Carol Was Right! Why breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

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Carol is my mom and the best human on this planet... like it’s a fact, in a book somewhere. I am sure of it. She makes Pinterest moms look weak. Every day of my life from birth until I got married, I would wake up to breakfast on the table, a glass of juice, and a glass of water with vitamins. [Now that I am a mom, I look back and think, “She must have gotten up at 3 am to accomplish all of this for me and my brother.” And it wasn’t just breakfast either. She had already packed our lunches, which were famous, by the way, because they were basically five course meals that magically stayed warm all day. We don’t call her a girl scout for nothing.] I would come downstairs and breakfast would be waiting for me. If this was in today’s time, I would be thrilled, but back then I didn’t like eating breakfast. I would do the typical kid thing; complain and pretend like I was going to die, you know, the usual dramatics. She would always just look at me and say, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” - and I would complain and whine a little more, eventually choking down a few bites like the drama queen I was/am. This hatred for breakfast stuck with me in to adulthood. I rarely ate breakfast - and if I did, it wouldn’t be until mid-morning after I had been up for a couple of hours and would be mostly carb driven. This was all fine and dandy because I was young and had the metabolism of a horse, but it began to backfire once that metabolism slowed down for many reasons: less active, age, pregnancies, poor eating habits, etc. So, when I decided to change my eating habits, the first thing that popped into my head was Carol and her saying….” Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”

I committed to start eating breakfast. I told myself I was going to eat a protein-and-good-fat-packed breakfast to break this habit, to start fueling my body as soon as I woke up and in turn boost my metabolism. And that is exactly what happened. I created a new habit, but instead of one that was ruining my metabolism, making me crash and crave high carb/sugar foods, I now wake up and feel like I am going to die if I don’t eat breakfast. See, still same dramatics! I crave nutrient dense foods like spinach and sweet potatoes, as well as good fats and proteins like eggs, avocados, bacon and chicken sausages. I consume roughly half of my daily calories in the morning. And I started to notice such a difference. I wasn’t crashing during the day, I was able to make it past 11am without needing lunch immediately and turning to something not so great. I have found that making breakfast my number one priority with my eating has changed the game.

One thing that is certain, life is crazy! Our days are mayhem! We spend our days running around constantly, working, driving, chasing kids, doing things for other people. BUT if you start your day loaded up on all the best fuels for your body and brain, you are way less likely to crash and turn to something not so good for you. You will have the energy you need to accomplish the 756 things on your to-do list. You will boost your metabolism and reap all of the benefits that comes along with it like burning fat faster, decrease the buildup of excess fat cells, have more energy, rid your body of toxins and waste quicker, have better blood circulation, have good function of the internal organs, good mood, younger skin, better natural immunity… and that’s just to name a few!