As a trainer and fitness professional, many ask what my meals consist of. My number one meal of the day is definitely breakfast. I know, I know...there is so much information out there focusing on different diets, like fasting or keto and unfortunately a lot of them are also fads and there's also so much misinformation.
I prefer to think of my body as a vehicle and what does it need to move? Fuel! It stands to reason that you would fill your tank with gas before heading out on a long journey and our bodies are no different. We have gotten used to skipping meals and eating later and later during the day, reversing how we should actually be consuming our calories. If you load up with healthy calories in the morning and actually use them during the day, not only are you not storing fat, but you will have energy throughout the day and avoid that slump in the afternoon. Building and keeping muscle mass is my number one goal and I have found this meal to be the best for me in this regard
My favorite for years now, since I own a Vitamix, is a smoothie packed with raw fruits and vegetables. The Vitamix emulsifies everything so even strawberry or carrot tops go in. It is not a juicer so I can get every bit of the fiber too which is so important
This is not a low calorie meal and set me up for the day ahead. I add flax seed, raw steel cut oats, chia, protein power at times or plain Greek yogurt. I often add peanut butter too. There is nothing better, I feel, than getting these multiple servings of vegetables and fruit at the start of the day.
When we are out at sea, I use frozen fruits and spinach when I can not always get fresh.
There is nothing wrong with using frozen foods, in fact they are often more fresh than the supermarket's produce isle because they are flash frozen right from picking.
You can add anything you like into your smoothie to suit your taste. I love using, spinach, yellow squash, zucchini and carrots as a base. I call it "stealth health" because you cannot taste these at all.
Today's shake:
Yellow squash
zucchini
Spinach
Strawberry
Blueberry
Blackberry
Apple
Plain Greek yogurt
Steel cut oats
Chia seeds
Ground flaxseed
Water
When we skip breakfast, the message our body gets is that it needs to conserve rather than burn our incoming calories. So go ahead and raise a nutrition filled glass to the most important meal of the day!
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