Why you (and your inner diva) NEED to eat breakfast

My mum used to find it highly amusing that, as a toddler or grumpy teen, I always had the same morning ritual. Haul my ass out of bed (usually under great duress) and head straight for the breakfast table in a zombie-like coma. Must. Eat. Food. And slowly, but surely, with each mouthful of whatever it was, the human(ish) Bella would emerge and I’d leave the table a brighter and sunnier person (or so I’d like to believe!).

Turns out, I was setting myself up for an awesome habit that does me a power of good now that I’m a proper grown up (again, so I’d like to believe!). While I know that there are several of you out there who will argue that you can operate fine without breakfast, science backs up the fact that to get your body working properly throughout the day (not just at the beginning of it) then you need to start it right. And that means you need to break the fast and EAT! Preferably something healthy and filled with the good stuff. Don’t believe me? Here are 4 reasons why you need to find a way of starting the day right:

1. Manage your blood sugar levels. While you’re sleeping, your body is working away digesting all the food that you’ve eaten the night before. So when you wake up, there’s very little trace left of the nutrients in your blood stream and just the *ahem* remains waiting to be pooped out. And your blood sugar levels will be low enough to make you comparable with a grouchy grizzly. By gently raising your blood sugar levels first thing, you’re helping to manage your hunger levels throughout the day – leave it too late and chances are you’ll be reaching for a high calorie, high sugar ass-kicker snack mid morning because I’M-STARVING-AND-IF-I-DON’T-EAT-I-WILL-DIE (yep, low blood sugar may result in you turning into a melodramatic diva.) So give your metabolism a wake up call, get some stability in your blood sugar levels, and start the day as you mean to go on. And leave the diva at the door.

2. Wake up your brain. After a night’s sleep your brain cells will be running on empty – they need energy from the food you eat (that’s the glucose from complex carbohydrates) to refuel. Without that refueling, your brain will struggle to operate on all cylinders, which means that processing information or managing complex challenges (so things like forming and retrieving memories) are all a little bit too tricky. But by giving your brain the boost that it needs through food, it’s all set to be bright and alert and all those other things that you’d probably find life easier with!

3. Get your vitamin fix. Grabbing some fruit, yoghurt, and wholegrains for breakfast is a sure fire way to make sure that you’re getting a swift vitamin shot. It’ll pump you full of vitamin B for maximum energy and keep your immune system healthy with vitamins A, C and zinc. And that diva that you left at the door? She’ll be replaced by the happier version thanks to a lift in your seratonin levels. Happy shiny people!

4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I’ve waffled on about the importance of drinking enough water before and breakfast is a great place to start. I like to down a glass of the good stuff first thing to help make sure that my body has the fluid it needs. And don’t forget that pile of digested poop waiting for you to wake up… water will help with that too! But you can eat your water too – fruit is packed full of it! Don’t get too attached to strong caffienated drinks though – that diva might make a re-appearance.

UGH FINE… But I don’t have TIME.
Just because you need to kick start your system doesn’t mean you need to labour over a mammoth feast, or get up a gazzilion hours earlier to create some exquisitely complex sensation for your taste buds. When it comes to my top 3 breakfasts, taste and simplicity are key. I tend to eat mine either at my desk or before I leave the house. Either way, I don’t have a lot of time to hang about faffing over the preparation. Sometimes, that means getting things prepped the night before. Trust me, that little bit of effort can make morning life a whole load more peaceful!

Fruity yoghurt-to-go: This is a night-before-er. Half-fill a Tuppaware with frozen berries (I prefer the mixed ones). Chuck 20-40g of oats on top, spoon in some Greek yoghurt and sprinkle with a tablespoon of milled seeds/nuts. Takes you 3 mins to make. Then all you need to do in the morning is remember to take it with you! And there you have a vitamin-packed breakfast, super tasty, with all the nutrients.

Smashed eggs on toast: Sounds like a palava, really isn’t. Stick your toast (wholegrain, or sprouted if you can!) on while you’re heating a pan with a tsp of coconut oil. When the pan is hot, crack in 2 eggs and smash them up (it’s a less-hassle scrambled egg!) and season. Plop them (as elegantly as you can for first thing in the morning!) onto your toast. To get the full nutritional brownie points from this, whack in a handful of spinach at the same time as the egg and smash it all up together. Or just serve with some avocado or tomatoes. That’ll do too.

Chia and cinnamon oat pot: Might be flashing a few ‘health freak’ warning bells to some of you, but you can get chia seeds from pretty much anywhere these days! They’re packed full of omega 3 and are hailed as a superfood of the moment. I like to chuck a tablespoon into my trusty Tuppaware pot along with a tbsp of desicated coconut, milled flax seed, 40g oats and a tsp of cinnamon. Cover the mix with milk of your choice (I like this one with almond milk) and mix it up, ready to soak in the fridge overnight. Chia seeds start to soak up the liquid and make it go gooey… which is perfect for you to take out in the morning, top with greek yoghurt, blueberries and a drizzle of honey if it’s not sweet enough for you.

I have loads more breakfast ideas – from smoothies and pancakes to sweet bakes and savoury delights! Why not share some of yours below? Are you a breakfast lover?

Farewell to steak… and bacon… and chicken…

The results of the poll are in! In an earlier post, I left the fate of my meat-eating habits in your hands – will I spend the month of April exploring what it’s like to be a pescatarian, vegetarian or a (*gasp!*) vegan….?

You’ve been kind – over 40% chose vegetarian. It’s farewell to fish and meat, but I can eat cheese and other dairy produce. I can’t complain about that! So despite one of my more sadistic friends voting for the vegan option so that I would be stretched to the furthest point from my comfort zone, the rest of you were a lot more considerate and are helping me makes changes in baby steps!

I’m really excited my meat-free month! I’ve not had an awful lot of time to work out some exciting recipes for this week, but I have pulled together a meal plan with a fair amount of beans and feta… I’ll need to sort that out soon else I’ll be a bored bottom-burper before long (and no one wants that!). In essence, I just need to eat a balanced diet, with lots of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. Variety is key. But from speaking to my veggie friends and through my studies and reading, there’s also a risk of missing out on some essential nutrients. So, if I’m going to do this right, there’ll need to be a bit of planning to make sure I get the energy and vitamins that my body needs.

I’ll cover two of the nutritional pitfalls that I’ll need to be wary of in this post – these are the two more common complaints (certainly among my veggie friends!). But there will be others I’ll cover in more detail throughout the month.

Be strong like iron
Iron is essential for helping our bodies make haemoglobin – that’s the red sticky protein stuff that makes your blood red, but also, more importantly, creates red blood cells to help move oxygen around your body. Without it you risk being anaemic, breathless and severely lacking in energy. The non-meat sources of iron are slightly harder to absorb, so vegetarians in particular need to make sure that they’re getting enough. So where do you find it in a vegetarian diet? Actually there’s plenty of choice, you just need to make sure you’re getting them at regular intervals!

• Eggs
• Some fortified breakfast cereals
• Nuts and seeds
• Pulses and beans (particularly baked beans, lentils and chick peas – hello hummus!)
• Leafy green veg, kale, cress and broccoli
• Brown rice, wholemeal bread

Make sure that you’re getting enough Vit C in your diet too – it’s a handy little helper in the absorption process – but PUT THE CUPPA DOWN. Tea and iron are NOT friends.

Vitamin B12 yourself up!
Vitamin B12 is like the super DIY champ of the body. It makes sure that the general maintenance jobs around the body are done – growth, repair and general upkeep, bit of hedge trimming and mowing of the lawn (okay, maybe not the last two). But sadly for veggies, it’s only found in animal products in its natural form. So that means if you don’t eat eggs and dairy then, as a vegetarian, you’re left with the option of Marmite (and we all know that you either love it, or hate it… ) or the fortified breakfast cereals etc route.

So with those two starting points, I’m all set to start on my meat-free veggie learning extravaganza! If you have any favourite vegetarian recipes, hints, tips or ailments you’d like me to research and explore along the way, please do get in touch!