Breakfast for the Busy Body

It’s 10am, halfway between your morning commute and lunch. And all of a sudden your stomach starts this low and uncomfortable growl. A not-so-subtle reminder that you forgot to eat breakfast — again. You rummage through your purse and desk drawers, hoping to find a snack that’ll hold you over until lunch. Unfortunately, fruit snacks and gum won’t do the job.

Up until a few months ago, I’d given up on the idea of ever becoming a morning person. Who needs breakfast anyway? 

But as the New Year came and went, all of my goals about becoming a healthier person drifted further and further away. I kept hearing about this “breakfast” thing, and how important it is to the human body. 

I’ll admit that I rarely have enough time in the mornings to whip out pots and pans for omelets or pancakes. In fact, getting myself and the kids to work and school on time every day is a challenge. But I’ve learned a few tricks.

• The key is planning. Breakfast is decided the night before, rather than the morning of. Am I going to make a smoothie or oatmeal? Do I have everything I need? Leave the blender and a cup out the night before, if you plan to make smoothies. Or go ahead and combine your oats and almond milk and leave them in a mason jar the night before. 

• Speaking of mason jars, another helpful tip is to make breakfast To-Go. 90% of my breakfasts are eaten out of cups and mason jars. Because, let’s be honest, I don’t always have time to sit down and enjoy it. 

• I like to keep healthy handheld snacks at the house. Granola bars, bananas, apples, mandarin oranges. Because sometimes I do forget to plan my breakfast, but it’s easy to grab a banana and a granola bar on my way out.

Breakfast is so important, especially for little ones. It’s difficult to focus at school or work on an empty stomach. 

Let me just say that I still am NOT a morning person. I still need coffee before I can speak to anyone, and I still hit snooze two or three times before I force myself to get out of bed. What I don’t do anymore is skip breakfast. And it’s made a huge difference.