Your mama was right: you need to eat breakfast!

• Breakfast provides you with the energy and nutrients that you need to get moving into your day – regardless of what you have on the calendar.
• Studies show that breakfast can be important in maintaining a healthy body weight.
• Eating breakfast helps you maintain an adequate blood sugar level; this will prevent any cravings for a sweet snack, or a mid-morning slump in energy.
• People who skip breakfast generally don’t end the day having gotten the full complement of vitamins and minerals they need.

So what’s for breakfast?

Here are some quick and easy ideas:

• If you like eggs, you can make an omelet much faster than you think.  Use raw veggies you cut the night before, or leftovers.  A 2 egg omelet cooks quickly, and you can roll the veggies up in it with a wide spatula almost like a burrito.
• If you like the idea of a burrito, remember it doesn’t have to be based on rice and beans; try  baby spinach, sliced tomatoes and goat cheese, or roast eggplant and hummus.
• Make a breakfast smoothie.  There are lots of recipes out there, and here’s a useful tip: put your ingredients in the blender jar the night and store it in the refrigerator overnight.  Then just add whatever liquid you like in the morning.  This is great if you’re using frozen fruit.
• Oatmeal – a great standby – does not have to be cooked every morning.  Cook a big batch, store it in 2 or 3 small containers, and heat it up in the morning.  Different fruit and nut combinations add flavor and variety.
• If you are really pressed, grab an apple and a handful of nuts or a piece of cheese.  This will get you through a few hours – but plan on an early lunch!
• We’re conditioned to certain types of foods for breakfast, but your body really doesn’t care where it’s getting the nutrients from.  There’s no reason you can’t eat dinner leftovers for breakfast, if you like.  The meal just needs to have some kind of protein, and enough carbohydrate and good fat to sustain you.