Today's Sermon: Why Breakfast is Soooo Good for You!

What happens to our bodies when we skip breakfast?
If you skip breakfast you're making it harder for your body to lose weight, and your energy levels will tend to be lower. Why?

By the time breakfast is due, your body has not received any food for about 8 hours (a third of your day). Compare this with your "day" hours, when you have 3 (if not more) meals.

It is amazing how, if you are used to skipping breakfast, you condition yourself to feel "ok", but a close examination of your "fasting" mood would reveal that your levels of energy are low. What happens is that your body is rested at the end of a good sleep, but you still need the energy after you wake up.

Your body does not stop just because you go to sleep. It goes on breathing, digesting, pumping up blood everywhere in your body, and moving (amongst many other physiological processes).

It constantly needs fuel (ie food), and even if you're not hungry early in the morning, your body will still need the extra energy contained in a breakfast meal. It makes sense, doesn't it?

But breakfast is more than an energy source. Breakfast is good for you because it:

* provides glucose to your brain, making you mentally efficient and alert.
* reduces your cholesterol levels
* gives you vital nutrients and vitamins;
* makes you slimmer, by jump-starting your metabolism (how quickly your body burns energy), which is slow after relative inactivity at night.
* makes you "Mr or Ms Happy". An energized and balanced meal may alter your mode and make you feel better during the day.

What to have for breakfast?
The opposite of skipping breakfast is having the wrong things for breakfast (and possibly too much of it too!).

Every meal is capable of giving you energy. The question is "how long will that energy last for?". This is important to know because that will determine whether you still feel "charged up" till lunch time, or whether you're starving by 10 AM.

Avoid things like chocolate chip muffins and other high sugar meals. The energy levels are high (and they taste delicious, I know!) but short-lived, and the residual makes you bigger and heavier. So, these foods are a no-no.

Fresh fruits and cereals, are a healthier choice, but you have to be mindful of the sugar contained in cereals. Some of them can have enough sugar a whole family in one single serving!

But what if you're not "a breakfast person?"
There is no such a thing as a "breakfast person".

If you need to do something for your health, you do it, and you can condition yourself to make having breakfast part of your life and take pleasure on it.

Here are a couple of tips that can help you in your transition to having breakfast:
* Know "why" breakfast is important.
* Buy fruits and cereal
* Check out the delicious low fat breakfast recipes and try some
* plan your meals. Planning ahead to have interesting and tasty meals for breakfast will help you enjoy it;
*If you don't have the time to prepare, you may choose a good low fat fast food outlet and be good and have a low-fat-low-sugar-meal.
But whatever you do... do have breakfast!

... it's good for you! ;-)

Crunchy French Toast
Nutritional Information
Serves 4
Fat: 1g
Cal: 194
WW: 3 Points

Ingredients:
4 cups of cornflakes cereal
2 egg whites
2 Tbs of orange juice
2 Tbs of skim milk
4 slices of whole grain bread

Coat a nonstick pan with cannola based spray oil, and preheat the pan.
Crunch the cornflakes in a bag to form fine crumbs, and place them on a large bowl.
Combine the egg whites, orange juice and milk in another bowl, beating it with a fork till it mixes well. Soak the bread slices into the egg white mixture, and then dredge each slice in the cereal crumbs to coat both sides. Place the bread slices on the pan till both sides are golden.

Low Fat Frittata with Peppers and Potatoes
Nutritional Information:
Serves 4
Fat: 5 g
Cal: 187
WW: 3 Points

Ingredients:
3 tsps olive oil
2 cups diced peppers (green, yellow and red, if you feel colorful!)
1/2 cup potatoes, diced
2 cups fat-free egg substitute, or 6 egg whites
1 Tbsp minced fresh oregano (you can use dried oregano if you don't have fresh oregano)
1/4 tsp salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsps grated Parmesan cheese

Place the grill rack 5 inches away from heat area, and preheat. Place a large nonstick skillet with a heatproof handle over medium heat for about 30 seconds, add the oil, and heat for about 30 more seconds. Add the peppers, potatoes and 1 cup of hot water. Then cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently and adding another 1/2 cup of water as needed, till the veggies are tender and the liquid is evaporated. Next, transfer to a bowl, set aside and keep warm. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the egg substitute (or egg whites), oregano, salt and pepper, and whisk till the mix goes frothy. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel, and spray the whole inside bottom with cannola oil, and place over medium heat for about 30 seconds. Then, pour the egg whites into the skillet, covering the bottom of the pan. Arrange the pepper mixture evenly over the egg whites, and reduce the heat to low for about 12 minutes. Grill the frittata for 1 1/2 minutes. Slide the frittata onto a large plate and sprinkle with the cheese. Cut this delicious low fat frittata into 4 equal portions and serve warm.
If you want to go for extra flavor, you can top this frittata with fat free tomato herb sauce. And if you want to be "extra naughty" withing the limits of your daily fat intake, you could also fry bacon bits separately, and add them to the main recipe.


Low Fat Gingerbread Muffins
Nutritional Information
Serves 12
Fat: 1.3 g
Cal: 93
WW: 1.5 Points

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups of whole-grain flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
2 tsps crushed ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup of skim milk (1% fat)
6 Tbsp apple sauce
1/4 cup molasses
3 Tbsps maple syrup
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 egg
Pre-heat your oven to 350 F. Then get a muffin baking tray with 12 cups. Spray the inside of the cup-holes with canola oil. Sift the flour, dry milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cloves into a large bowl. Next, mix the milk, crushed ginger, apple sauce, maple syrup, molasses, oil and egg into a small bowl. Now combine the milk mix with the flour mix well (till all dry ingredients go moistened, but not over-mixing). Spoon the batter into the muffin cup-holes in the baking tray, and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove your low fat gingerbread muffins and let them cool down.
These muffins also have 18.2 g of carbs, and 1.7 g of dietary fiber... and no cholesterol. And if you're after low sodium muffins, each of these treats contains only 70 mg. And if you want to be extra low in fat and calories, you can substitute half the butter with an equal amount of unsweetened apple sauce, or use prune butter.

Enjoy your Breakfast!