HAPPY FRIDAY!
My muscles have been feeling a bit tight this week! It is no doubt due to being back to work baking + hunching at my desk! I tell you, I didn’t have one twinge of muscle pain while on vacation, even with all the running I did! I think Florida is good for the body… ;)
I decided to start my morning off with 20 minutes of Yoga Sculpt #1 over at yogadownload. I definitely worked up a sweat by the end. I capped it off with 10 minutes of Yoga for Runner’s. I felt so good, if someone would have offered me a free massage I would have passed them by! hehe…not really, but I did feel really good!
This morning I had one thing on my mind after yoga…KEEN-WAAAH.
PB, J, & B Breakfast Quinoa
Ingredients:
Into the pot goes…
- 1/3 cup quinoa
- 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons almond milk
- 1 mashed, ripe banana
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of cinnamon (optional)
- pinch of sea salt (optional)
Directions: Stir together above ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and stir frequently for about 8-10 minutes being careful not to burn. If it dries out, add a bit more milk. Pour into a bowl and add toppings!
My toppings:
- Crave Glo Bar (Peanut butter, cacao nibs, and cherry)
- Strawberry jam
- 1 tablespoon roasted peanut butter
I used half a Crave Glo Bar on top.
I forgot about the jam in the back of the fridge! I love jam!
On the spoon: Organic strawberry jam, peanut butter, Crave Glo Bar + quinoa mix!
A great start to Friday!
I like to spread the goodness all around!
I should be good for a solid 4 hours on this.
While I enjoyed this bowl a lot, I still prefer the Vegan overnight oats– and I admit I was kind of wishing I had those instead of this! Total…BREAKFAST ENVY! :mrgreen:
My breakfast story:
My breakfasts used to be a sad sight. When I was struggling with disordered eating, I would have the same tiny breakfast day in and day out. I remember being just 12 years old (that is when my struggle with food really took hold) and only allowing myself half of a packet of instant oatmeal. Sadly, my approach to breakfast didn’t improve throughout my teenage years when I would often have just 1 apple for breakfast. I was hungry all morning and never had any energy. I never thought that I deserved a balanced and hearty breakfast like other people did.
Then I started reading food blogs a few years ago. I saw other people eating delicious breakfasts each morning and something inside me started to change. I started to think that I was worthy of a filling and energizing breakfast too. I started experimenting with green monsters, oatmeal, pancakes, cereals, and I fell in love with healthy breakfasts and how they make me feel…energized and full of energy for the day’s tasks. I also realized that I didn’t gain weight by eating a big breakfast which was something I always feared previously.
Some of my favourite breakfast foods now include: Healthy Spelt Pancakes For One, Peanut Butter Banana Bomb Muffins, green monsters, Creamy PB + J Oatmeal Parfait, Energize Me Creamy Fruit Dip, Glowing Sunshine Juice, and Healthy Peanut Butter Coconut Swirl Pancakes.
Breakfast is FUN for me now…it took a long time to get here, but it was worth the fight!
Today’s question- Do you approach breakfast differently than you used to? How so? What did you used to eat for breakfast 5-10 years ago and what do you have now? Are you inspired by blogs to change up your breakfasts?
Wow! What a great post! I wrote about something simalr on my blog, my before and after breakfast and lunches. I use to think I SOOOOOOO healthy at breakfast! I would eat a bowl of cereal usually Kashi GoLean or Shredded Wheat (not Frosted Shredded Wheat). While those two things in and of themself are healthy I would douse the cereal with fake sweetener like Splenda or Equal. Yuck! I would have them with milk and banna. That was it, all the time. Now, I can’t even remember the last time I ate cereal for breakfast. I prefer oats, or Green Monsters!
I’ve never been a breakfast eater, but two years ago when I decided to hit 50 very fit, I knew I needed to eat breakfast. I still don’t eat as soon as I get up, but try to eat by 9:00 or so. I go on oatmeal kicks or egg whites w/ veggies. I can’t eat anything sweet, and smoothies don’t hold me at all, so unfortunately they’re out. I get so much inspiration from your blog and the other healthy living blogs I read. Love the pic of your spoonful today — I’m all about the perfect bite!
I have always been a breakfast lover! No matter what time I wake up, no matter what I have going on in the day, I have to start off with some sort or brekfast(like) meal. I could never be the type of person who gets up at noon and jumps right into eating lunch.
I used to eat nothing but sugary cereals when I was younger. In the last 2 years I have been a big fan of oatmeal and egg whites with veggies. Recently since joining the blogging community a few months ago, I have been hooked on GM’s and breakfast cookies.
I love love trying new things and am always inspired by the breakfast’s people eat.
I totally approach breakfast differently, that’s how I got my blog name! For some reason in the morning I am famished. Like so hungry that I feel sick if I don’t eat soon enough. I used to always have a bagel with butter and cream cheese every morning and I told everyone that if I didn’t eat that bagel that I would be hungry 20 minutes later. And it was true. But I had no idea about all the other healthier options there were to keep me feeling fuller longer. Now I eat many of the same things you do PLUS a green monster every morning.
YUM! That looks delicious.
I definitely look at breakfast differently than I did a few years ago. Before I only looked at what was convenient (granola bar, oatmeal packet to go, cereal,) and even before that, would base it on calories (slim to none.)Now I love hearty healthy breakfasts, too!
About 5 years ago I started eating breakfast… I never used to before that. I usually woke up with no hunger and figured… eat when hungry. This didn’t work! So now I always start my day with a hearty, healthy breakfast!
-Mary
Ohhh!!! Quinoa for breakfast! Yum! Reminds me a bit like Red River cereal (used to LOVE that as a kid).
I have definitely changed my breakfast habits. Previously I never even ate breakfast and would end up so hungry by lunch I’d overeat on everything for the rest of the day.
Now I make sure to have breakfast every single day. I’m mostly an oatmeal girl but since discovering all of these fantastic blogs, I’ve totally pimped it up! But I make all sorts of breakfasts and am trying my hardest to get my boyfriend into the habit of eating breakfast as he eats the same way I used to!
Breakfast is now sometimes the biggest meal of the day for me; and it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. I used to have just one bowl of cereal (Cheerios or something completely not filling like that) or some fruit with toast. While that may be enough for others, I have found that if I don’t have a pretty enormous breakfast, I just can’t make it through the morning, or end up overeating at lunch or dinner. I am SO glad I figured this out!
I loved reading your breakfast story.
Growing up I would have a Carnation Instant Breakfast shake every day. I was jittery and finally one day in the 6th grade I passed out in the middle of class. That was definitely a wake up call to me, so I started to eat oatmeal everyday and now I’m hooked :)
I used to eat the worst breakfasts. Usually a really sugary cereal (2 of 3 servings). It wasn’t filling OR healthy!
So first of all, the quinoa breakfast looks amazingly good!! YUM!!! Crumbled Glo Bars on oats is the BEST and you just reminded me that I haven’t done that in a while. Luckily, I have some frozen Glo Bars in the freezer so I may just have to do that soon :)
As for the breakfast story, I was the same way. My disordered eating convinced me that if I ate a big breakfast (i.e. normal sized for other people), then I would get fat. Logical? Not so much. I was always hungry and had no energy, like you. Then I started reading blogs and saw all the delicious breakfasts, especially Kath’s oatmeal. At first, I was astounded that she ate such a huge breakfast and was thin and fit! And then, little by little I started changing my breakfasts up and now I’m loving oat creations and fun breakfasts!!! A filling breakfast really sets the tone for the entire day. I’m so glad I came around! I can’t imagine life without oats now! And it’s all thanks to the blogging world :)
Definitely different. Though I’m a repeat breakfast offender… I go through year or two long phases of a particular breakfast. I’ll eat toast and PB every day, then suddenly want ceral like nothing else. Right now I’m very into my oatmeal, which was definitely Blog inspired.
Wow, thanks for introducing me to the yoga-downloading site, can tell this is goint o be big for me in the near future! I use the free podcasts at Yoga Journal at the moment…
Great to hear your happy breakfast story. Mine is very similar. I definitely use blogs for inspiration – I think it’s both more fun and more healthy to try new things for breakfast as often as possible and if you’re not inspired it’s a meal that’s so easy to just get into a groove and then you never leave it…- just checked out your “bomb” muffin recipe :-).
Uh, fun fact about getting sore from going back to work: I used to be a bike messenger (100+ kilometres on the bike every day five days a week) and when I suddenly stopped because I was offered a desk-job I couldn’t refuse, my, oh my! My bum, my back, everything was aching, on the first day I couldn’t even sit through the work day! Food for thought…:-)
Love your little discussion about deserving a hearty breakfast. :) I also had quinoa for breakfast..but I tried quinoa flakes for the first time. It was more like the consistency of oat bran but tasted exactly like quinoa. Obviously…being quinoa flakes and all ;) I’ve made quinoa for breakfast before cooking it in coconut milk instead and topping with fresh fruit, granola, and yogurt. Totally amazing!
I totally did the same thing all through high school and college. I would starve myself for breakfast and then eat a huge dinner because I was so hungry. It took me a while to realize that without brekafast, I was no good for the day. Now if I miss breakfast I am crabby and have severe headaches. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it sets my day off right. It is nice to hear that other people shared the same struggles that I did! :)
First of all, that bowl of quinoa looks delicious. Second, I noticed that overnight oats have replaced all my other favorite morning meals (quinoa or steel cut oats) as of late…its fun to make AND I look forward to eating it. Insane, right?
I’ve for sure struggled with disordered eating for my whole life. I’ve also struggled with severe depression that has interfered with me living my life at times. Only in recent months have I decided to take control of MY life – I decided I can only get better if I am actively working towards it. it won’t just happen overnight, which is something I think I was kind of waiting around to happen – I guess I imagined that every other healthy person in the world was always HAPPY and HEALTHY and had always been that way and didn’t have to work towards it, that it just came naturally, and perhaps one day, a genie would come into my life and POOF I would be happy and healthy and normal. I finally figured out that isn’t true, and mostly because I have been inspired by amazing bloggers who live active, healthy, successful lifestyles, I decided that I could and would incorporate healthy habits into my life and hopefully I would improve. These habits include working out and eating a balanced diet – and wouldn’t you know, I actually *am* doing better. Not every day is perfect but on the days I am active and eat right I feel better than I ever have in the past and there’s no question why. Eating breakfast is one of the many habits I have incorporated into my life successfully. For most of my life I refused breakfast – one time in elementary school I got called to the principal’s office and reprimanded for not having breakfast that day, and it definitely didn’t change. Most days, I used to have have coffee or tea and wouldn’t eat until lunch. Then I would binge on junk food all afternoon and night. One day I decided to eat a real breakfast – oatmeal, fruit – and I was SHOCKED when, not only did I feel good, but I was full until I was ready for lunch and I *didn’t* snack all afternoon. That was a quick lesson! I haven’t gone back since, and I’m thrilled about it!
We definitely all do DESERVE a healthy energizing breakfast. I used to let the previous days food/calories/exercise amount determine my breakfast allotment the next day, but breakfast is a start to a NEW day, and a way to start off each day respecting yourself…and they should almost always include PB :D
Yep, I was the same as you. I used to have 1/2 cup frozen wild bluberries or an apple, but now…food blogs have helped me so much! Now I have a good breakfast, usually involving oats, chia seeds, and nut butter! So glad we learned that we deserve a good breakfast! Thanks for sharing your story. :)
I’ve always been a breakfast person – always hungry in the morning! But back in middle school/high school, I used to eat 2-3 HUGE bowls of sugary cereal or 4-5 Eggo waffles drowned in syrup. WOW! No wonder I was always gaining weight! Once I got to college and started to lose weight, I kept my breakfasts smaller with an instant pack of oatmeal or just half a serving of custard oats (1/2 cup oats + 1 cup milk + 1 egg). I thought one serving of custard oats was just too much. That was during my disordered eating phase. Gradually I started to incorporate the whole serving into my breakfast, and now eat 400-500 calories breakfasts. I used to think smaller the better – more calories left for later in the day!
I never felt hungry first thing in the morning (probably due to eating too much/binging the night before) so I would always wait until I was hungry at work to eat. About 10:00am I would grab a power bar or some quick/portable low cal thing to eat. I would be ravenous an hour later and feel hungry and sluggish all day. I stopped and started eating first thing in the morning but I either ate shredded wheat with milk, splenda, and a sliced banana or instant oatmeal nuked in the microwave with banana and splenda. It was better than my old breakfast, but really boring. I also would be hungry an hour or two later (I think I needed a protein boost to go with all of those carbs.)
After I started reading Kath’s blog I was inspired with her oatmeal and all the toppings she put on it–but it wasn’t allow on my diet plan. So I started researching other ways of eating and how a variety of nutrient dense foods can be included everyday day and now I have my bowl of oatmeal with a variety of toppings so I never get bored. Also, it keeps me full and going for most of the morning so I don’t feel shaky or hungry an hour after breakfast.