breakfast route with a bagel/muffin and coffee/orange juice. Just as bad. Breakfast is the most underrated element contributing to America’s pitiful dietary habits.

§ A balanced breakfast is a weight-loss aid. It gets your metabolism and fat burning mechanism working early in the day. You will NOT lose weight if you skip breakfast. By skipping breakfast, you are going approximately 14-16 hours (from the time you finish dinner until lunch) without food! Your body goes into starvation mode after a certain period of time and your metabolism slows down. Then, when you gorge yourself at lunch, your body cannot process the glut of calories and stores it away in fat cells.

§ In a 499-person study, skipping breakfast increased the risk of obesity by 4.5 times. Those who ate breakfast had a 45% lower risk of obesity. Am J Epid 2003

§ Obesity and Insulin Resistance Syndrome rates were 35 percent to 50 percent lower among 3,600 people who ate breakfast every day compared to those who frequently skipped it. Amer Heart Ass Ann Conf on CVD Epid and Prev, March 6 2003

§ UK researchers found that when healthy, lean women skipped their morning meal, it raised their cholesterol levels and diminished their bodies' sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels. In addition, these women tended to eat more calories on breakfast-free days, suggesting that over the long haul, skipping breakfast could spur weight gain. Amer J Clin Nutr Feb 2005

Most standard breakfast items (cereal, baked goods, bacon, sausage, orange juice, dairy products) are loaded with food additives, sugar, saturated fat, and simple carbohydrates.

Lean protein at breakfast is a turnkey solution to a productive day. Your brain thrives on it!

According to the National College Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20 percent of college students are overweight and 40 percent are attempting to lose weight. Skipping breakfast is believed to be one of the main reasons.

Eating a Balanced Breakfast “On the Go.”

We’re not asking you to sit down for 30 minutes each morning to eat breakfast. If you can, that’s wonderful. But most of us in the morning “are on the go.” With some useful tips and a little effort, we can show you how to put together a balanced breakfast in less than 10 minutes. Bring your breakfast with you…in the car, on the train, or on the bus. Most of our commutes are 30 minutes or longer, so you’ll have plenty of time to nosh while you’re in traffic.

TIPS

q If you eat most of your dinners at home, double the recipe for leftovers. As we change our mindset to look at breakfast just like any other meal, leftovers are a great solution.

q If you eat most of your dinners out, order an extra entrée or appetizer “to go” to have for breakfast in the morning.

q On Sunday nights, hard-boil a dozen or more eggs and put in the fridge for the week. There is nothing better for quick AM protein than hard-boiled eggs.

q Make a batch of, or purchase egg, salmon, chicken, or tuna salad from your grocer’s prepared food section to have for several days. It is a great “on the go” option.

q Smoothies are quick and easy. Add liquid, protein powder, and fruit of choice…then mix!

q Leftover soup! A hearty homemade or equivalent chicken/turkey/beef/vegetable/bean soup hits the spot on a cold, dreary morning.

Try not to eat grains in the AM…choose fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are carbohydrates, but much healthier, especially in the AM. Grains bog you down.

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