The very first question I ask when someone tells me they are struggling with their weight is, “Do you eat breakfast every morning?” Ninety percent of the time the answer is “No.” Then I usually hear this
“I don’t have time to eat breakfast.”
Believe me, I understand the time crunch in the mornings. I have a love affair with my snooze button. I wait until the very last minute possible to get out of bed. However, I still make breakfast a priority. You need to do the same. Even if you don’t need to lose weight you need to eat breakfast. If you want to know why you can take a look at Weight Loss Guideline #2: Eat More.
Meet the Smoothie
For me there is no better breakfast than a smoothie. They are fast, inexpensive, and with the right ingredients are loaded with nutrition. Here is a list of five of my favorite smoothies.
Once you get these recipes memorized they literally will take you less than 5 minutes to make and you can stick them in a to go cup and drink them on the way to work.
What you’ll need
- A good blender (one that will blend ice cubes). That’s about it for the hardware.
Grocery List
- Whey protein powder
I use vanilla but you can use chocolate flavored for the chocolate recipes. I find it more economical just to use vanilla for all the recipes. You can find reasonably priced protein powder just about anywhere. Walmart carries a couple different brands (although one of them doesn’t taste very good, I think it’s the Body Fortress kind). You can also get it from GNC or Vitamin World. You can also order it online on my Beachbody Coach site (www.beachbodycoach.com/boynamedtracy). Make sure it’s whey protein. Stay away from soy protein. I get my protein powder in a 5lb bag at Sam’s (EAS brand) for around $30. - Frozen berries
We usually get a couple packages of blueberries, a package of strawberries and sometimes I use mixed berries when I feel like getting crazy. - Low-Fat Yogurt
We use plain but you can use vanilla so long as you be careful of the sugar content. You can also use Greek style yogurt, it is thicker and has more protein. If you’re lactose intolerant I don’t know what to tell you here. The yogurt is basically to thicken it. Some recipes below does not call for yogurt so you can stick with those if you need to. - Natural Peanut Butter
The ingredients in peanut butter should be, uh, peanuts. No salt. Definitely no sugar. I used to use Smart Balance Natural peanut butter but have recently switched to Skippy Natural Chunky. Skippy is cheaper and it tastes great. If you have a food processor you can also make your own natural peanut butter. Just put peanuts in and process until it’s a butter. Yep, that’s it. - Quick oats
Whether you prefer a guy from Pennsylvania to make your oats or not is up to you. - Bran flakes
Any brand. The less sugar the better. - Ground Flax seeds
We buy Hodgsdon Mills Milled Flaxseed. You can also get whole flaxseeds in a health food store or GNC. - Honey
The recipes
All of these recipes have come from either The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life
One thing to remember is when making these recipes, start with the liquid ingredients first and then add the solids (and yes, ice is a solid). Then blend it to whatever consistency you like on whichever blender setting you like.
These recipes will make two 8-oz servings, so you may want to either cut the recipe in half or save half for later.
Honey-Nut Cheery Oat
- 3/4 cup instant oatmeal nuked in water (I actually just use 1/2 cup uncooked oats)
- 1/4 cup milk (use 1 cup if using uncooked oats)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter (natural pb of course)
- 2 tsp whey protein powder (a little more won’t hurt)
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp ground flaxseed
- 6 ice cubes
The Cereal Killer
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup bran flakes
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 2 tsp whey protein powder
- 1 tsp honey
- 6 ice cubes
The Chocolate Factory
- 1 cup chocolate milk (I use Nestle Quick for the chocolate part)
- 2 tbsp low-fat plain yogurt (or vanilla)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tsp chocolate (or vanilla) whey protein powder
- 2 tsp ground flaxseed
- 6 ice cubes
Blue Velvet
- 1/2 cup chocolate milk (I use Nestle Quick for the chocolate part)
- 1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt (or plain)
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 2 tsp chocolate (or vanilla) whey protein powder
- 2 tsp ground flaxseed
- 3 ice cubes
Strawberry Fields Marshall Smoothie
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla (or plain) yogurt
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (blueberries or mixed berries also work quite well)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp ground flaxseed
- 6 ice cubes
There you have it. Five breakfasts that will literally take you minutes to prepare and will fill you up and give you all the energy you need to make it through the morning.
Shakeology®
If you’re looking for something with less calories and will take even less time, you may want to consider Shakeology®. Shakeology® tastes great, is only 140 calories and is filled with over 70 healthy ingredients. It works like a salad but tastes like a dessert.
You can find out more about Shakeology® at http://myshakeology.com/boynamedtracy.
Another option, which is what I do, would be to use the above breakfast recipes and use Shakeology® for lunch. It’s amazing how only 140 calories will fill you up.
So which recipe is your favorite?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
