The Power of Breakfast

If you asked people what the most important meal of the day is, hands down most people would answer with breakfast. The funny thing though is that if you then asked them how many of them ate breakfast, only about half of them would say yes. And then if you asked the half that answered yes what they eat for breakfast I believe that the majority of them would name some sort of carbohydrate. While carbohydrates are a good at breakfast because they give you energy and eating them early gives you plenty of time throughout the day to burn them off, a protein rich breakfast might have some real benefits to those of us trying to lose weight. New studies have shown that adults that eat eggs for breakfast lose more weight than those that ate the same amount of calories of carbohydrate rich foods, those that eat high protein breakfasts maintain a sense of fullness longer, and improved mood. Eating a high protein breakfast has also been shown to help you maintain lean body mass (muscle) while still losing weight.

Eggs are a breakfast superfood which contain large amount of protein (6 grams), vitamins and amino acids. There are several benefits to eggs. First of all, they are real cheap. They also are great for your eyes and a good source of lutein. They also have choline which helps to regulate the brain, nervous and cardiovascular systems. While they do have some fat, they only have 1.5 grams of saturated fat. Eggs are also one of the only foods which naturally occurring vitamin D and have also been shown to lower the risks of breast cancer.

However, even though eggs have all these benefits...I have never been a fan. Boiled eggs make such a great snack for people on high protein diets but to me they stink and smell rotten. I can not eat eggs that are runny. When I see someone in a restaurant dipping their toast in a runny egg yolk it makes me gag. There are all these ways to cook eggs, boil, poach, fry, scramble, etc. but the only way that I have been able to eat eggs is scrambled or fried where the yolk has been cracked and cooked till hard. To be honest I don't even really like eggs this way but I choke them down by covering them in salsa. I have really embraced eggs lately. While I have been trying to eat more protein and less carbs they do make a good breakfast food. I am not the kind of person that can have a chicken breast and broccoli for breakfast; something about that just seem unnatural.

Almost all breakfast foods are carbs though: bagels, muffins, toast, cereals, granola, grain bars, etc. I love all of these foods but I have noticed that since I eliminated them from my breakfast I feel much more full and satisfied for a longer period of time. I have been eating a breakfast burrito almost every day. Here is the recipe.

Breakfast Burrito

1 Carb balance tortilla

1 egg white, 1 egg

1/8 C shredded cheese

2 TBSP salsa

1 jimmy dean turkey sausage patty (optional)

Tomato, onion & bell pepper (optional)

Spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook your eggs, add cheese till melted. If adding meat you may want to cook it ahead of time. Add salsa, vegetables and stuff into a low carb tortilla. So yummy and a great way to start off your morning with a protein rich meal.