We’re moving into the season of constant food…and most of it isn’t good for you!
As winter falls upon us (well, at least it is here in Calgary!) and Christmas draws ever closer (egg nog lattes are in Starbucks now! Along with the red Christmas cups!) and our neighbours to the south are approaching their Thanksgiving holiday also, it is hard to stay on track with your eating every day.
Rather than battling all the temptations that come your way, try one thing in these coming months:
Eat a healthy breakfast.
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Why?
When you start your day off well, in my experience, your body wants to keep eating nourishing food throughout the day. It’s like starting off your day with a workout – you find you have more energy that lasts you throughout the day. So maybe you’ll end up better equipped to resist the temptations when your body is fuelled and nourished with a delicious and satisfying breakfast.
Also, even if you do give into temptation later on, feel better about it by knowing that it is balanced out by your morning nourishment. You have done something good for your body already that day, so at least you’re not only fuelling up on junk food.
What?
So I put this challenge out to you. Take part in one of three ways:
- Tweet what you had for breakfast each morning @AnnaWootton – include a picture if you like! Hashtag it: #healthybreakfastchallenge
- Post on The Guiltless Life Facebook page a picture or description of your healthy breakfast.
- Email me at theguiltlesslife@gmail.com with an image or description of your breakfast and I will include it in an upcoming post!
How?
To get you started, check out some of my favourite healthy breakfast ideas from my blog and the blog world at large:
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Banana bread pudding for breakfast? Healthy? Um, yes! With this recipe, you’ll enjoy total comfort food for breakfast, that will keep you full all day long. having dessert for breakfast is a surefire way of making you feel you’ve had enough treats for the day that you can turn down those Christmas cookies in the office!
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‘Tis the season for pumpkin – so pump up your morning oats with a good dose of Vitamin A and beta-carotene and a few chocolate chips to make sure you feel treated! (Replace with cacao nibs if you really want to healthify up your morning meal!)
- Pumpkin Protein Pancakes (vegan version here)
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Protein pancakes make you feel like it’s Sunday morning every morning, while keeping you full and – with this recipe – avoiding any simple sugars. In keeping with the seasonal feel, these are pumpkin pancakes, though a range of other flavours of protein pancakes can be found here. Enjoy the regular version or the vegan version and top with delicious pumpkin protein frosting.
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Whether you’re gluten-free or not, quinoa is undoubtedly one of the best grains out there. However, if it’s not your favourite or you don’t have it on hand, replace the quinoa in this recipe with oats or buckwheat groats or whatever you prefer. Make this into a parfait and you’ll feel like you’re breakfasting at the Ritz!
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Try a delicious baked apple for one of the simplest whole food breakfasts around. Stuffed with tahini, almonds, cinnamon and vanilla, this is full of flavour and nutrients.
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For an array of smoothie recipes, including my favourite green smoothie (pictured above), check out this post. You’ll be surprised how satisfying a liquid breakfast can be when you load it up with filling fibre, protein and healthy fats!
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If you’re a granola fan and have had it drilled into you that granola is bad for you, remember that if you make something at home, you can always healthify it. That’s what I did with this recipe – gone are the sugar-laden high-fat commercial granola products – just whip this up at home and enjoy the natural sweetness of honey, the healthy fats and protein of peanut butter in a good-for-you granola that will keep for a couple of weeks stored in an airtight container.
LINKS:
Some of my favourite healthy breakfasts from the blog world:
- The Fitnessista’s breakfast cookie (I have this at least 3 times a week) or cookie dough cereal
- Chocolate Covered Katie’s pumpkin baked French toast
- The Diva Dish’s pesto-egg breakfast burritos (you can make them in advance and freeze them!)
- Oh She Glows’ cookie dough glazed steel-cut oatmeal
PS. I am linking this post up to Healthy Diva Eats – check out her Marvelous in my Monday link party here!
The Guiltless Life 
Great idea with the healthy breakfast challenge! I LOVE breakfast & creating healthy, decadent tasting ones each morning. I also have several awesome, healthy French toast creations posted on my blog. Best meal of the day. 🙂
That’s great! If you make one be sure to take a picture and post it on my Facebook, Tweet it to me or email it to me. I’ll include it in a round-up post along with a link if you include that!
Awesome! I’m going to add your Healthy Breakfast Challenge image to my site too. 😉
That would be great, thanks!
Great idea for a challenge! I can’t wait to see what you create 🙂 I’ll definitely try and get a couple posts on breakfasts in! How long is the challenge for?
It’s really for the holiday season, so from now until the Christmas slump (so I guess end of the year!). But definitely getting into this habit before the holidays hit is what I’m aiming for, so hopefully in the next few weeks people can aim for getting those breakfasts into healthy habits!
Please share with the button if you think your readers would be interested! Share recipes too – FB/Tweet or email me with your photo and link and I’ll share in a round-up post!
deal 🙂
What a fun challenge!! I’m seriously drooling over all those breakfast meals as I write this comment! 🙂
Glad you love it! I can’t wait to see what breakfasts you have – remember to share with me and I’ll include a link in a round-up post! Spread the love 🙂
This is such a good idea! I eat breakfast at my desk but will try and get in on the action!
Definitely do! I’d LOVE to post some ideas for breakfasts that are healthy but that can be eaten at work – I’d include a link too, of course :). People would love that!
Tweeted you a picture of my breakfast today! It was healthy and delicious!
Just saw that, thank you! Retweeted and followed :). It looks delish!
Love this! I have been on a pumpkin oatmeal with chia seeds kick lately. So yummy! I can’t wait to see what people come up with. I’ll post a pic soon!
That sound delicious, please do share a pic – I have 2 cans of pumpkin in my cupboard just waiting to be opened!
Fun idea! thanks for the sharing!
Thanks for posting your pic today Elle! That banana protein cake sounds amazing. People will love that recipe!
Reblogged this on Swiss-fit-chick.
Love the protein pumpkin pancakes, I have to try ’em pretty soon!
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I probably put the most effort into it and cherish my time as I wake up. I used to be a cereal-aholic, but now I’ve started to be more creative with what I eat and definitely look for things like eggs and oatmeal that are healthy and will keep me full and away from office temptations.
It’s great that you’ve got into eggs for breakfast. I love eggs but struggle to have them in the mornings – I guess I’m not much of a ‘savoury’ person in the morning! I can have them at brunch or lunch but first thing is tough, and yet you’re right – they’re a great breakfast choice as they keep you full for so long!