Quick & Nutritious Breakfast Options

October 3, 2009 · Posted in Nutrition · Comment 

 Remember, those who eat similar foods each day successfully manage their weight more than those who do not. Putting that consistency into your breakfast is a great way to begin your day! Check out these ideas and mix and match to fit your taste buds. Focus on the 3 P’s: protein, produce, and portion size. Get a little lean PROTEIN, some PRODUCE, (fruit or vege), and when you eat other things besides lean protein and produce, mind your PORTIONS  with each meal. Those who eat breakfast have more success with weight management success as well.
Breakfast with starch
Steel cut oatmeal w/ fruit and/or nuts (apples, bananas, raisons), skim milk - Instant oatmeal (plain) is a cut above most typical American choices for breakfast, so mixing this with fruit and a light sprinkling of nuts is an excellent choice for breakfast. If you want to take that option up a notch on the Health-o-meter, take a few extra minutes to slow cook the real thing. (Maybe take time to cook enough for 3-4 days at one time and then just microwave a portion for each day if you like it warm. Trader Joe’s carries precooked steel cut oatmeal. The frozen one tastes the best.) Steel cut contains a little extra fiber and protein, so you feel a little fuller, and control your blood sugar a little better than the instant kind.
Whole grain toast w/ peanut butter and apple or banana slices - Look for whole grain, not just wheat bread, if it doesn’t say whole grain, it is not whole grain. Think you don’t like whole grain bread? There are so many choices now, you will be able to find something. Be persistent. (Just keep in mind, a 1000 lbs of feathers weighs the same as a 1000 lbs of bricks. Specifically in the context of calorie management for weight loss, 100 calories of 100%, whole wheat, organic, sprouted, all natural, Holy Moses bread has the amount of calories as a 100 calorie piece of regular, Wonder, processed white bread. Always aim for the “healthier” option, but make note of the calories when making your choice.  For a lower calorie bread, I use Healthy Life 100% Whole Wheat . . .)
Fiber cereal w/ skim milk, piece of fruit- If you have a hard time with fiber cereal, try mixing it with a cereal that you like. No, not Lucky Charms. A 1/4 cup of Fiber One in your bowl of Total, Special K, or Cheerios is an excellent option. Try pretty much any of the Kashi cereals while aiming for 5+ grams of fiber, and 6+ grams of protein.
Breakfast with no starch
Nonfat plain yogurt with fruit (any berries, prunes, a light sprinkling of granola or nuts)- This is also good if you pack your lunch, use frozen fruit. It will keep your yogurt chilled and it will thaw by the time you will eat it. I sweeten mine with a small amount of real maple syrup. *Note that Yoplait non-fat yogurt and many others have Aspartame sweetener. If you are looking for another sweetener, we recommend Truvia, from the Stevia plant. If you do use a real or natural sweetener, mind your amount.

Scrambled eggs, 1 egg w/ 1-2 egg whites, w/ tomato salsa, spinach, or any other veges - I like fresh salsa. Trader Joe’s has a great chunky salsa. It is also good on chicken or fish. Cook your eggs in a non-stick pan with either no stick cooking spray or wipe the pan with a paper towel and a tiny amount of olive oil. Scrambled eggs are much faster to prepare than is usually perceived. Literally time yourself some morning preparing a small serving of scrambled eggs or omelet, and make note of how often you could actually have this low starch, excellent breakfast. Add a fruit to it if you like, and you can’t start your day on a better note.

Fruit and yogurt smoothie - Here is a recipe for one - blend together the following ingredients, 1/2 small ripe banana, 3 ounces strawberries, 2 ounces blueberries, 2 ounces raspberries, 3 ounces nonfat plain yogurt. You can sub in any fruit or combination of fruit that you would like. For real ease in preparation, you can use frozen unsweetened fruit. Smoothies are an awesome Nutrient Dense meal, just know your portions and servings of fruit. Try not to use juice, and realize how many servings you are putting in the blender.

Fruit and protein smoothie- You can make your own using protein powder. Or you can buy these at the grocery store in the produce section. Brands are Odawalla, Naked Juice, or Trader Joe’s. They are not inexpensive, but they are convenient. Even Starbucks makes these for about the same price as the grocery store.

*As with all liquid calories, do not make smooothies a regular breakfast or meal. Liquid calories are too easy to overindulge with. We recommend V-8 to be your main source of liquid calories. If you have not tried V-8, please go out and see if you like it. Most of us are not getting our quota of vegies in a day, and it is pretty darned easy to “shoot” a small 6-8 oz glass of ice cold V-8 everyday. The V-8 Fusion is an OK snack every once in a while, but the fruit sugars add up the calories in one bottle.

*This post was originally put together by EBF Trainer / Swim Coach, Kay Lynne Firsching, added to and re-posted by me with a few more ideas annd comments. Thanks, as always KL.) :D

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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Recommended Lean Protein Choices

June 30, 2009 · Posted in Nutrition · Comment 

“The key to weight management is muscle preservation.” Stimulating muscle during strength training sessions causes your calorie burning systems to kick into higher gear up to 24 hours after that workout session. To insure you are recovering from and building new, healthy, calorie burning muscle, make sure you are getting enough protein in with each meal. Each meal including snacks should have complex carbohydrates, protein and a little healthy fat. Protein slows down digestion, making blood sugar levels more even and staving off hunger.

Here are some of the best choices based on leanness and tastiness:

Chicken breast-3.5 oz, 30 grams of protein, go with boneless, skinless for the leanest choice (Look for leaner versions of this, some ground chicken, similar to turkey, is ground up with the skin, making it fattier than you would think. You can find 85% or more fat free in your stores.)

Ground beef - look for 85% to 96% fat free in your store. (Great for burgers, or to brown the meat in a skillet and drain the fat, then mix for taco meat, sloppy joes, or other ground meat favorites.)

Turkey-3 oz, 21 grams of protein  If using ground turkey, use ground turkey breast. (Ground turkey has the skin included, look for 99% fat free in the store. Ground turkey is great to use for taco meat, burgers, and meat loaf.)

Tuna—6 oz can, 40 grams of protein (Use the water packed variety, and eat plain, or mixed with low fat/fat free Miracle Whip or mayonaise, pickle relish, or mustard.)

Lean deli meat - find low sodium versions of deli meat in your grocery deli. Unless you have high blood pressure, are taking a diuretic, or do not sweat enough during your workouts, a lean deli meat sandwich a few times per week is a great source of protein with a high fiber (>5 g of fiber) 100% whole wheat bread.

Salmon-3.5 oz, 27 grams of protein

Eggs-1 large, 7 grams of protein

Egg Whites - 3 g of protein. (*remember an egg has 6-7 g of protein, 3 in the white, 3 in the yolk, so to mix an omelette with one whole egg and one egg white is a great way to get some protein in for breakfast.)

Vegetarian Choices

Milk-1 cup, 8 grams of protein, go with skim. If it seems that skim tastes like water, work your way down the percentages of fat in milk, start with 1%, then go with ½% and eventually, go with skim.

Cottage Cheese-1/2 cup, 15 grams of protein, go with nonfat

Almonds, Peanuts, Cashews-1/4 cup, 8 grams; 9 grams; 5 grams; 5 grams (A great snack to add to a yogurt, fruit, or crackers during the day to provide some protein and energy to make it to your next meal.)

Peanut Butter-2 tablespoons, 8 grams of protein

Yogurt-8-12 grams of protein (Also containing healthy bacteria which promotes a healthy digestion system, yogurt is a great AM or PM snack to have with a few almonds or small serving of fruit.)

Spinach-1 cup cooked, 5 grams (Look also for leafy salad spinach to have for lunch or dinner. Either mix an entire spinach salad, or mix it into your Romaine or iceberg lettuce salads for extra nutrients.)

Kidney beans- 1 cup cooked, 13 grams

Garbanzo beans- 1 cup cooked, 12 grams

“Protein Bars” - there are a ton of these on the market, you just have to find one you like, and one that is less than 250 calories, containing >12 g of protein, with less than 5 g of saturated fat. Many of these bars can be mistaken for candy bars they taste so good, but the reason is that they often have the sugar and fat of a regular candy bar. Try Balance, Cliff, Luna, Zone, and others as they offer many different flavors.

“Protein Water” - the two most popular on the market are Special K and Biggest Loser Protein (Designer Whey) protein water providing 5-7 g of protein and 5-6 g of fiber per serving. They taste similar to Crystal Light, with a little more grittiness, and are a quick convenient way to get a small dose of hunger preventing protein and fiber.

Take a minute the next time you are in the grocery store or your own kitchen to see how many grams of protein you may be taking in a day, or with each food you eat. Aim for about 1 g per kilogram  of your goal body weight (Your body weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = your weight in kilograms.) Remember protein will (1) help moderate your blood sugar level, so you minimize any insulin rush causing a temporary sweet tooth, (2) cause you to feel full, so you do not want to eat until much later, and (3) is key for muscle maintenance and building. Mother Nature is only trying to take our muscle and bone mass away from us, taking in enough protein is one sure fire way to fight back against this.

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