Skipping breakfast is a bad habit that can be detrimental to perfor-mance for athletes. The truth is that athletes skip breakfast for one of several reasons. Some have a queasy stomach in the morning and have trouble eating solid food early in the day. Some have simply formed the habit of not eating breakfast. Some are convinced that there are no breakfast foods that they like. Or the most common reason that athletes skip break-fast is that they just can't seem to find the time to fit it in.
If you're like many athletes, one of these rea-sons is keeping you from eating breakfast in the morning and its hurting your perfor-mance. You've probably heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" since you were a kid. Well, it's true. Eating breakfast within one hour of waking up in the morning is really important to get you fueled for the day ahead. Break-fast gets your metabolism going and energy to your body and your brain. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starva-tion mode and start storing fat and craving carbohydrates
A healthy breakfast should in-clude carbo-hydrate, fat, and protein. High glycemic index break-fasts like a bowl of sugared cereal, a toaster waffle, or toast will spike your blood sugar and leave you hungry a couple hours later. In-stead, add healthy protein and fat sources to your breakfast in addition to carbs like Greek yogurt, granola, and some fresh fruit.
Here are five quick and easy breakfast ideas to get you started on the right track in the morning:
1. Make a smoothie. Smoothies are really quick to make and taste deli-cious. If you have a queasy stomach in the morning and don't like to eat solid food early, try mak-ing a fruit smoothie con-taining both carbs and protein. Liquid breakfasts are easier on the stom-ach than jumping right into solid food.
2. Prepare your break-fast the night before.If not having enough time in the morning is one of your biggest challenges to eating a good break-fast, try getting it ready the night before. You can pre-make a smoothie and store it in the fridge over night or soak some muesli in water in the fridge and simply add some hot water to it in the morning and it's ready to eat.
3. Make extra and store it. Some breakfast items store well so when you make them, be sure to make enough to have some later. Home-made granola stores great in a jar in the cupboard. If you're making some whole grain pancakes on the weekend, make a double batch and keep them in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days. Just pop them in the toaster when you'd like them dur-ing the week.
4. Take it to go. We're not talking about take out from a drive through; it's all about take out from your own kitchen. Smooth-ies and other simple breakfasts like cups of fruit and yogurt are easy to take with you. You can prepare them the night before and just grab them and go, or make them in the morning and take them with you. If time is tight, don't be afraid of taking it with you-it's a far better solution than skipping breakfast.
5. Commit to eating a healthy breakfast every morning for three weeks.More than anything, getting a good breakfast is all about creating the habit. It takes about 21 days to form a habit so commit to eating breakfast for just three weeks and it will become something that you do automatically and no longer have to try to fit in or plan for. You will just do it. Give these five quick and simple breakfast tips a try. Eating a healthy breakfast in the morning will make a big difference in your energy throughout the day and will provide you fuel to perform at your best.
Erin Harner, MS, CHC is a sports nutrition coach and certified health coach. Through her business Empowered Athlete Sports Nutrition LLC, Erin empowers athletes throughout the United States and abroad to perform their best in sports and life. She supports athletes to reach optimal performance through optimal health. Boost your energy today by claiming your free gift at EmpoweredAthlete.com
