One of my diet challenges is breakfast . . . especially on pool days. I have to start the day quite early, and I try to stay on track, but it’s hard to do that on a diet. The “grab and go” foods for breakfast are not the foods I need – you know, the high carb, low-proteins foods that are the easy ones. And they also result in a blood sugar spike followed by a mid-morning energy crash that nobody wants.
It’s hard to avoid the ultimate roller-coaster ride if I don’t keep my blood sugars in check. And from everything I’ve read, eating a high-protein breakfast helps with weight loss and controlling cravings. The problem for me is how do I do that and stay on my eating plan. People reap the most benefits when breakfast includes about 30 grams of protein. When I leave the house, I grab my pre-breakfast fruit. But then I swim. Followed by the drive home, where I feel desperately hungry, and the desire to grab fast-food breakfast is overwhelming.
When I started the plan, I tried taking a package of jerky. I tried having a baggie of nuts and raisins. I tried picking up something healthy – a hard-boiled egg or breakfast sandwich without the bread. But it’s been really challenging. I know that consuming 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning prevents a mid-morning blood sugar crash and keeps my metabolism humming. But I just can’t figure out how to fit that in my schedule.
I’m thinking I need to go back to something I always did in the summer – bring a hard-boiled egg or a baggie of Kashi cereal. I have to have foods I enjoy or I know I won’t stay on track – hence the problem with the jerky and nuts in the morning. They just weren’t appealing in the morning. So now, I just need to seriously do a better job of “night-befoe” planning!
219 days to go.