It's easy to skimp on breakfast.
Grabbing that bagel on your way out the door can be tempting. But you may want to consider ditching the cereal and bagel diet in the morning, even if it takes a few minutes to prepare a high protein breakfast.
Why? Research shows that starting the day with a high protein meal can reduce mindless snacking and help regulate appetite throughout the day. A study conducted at the University of Missouri wanted to unpack how having a high protein breakfast would affect those who were overweight. They found that eating a breakfast packed with protein left the subjects feeling fuller thorughout the day and at a smaller dinner and fewer nightime snacks. On the other hand, those who started their days with a low-protein breakfast or no protein at all were more likely to snack on high calorie, low nutrient foods all day long.
Moreover, adding protein to your diet has the following benefits:
Increased TEF (thermic effect of food): Your body digests, absorbs and stores all macronutrients. With that said, the TEF of protein (the rate at which how many calories are burned to digest) are roughly double that of fats and carbs.
Increased fat-loss hormones: Eating protein at each meal leads to the release of glucagon, a hormone that helps drive fat out of your fat cells to make it available for energy.
Increased Muscle Building: When you exercise, your body breaks down the protein in your muscles. Adding extra protein to your daily intake will ensure you are repairing and rebuilding your muscles to induce a higher metabolism and improve body composition. We also understand that choosing what type of high protein breakfast to have in the morning can also be a potential road-block.
Having to decide every morning eats away at your willpower, leaving you less capable of handling important decisions later in the day. That's why we've put together this list breakfasts ideas for you. Taking the decision making out of your hands makes it easy for you to ensure that you start your days with a high protein meal. Here are our favorite 12 protein packed breakfast options that you can enjoy as well!
1. Avocado Toast With Egg
A simple, timeless breakfast option that you can always count on: avocado toast with eggs.
In this recipe, you'll take a slice of whole-grain bread (we like gluten free), top it with smashed avocado, a dash of salt and pepper, a few drop of hot sauce and finish it with a sunny-side up egg.
2. Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
Quinoa is
naturally gluten free is one of the few plant few foods that delivers a complete amino acid profile. It also packs a healthy dose of protein in each serving (8g per cup). Substituing a quinoa breakfast bowl for traditional cereal is a great alternative. Cook quinoa as directed and then sprinkle in some cinnamon and nutmeg. Top it off with some fresh berries and lightly roasted almonds or cashews and you've got yourself a delicious start to your day!
3. Rise Bar
It's understandable that you may want to stay away from most prepackaged bars on teh market. Most of them are filled with artificial ingredients and sweetnerrs that you can hardly pronunce. However, by grabbing a Rise Bar on your way out in the mornings, you can be assured that you'll be eating real food. In fact, our
high protein Almond Honey bar has only 3 ingredients. Almonds, honey and high quality whey protein. This makes the perfect "grab and go" breakfast option without sacrificing the quality of your food.
4. Protein Packed Pumpkin Cookies
Yes, your dream has come true: cookies for breakfast! In this
dairy free recipe, you'll take all the fixens of an awesome cookie; almond butter, honey, pumpkin pie spice, cinnammon, dark chocolate and pecans and whip them up into a sweet and savory breakfast treat. To bump up the protein, we suggest you add in a scoop or two of your favorite vanilla protein powder. Make a big batch of these, and you'll have breakfast ready to go for the rest of the week.
5. Breakfast burritos
Although these are labeled as breakfast burritos, they make a great protein packed meal anytime! You'll scramble up a few organic cage free eggs, mix in a 1/2 cup of black beans, throw in some pico de gallo and wrap everything up in a tortilla (we like Rudi's bakery gluten free tortillas). Make a large batch of breakfast burritos, wrap them up in foil, freeze them and you'll have a protein packed, high fiber meal on hand throughout the week.
6. Green smoothie
According to
medicinenet.com, we should be getting 9 servings of fruits and veggies per day. That sounds intimidating, even for someone like myself. You and I both know eating fruits and veggies are good for your health and can also improve our performance in the gym and help us recover quicker. But eating raw kale, steamed brocolli and cucubmer slices is just plain boring sometimes isn't it? And, don't be ashamed if you don't think that most vegetables don't taste all that good. I don't sit around and crave spinach. That's why I'm such a fan of juices and smoothies. You get a potent dose of your fruits and veggies, it's a lot more practical than chewing away at several cups of produce and it taste better. The green machine is a perfect anytime smoothie, but we like to have ours first thing in the morning because it's fast and packed with all of the macronutients (and micronutrients) we need. We think you'll enjoy it too, give it a try! You'll take 8 oz of water, 3 cups of spinach, 1/2 cup frozen grapes, 1/2 frozen medium banana, 1 strip lemon rind, 2 TBS ground flaxseed and 2 scoops of your favorite protein powder (vanilla flavor works well) and blend it all up, then enjoy.
