Happy Friday!
Wheeeeeeee. Man, the weeks are flying by…I just hope the summer doesn’t fly by too. :ermm: I hate when that happens, don’t you?
I whipped up a delicious batch of Vegan Overnight Oats last night before hitting the hay…
Before going into the fridge last night…
I chopped a large banana and let it marinate overnight in the mix. Mmmm.
In this batch went:
- 1/2 cup organic oats
- 1.25 cups Almond Milk
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- Very tiny pinch of sea salt
- 1/4 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Protein Powder
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 large banana, chopped or mashed
Directions: Mix dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients (milk, vanilla) and WHISK! Add chopped banana and stir. Place into fridge overnight.
It is very liquidy when you place it into the fridge, but when it comes out in the morning it is thick, thick, thick. Give it a good stir and then add your toppings!
The key topping this morning was maple peanut butter. I mixed 1 tbsp of peanut butter with 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup.
I also sprinkled some coconut on top.
Before & After comparison…from PM to AM…
You can see that the volume from the PM to AM actually appeared to decrease as the oats and chia seeds expand and soak up the almond milk. This makes it very thick!
Do Vegan Overnight Oats have to sit in the fridge all night long before they are ready (aka 8 hours)?
I have had a few readers email me and let me know that the Vegan overnight oats can be ready in as little as 30-60 minutes in the fridge! Good news if you are desperate for them in the AM or want to make them for an afternoon snack. They won’t be as thick, but they will be close enough.
Women & Breakfast
I recently came across an article in a UK newspaper called The Independent. Dr. Nerina Ramlakhan was being interviewed on her book called Tired But Wired. One of the things that Dr. Ramlakhan claims is that it is crucial to eat first thing in the morning if you want a better sleep at night.
The evolutionary-based theory is that ‘eating breakfast first thing in the morning calms and reassures the part of your brain that still thinks you’re a cave person, living day to day on slow-running game and avoiding predators.’ Dr. Ramlakhan calls this crucial period in the morning a ‘metabolic window’. This window is a timeframe in which you can give your body an important message telling it “there is an adequate supply of food, it can relax, and that it can fall into sleep mode when it needs to."
When I suffered from an eating disorder, I used to either skip breakfast or not eat for an hour or two after waking and when I did eat, it was often just 1 apple. When I was commuting into Toronto for work, I would workout, get ready for work, and then eat my breakfast running out the door (I do not recommend this!). My energy levels were always very low and I was unhappy and irritable, not surprisingly. However, when I decided to recover, one of the things I did was learn to enjoy breakfast again, just like I did as a kid. I think most of us start off as children who have a huge love for breakfast. I have lots of good memories of breakfast as a child…I would often help my parents make pancakes or eggs and toast on the weekends, or I would eat a huge bowl of my favourite cereal during the week. As a child, breakfast was a positive way to start each day.
When I started to eat breakfast again, I realized that fueling up first thing in the morning gave me so much more energy and started my day off on the right foot. Now that I have gotten into the habit of eating when I wake up, I find that I wake-up very hungry in the morning and my body seems to be in a better schedule. For so long, I consumed most of my calories after 3pm, but I feel like now I eat a large portion of my calories in the morning and at lunch and less in the evening hours. I feel better this way, even though at first I was absolutely terrified of eating a large breakfast.
As for improving my sleep, I am not sure on that one, but it sort of makes sense to me that if you don’t deprive your body, you will be a more balanced person overall.
What does breakfast look like for you- do you fuel up or skip out? How soon do you eat breakfast after waking up? Have you ever changed the way you approached your breakfast, such as by eating more or different foods?
See you for 1,000 words this afternoon- I need your help with this one! Have a great day :biggrin:
FUEL UP!!! breakfast is my favorite meal of the entire day so i’d be pretty bummed to miss out! i often eat breakfast for dinner too! :) your green monster genius creation is often my breakfast of choice! :)
I fuel up! I have a smoothie at home at around 7, then yogurt/oatmeal at the office at around 9:30. Plus some almonds and a piece of fruit. Have to be energized for the day!
FUEL up!!! I eat a ton for breakfast – usually because it’s after my workout. I get up at 4:45 to workout, have something tiny, then pound some food after!
I always eat breakfast, though I didn’t always, but am looking for new ideas. What kind of oats do you use in your overnight oats? Would it work with one-minute oats?
I use Bob’s red mill organic regular oats :)
Oh I’m such a breakfast piggie. This morning I had VOO AND a Green Monster. :D
ALWAYS eat breakfast! Usually within the first two hours I’m awake, I’m very grouchy and not very energetic if I don’t!
I always eat breakfast, its my favorite meal of the day, but the what I eat and how much has definitely changed over the past few years. When I was in my ED i would make my “breakfast” last for hours by nibbling on a fat free yoplait yogurt and a dry whole wheat english muffin or some egg whites. When I started recovery breakfast foods were always my safest and still are my favorite, but I definitely have changed the quantity and quality of what I eat. All of you wonderful bloggers have made me fall in love with oatmeal, overnight oats, and giant yogurt messes! Thanks so much for all the wonderful recipes and showing how to live a healthy, balanced life!
I MUST eat breakfast. I eat a lot in the mornings and less in the evenings too. I wake up hungry and if I work out in the morning I always have a substantial snack beforehand (i.e. toast with peanut butter and 1/2 banana).
I would be a very mean person if I didn’t get my breakfast!
I would never EVER ever even think of skipping breakfast. It’s my favorite meal of the day! Without it I would feel fatigued or lethargic during the day. I normally have breakfast right after waking up because I’m so excited for it, but lately I’ve been trying to be more mindful and really conscious of the meal itself. I vary what I eat but lately it’s been yogurt with fruit and nuts.
I love breakfast. But I’m usually tired and famished in the the morning so it can be such a hassle making breakfast! Hence I stick to yogurt messes and overnight oats. But I do dabble in the occasional pancake if I’m up to it.
Breakfast is definitely fuel for me. A good breakfast equals a good day for me :D
I think there are too many so-called experts out there trying to sell books or fuel their careers by coming up with so much advice: eat first thing, don’t eat carbs, don’t eat late, don’t mix protein and carbs, snack all day, stick to 3 meals …. How much of this is evidence based with some well-designed epidemiological studies behind them? Now I know nothing about the particular researcher cited in The Independent, nor the book, so can’t comment on whether or not we’re all still cave(wo)men craving our metabolic windows. But the inner cynic in me says, whoa – wait a minute! The basic equation is that the calories we take in need to be adequate to sustain all the thoughts, activities and basic body repair work that we do every day. There is evidence to show that people who eat breakfast tend to sustain a healthier weight than people who skip – but this is because they seem to over-compensate with too many calories later on. Some people are hungry in the mornings, some people feel queasy at the sight of food until about noon, some people like to exercise first and replenish later (those folks are usually good at using their glycemic stores) while others need to fuel up in advance of working out (those who might have more of a hypoglycemic tendency). We need to listen to our bodies and respond appropriately (something I feel Angela is very good at promoting). But if there’s a book that says cavemen liked breakfast this week, there will be one next week suggesting that cavemen felt better after an all-night feast because they knew the wolves wouldn’t be stealing their stash … Mostly, they were cold, scared, malnourished and died young, so I wouldn’t be rushing to aspire to their lifestyle!
Whoa! Very thought provoking. Listen to our bodies– so simple but so hard to do with all the outside ‘noise’ coming at us everyday. Good stuff!
Great comment and an even greater point! I’m really hungry when I first wake up but I start to feel sick for about an hour afterwards and have no appetite for food, so if I ate first thing I’d feel it wouldn’t be right to my body… Listen to your body indeed :)))
That is good new to learn they can ready in half an hour! Sometimes I want them for an evening snack but never think I can if I didn’t prepare it that morning. Cool! :D Looks yummy as always, too!
I always always always eat breakfast! During the week I usually eat something when I get to work, so about 90 minutes after I wake up. I make sure my breakfast always has lots of protein in the form of eggs, or toast with peanut butter, and if I have time, I make a green monster!! I had a delicious one this morning.
On the weekends I usually prepare a nice breakfast for myself that consits of eggs, toast, and fruit.
Breakfast (and breakfast foods) are my favorite types of eating!
I love breakfast! I think I could eat breakfast every meal of the day. For a while I was on an oatmeal kick using plain oats mixed with maple syrup, nut butter, and various berries. Pretty simple and not too fancy. Lately, I have enjoying this delicious granola recipe from greensmoothiegirl.com and her book titled, 12 Steps to Whole Foods. This recipe is so good with almond milk and some fruit. I make a big batch on Sunday, and my husband and I enjoy it throughout the week. You can watch a video of her making the granola here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1HUUEuv-QE&feature=player_embedded
She makes a huge batch of it because she has 4 kids, but I cut it in half and it works well for 2 people for most of the week. I posted the recipe on my blog on June 3 if you are interested. The vegan overnight oats look soo good, that’s next on my list!
Thanks for the link I will have to check it out!
I had a eating disorder too! I began to eat brerakfast, I mean normal breakfast, one year ago!! my story is that first when I came to US 3 years ago, I have gained 20 pounds in well 2 months I think so, it was a total shock for me so I didn’t now how to get rid of my extra weight! I began to exercise and dance for 5 hours per day, after taht I had one hour massage and all this after a long day at university, I was barely eating something, a yogurt in the morning, cottage cheese at lunch, and maybe some fruits in the evening!!! this is when I became very sick, and I couldn’t get out of my bed for almost all day, I didn’t have any energy, I was having a hard time to keep my body awake, and yes, I would lie to my mom that I am eating :( this is when she called the doctor for me, because my blood pressure became very very low, so I was diying slow,slow, slow… and the thing is that before my trip to US I had a very healthy lifestyle, my family will always cook healthy meals, and I was active, very active, I was a model, so when I saw all that extra weight on me, it became a body image problem, I didn’t leave my house for one month so nobody will see me like that! After all, my family helped me with my ED I started to eat again balanced and healthy meals, and not to exercise so much, I have lost all the weight and moved 2 years ago to New York, I still am at the healthiest weight in my life, I always eat breakfast( but I really hate Overnight oats, sorry :( ) and I am always thinking about breakfast when I go to sleep, yeah I imagine what is waiting for me in the morning!!!! :) ehh, it is a longggggg comment!
I’m glad to hear that you are in recovery!
This is
y forst post. I have been reading your blog for about a month and enjoy it very much! I found it by googling homemade almond butter,lol. I used to be just like you and would skip breakfast, but always eat now. I am having a difficult time figuring out what to eat before I run in the A.M.(I am typically an afternoon runner,suggestions?) Oh, and how do I get a picture on here?
What works for me before a run (30-60 mins before I leave) is banana with a bit of nut butter. It’s not too much but its enough for a run under 1 hour. Anything longer and I bring food.
First of all, I love that you said “when I decided to recover.” Recovery for something as deeply ingrained as an ED isn’t automatic and it takes a lot of effort, but you continually prove that it is worth accomplishing! (:
As for breakfast, not only is it the most important meal of the day, but I think it’s the best meal of the day!
My Poppa will be 80 in September and doesn’t eat perfectly, but always has a big breakfast. My grandmother started him on that because when they met he was a university student and would skip breakfast.
She always said:
Eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a pauper for supper.
I’ve always had to eat breakfast in the morning. About a half hour after I wake up, I start to get hungry. Even as a tween or teen, I’d eat breakfast before school. I think it sets me up for healthier eating during the day, but the real reason I eat it is because I’m hungry. I don’t get skipping it. You wouldn’t skip lunch or dinner, would you?
I am always really hungry in the morning so I never skip breakfast! On weekdays I usually don’t eat breakfast until I get to the office. On weekends it’s right away.