A great question, mostly because the answer is usually pretty great, too. (If I do say so myself.) Of the few distinct things I do differently from most people, my first meal of the day is one of the biggest divergences from the norm. For example, in one national survey, less than 20% of adults report eating fruit at breakfast…that means just by eating an apple, or banana, or pear, I’m doing something so simple that over 80% of Americans aren’t.
The other categories I focus on are fiber and protein. Quick, how many grams of protein did you eat this morning? Most people aren’t aware that that number is likely less than 10g (cold cereal with milk eaters, this is probably you!). Protein helps you feel full for longer, builds or maintains your lean body mass, and is best consumed in portions of 20-30g in a sitting for maximum absorption.
Fiber also increases satiety, and provides fuel for your friendly gut bacteria (who are helping keep you healthy, whether the idea of trillions of the little guys residing in and on you is delightful or not). You should aim for eating about 14g of fiber for every thousand calories you consume (for most people, that’s 25-30g/day; more if you’re a larger man). Most Americans get around 11g a DAY. Womp.
So I made a little infographic of my breakfast this morning that outlines my general rules, and how this meal nails it:
- At least 15g of protein
- 5-10g of fiber
- Contains a fruit or vegetable
- Isn’t too big, OR too small (I ballpark around 500 calories)
- Tastes awesome
Recipe:
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 oz part skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 c raw kale, destemmed and roughly chopped
- pepper & garlic powder (dash of each)
Directions
Spray a pan with some olive or canola oil and heat on the range. Put the kale in a bowl with 1/4 c water, sprinkle with pepper and garlic, and place under a sheet of waxed paper in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, until it has reduced in size by about half. Beat the eggs in a bowl, pour into pan, and move them around with a spatula until they’re cooked through (there’s a great tutorial here showing what I mean). Add the cheese and cooked kale, fold over, and enjoy 🙂
Hi Sarah,
So exciting to see your blog up and running! My go-to for breakfast is a small glass of Vitamin D and Calcium fortified Trop 50 OJ (does that count as my fruit?), a slice of whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter, and black coffee.
I swear I vividly remember responding to this post, but maybe it never posted! Just noticed. So, yes, that juice counts as a fruit, but it’s a good idea to only replace one fruit or veg with juice per day. And only a half cup of juice will do the trick!
Hi Sarah! Looks delicious! One question though… How do you preserve the other half of the pear for later eating? Mine always bruise and brown, and become very unappetizing.
Laurel…good question. They definitely don’t stay good for long; I plastic wrapped mine and ate it at lunch just a few hours later…a bit of lemon juice might help it last slightly longer, but I wouldn’t let it sit longer than a day regardless. It was too good to wait anyway!