Mornings can be straight up hectic, but there’s no reason for you to be going through that! Often, we just accept that mornings are supposed to be like that, as though being frustrated and overwhelmed every morning is just a normal part of life. Yeah, no thank you.
Here at Over Easy, we based our entire company around the idea that eating a healthy breakfast shouldn’t have to be a hassle. Here are some simple hacks that you can institute today to have a better, healthier, more delicious morning.
Planning, Planning, Planning
The key element of having a healthier morning is planning, even if spontaneity is your thing. Nothing else that you do really matters until you can get the actual routine under control.
Start by really taking a step back so that you can evaluate your routine. Make a list of what you normally do in the morning, from the time you wake up until the time that you leave the house. Jot down notes about how you feel like it normally goes—do you feel rushed? Are you always late? Do you tend to forget important things at home and have to turn around to get them? Do you spend an extra thirty minutes scrolling through Twitter and then end up running late?
The answers to all of these questions can really help you plan a better morning routine, one that includes making time for a healthy breakfast. It all starts with how you spend your evenings. Dedicate some time the night before to setting out your clothes (so you don’t get stuck in your closet wondering what to wear), packing your bag (and your children’s backpacks), locating your keys and any important things you’ll need, and checking your schedule to take note of any important meetings or doctor’s appointments.
Planning also includes thinking about what you’ll have for breakfast. Instead of leaving breakfast up to chance or just grabbing whatever you may have lying around the house (re: sickly sweet breakfast pastries, or worse, nothing at all), try to think ahead about what would be both easiest and healthiest while still fitting into your morning schedule.
That’s part of why we created our yummy-as-hell Over Easy breakfast bars. They’re a great grab-and-go breakfast that still fulfills all the components of a healthy meal, with none of the mess and none of the sketchy ingredients.
When you’re planning your breakfast, you’re going to look for a few different, equally important factors. You want as much protein as possible to help give you energy. You’ll also want a good amount of fiber to keep you feeling more full for a longer period of time. Whole foods are also good to focus on, as they are far less processed and likely to have complex instead of simple carbs. And guess what? You get all of this in your Over Easy Breakfast Bar, plus killer flavor that will keep you going all morning long.
Why Should I Worry About Breakfast?
You might be wondering, why are we putting so much emphasis on breakfast? Is it really all that important? What difference does it make if I eat something healthy or just grab a doughnut and a latte on my way to work?
While the old saying that breakfast “is the most important meal of the day” isn’t necessarily true anymore (every meal is important in its own way, of course), starting your day off with a healthy, filling breakfast is still the best way to get yourself off on the right foot. Plus, think of all the time money you’ll be saving when you skip the Starbucks run every day!
Eating breakfast every day is going to change the way you approach your day. Here are just a few of what we think are the most beneficial.
Breakfast Can Improve Your Mood
Have you ever walked into work and just felt your bad mood hanging over your head like a black cloud? No matter what you do, you just can’t shake the feeling that you rolled out on the wrong side of the bed. It starts to impact your job performance, your relationships with your friends and loved ones, and even the way that you feel about yourself. Bad moods can be hard to shake once they’ve taken hold, but breakfast can help you start your day out right.
Instead of digging yourself out of the hole that bad mood threw you into, choosing to start your day with a healthy breakfast can help you stop that downer before it even starts. When you eat first thing in the morning, you “break the fast” that you started the night before. It raises your blood sugar, which can make you feel less irritable and less likely to snap at your coworker who just doesn’t. Stop. Talking.
Breakfast Can Help With Concentration And Memory
When you skip breakfast, it’s much harder to focus on what you need to do. Whether it’s the huge presentation you have to give, or helping your kid get through their online classes, a lack of concentration and memory can really screw with your day. That’s another way that breakfast can help improve your day, as long as you choose the right foods to help.
For instance, filling yourself with sugar and simple carbohydrates can do the opposite of what you want. You may gain a quick boost of energy when you first eat them, which can help you focus and concentrate for a bit, but the inevitable sugar crash will make you feel worse than if you didn’t eat anything at all.
When you eat a healthy breakfast full of complex carbohydrates, protein, and fiber, you’ll not only fill yourself up but also give you the right type of energy. Other types of breakfast foods will weigh you down, make you feel sluggish, and keep you from paying attention to anything other than a rumbling stomach or digestive issues. Why risk it?
Breakfast Can Help Reduce The Risk Of Certain Diseases
In addition to the mood and memory benefits of eating breakfast on a regular basis, there are also a variety of long-term health benefits associated with it. Oh, have we peaked your interest?
Research that shows that people who make breakfast a part of their daily routine are also much less likely to suffer from obesity. Ironically, many people choose to skip breakfast in an attempt to cut calories and lose weight.
Although you do miss out on calories when you skip breakfast, studies have shown that people who do this actually consume more calories throughout the rest of the day, essentially setting yourself up to fail before you’ve even begun. Eating breakfast, especially a filling, healthy breakfast, will help you resist the frequent temptations that most people experience during the day. When you’re hungry, anything will do. Sugary snacks like candy bars, calorie-laden sodas, chips, and more, especially when readily available, are nearly impossible to say no to.
But with a healthy breakfast under your belt, it’s way easier to pretend you didn’t see the donuts that your boss brought in and to walk right by the vending machine. You’ll be able to resist temptation and stick to the plan you’ve set out for yourself.
Eating breakfast can also decrease your risk of developing heart disease by lowering the body’s cholesterol levels. This is especially true for people who eat a breakfast full of soluble fiber, which is associated with reduced heart disease risk all on its own. When you eat soluble fiber, it creates a type of “gel” like substance that can help prevent saturated fats and cholesterol from being able to enter the bloodstream. That way, they aren’t able to build up inside the arteries in the form of plaque. Yeah, fiber does more than just keep you….uh, regular.
Think About The Rest Of Your Day, Too
Just changing up your day so that you have a healthier morning doesn’t mean that the rest of your day will automatically be smooth sailing. Just like you need to plan your mornings, you should also plan what you’ll eat for the rest of the day. Sounds boring, but we promise that it doesn’t have to be.
Snacks are one of the most important parts of the rest of your day. Instead of just suffering through that mid-day slump where your sugar starts to crash and your mood really begins to drop, powering through with the help of a healthy snack can make all the difference.
Over Easy breakfast bars are great for that, too! Our protein filled bars help to fill you up with healthy, whole foods so that you don’t spend your afternoons paying attention to your growling stomach. When you don’t have to concentrate on how your body feels, your mind will be clearer and more focused so that you can get things done. The best part? You’re getting delicious flavors like warm apple and spicy cinnamon, satisfyingly rich peanut butter, and real banana all in one easy package.
Snack time isn’t just for kindergarteners, guys! It’s an essential part of being able to maintain a day without sugar crashes and mood swings. Pack a few snacks the night before so that you’re prepared when hunger and cravings strike. It’s the best way to really set yourself up for success (and to avoid your hangry personality—we know you know what we’re talking about).
In Conclusion…
Healthy mornings are just a few simple hacks away. When you focus on eating a healthy, filling breakfast, plan your morning out, and practice a little patience (it’s hard, we know), you can turn your entire morning around. Grabbing an Over Easy breakfast bar as you’re heading out the door has the potential to change a stressful part of your day to something that feels easy as pie (or breakfast bars, as the case may be).
Sources:
https://www.livestrong.com/article/400836-how-is-breakfast-important-for-memory-concentration/