Proper nutrition and maintaining a balanced diet have been part of my conscious thoughts since childhood. I want to believe that most of us are aware of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, nutritionally speaking, but truthfully it’s difficult to follow the rules every day. This is particularly true when faced with busy schedules, the convenience of fast food, and the difficulty of balancing budgets in our varied personal situations.
I’d like to explore this topic a bit and write about a few basic points that have helped me along my journey. I’m not a nutrition expert, but I have worked with a nutrition coach and have learned a few tricks and ideas along my journey that I’d love to pass on to you. I’ll tell you what works for me, in hopes that it may help you, or perhaps you can modify these ideas in some way to have them work well for your routine and lifestyle.
Preparation is key. Honestly, it is. Making a list of the groceries you will need for the week and taking the time to do as much prep ahead of time so you can ‘grab and go’ in the morning — well, it’s a beautiful thing.
While I’m talking about preparation, this also includes planning WAY ahead. When I see good nutrition based items on sale that I can store in my pantry or freezer, I stock up. This helps long term, budget wise and meal prep wise. You’ll thank yourself later for picking up those sale items!
“Starting your morning with a glass of water is such a great idea.”
Herbal tea is another great choice! Many of us are coffee drinkers, and I would never take that away from anyone who enjoys that great cup of coffee to start their day!
Now, onto the nutrition bit. It is written and believed among nutrition experts that we should eat within the first hour of waking, so I try to. For me, this is a bit difficult, as I just don’t feel ready yet, but I do understand it is important to “break the fast”. My ‘go to’ is a small bowl of plain (greek) yogurt with protein powder stirred in, and topped with fresh or frozen berries.
Alternatively, an omelet using the whites of 2 or 3 eggs along with a cup of fresh spinach and a bit of Swiss or an aged cheddar cheese is also a great start to the morning!
I like to pack a mid-morning snack of something like celery with peanut butter (for dipping); a small handful of unsalted almonds and a few cherry tomatoes; or a hard-boiled egg and 2 oz. of cheese to enjoy halfway between breakfast and lunch. I take along a large water bottle, remembering to drink another 2 or 3 glasses of water before lunch, and I’m on a great start to the first half of my day.
This routine helps me get my day started in a healthy, nutritionally based way.
In addition to my other daily morning routines, I’m well on my way to a fulfilling day — happiness glowing from the inside out.
Simple Breakfast Yogurt Bowl Recipe
A simple and easy to make recipe to get your morning off to an amazing start.
INGREDIENTS
Suggested Serving = 1 or notes as required
Yogurt, greek (plain 0% fat)
- Bite size pieces of fruit such as mango, pineapple, kiwi, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, other fresh seansonal or frozen fruit
Nuts and seeds walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), hemp hearts
- Granola store-bought or homemade
Additional toppings such as coconut flakes, chocolate chips, cinanamon
Sweetener as needed such as honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)
I’m a proud mom, a friend to many, and have a profound belief in human kindness.
My goal to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life includes my love to write about things that resonate with me. My gift to you is sharing my perspective on living a happy life.
xx
