Combat Breakfast Boredom with this Mix and Match Food Guide

Everyone can benefit from eating breakfast. From weight loss and muscle repair to  improved mood and focus, a morning meal benefits your body. When you sleep, your metabolism slows down. Rather than go through the day with a sluggish metabolism, jump-start it with breakfast. Information from the National Weight Control Registry, a database of more than 10,000 people, shows that 78 percent of those who successfully maintain weight loss eat breakfast every day. It’s never too late to create a new habit, but it does take some planning and practice.

Studies show that eating breakfast may boost memory, enhance cognitive ability and improve attention span. This not only helps children in school, but adults at work and at tasks of daily living. Stabilized blood sugar levels are likely the reason for these improvements. Because we wake up with low blood glucose due to our fasted state, a meal that contains a balance of carbs, protein, fiber and fat will raise blood glucose to a healthy level and keep it steady for hours.

MIX-AND-MATCH BREAKFAST GUIDE

This handy mix-and-match tool can help you create a well-balanced breakfast and avoid eating the same thing every day. Just pick one item from each column to create a complete meal. If you would like more than one item from a particular column (such as eggs and chicken sausage), go right ahead. Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day and leave you full and energetic for at least three hours. If you eat breakfast after exercising, you need even more calories for properly refueling your body, in which case it might be a good idea to choose two items from both the protein and grain or produce columns.

Pick one item from each category to make a complete meal:

BREAKFAST IDEAS

1 slice sprouted grain bread topped with one-quarter smashed avocado and 1 sunny-side up egg with 1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup oats soaked overnight in a combination of almond milk and Greek yogurt, topped with fresh berries and chia seeds

Veggie omelet with 1 egg and 2 egg whites, cooked with 1/2 cup sautéed onions and mushrooms, and 1/2 cup baby spinach, topped with 1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese, served with half a baked sweet potato

Berry smoothie: 1 cup almond milk + 1 cup berries + 1 cup Greek yogurt + 1 tbs. chia seeds + 2 dashes cinnamon

Cinnamon spice cottage cheese toast: 1 slice sprouted grain bread (toasted), topped with 1/2 Tbsp. almond butter, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon with half a banana, sliced (not