All my life I’ve heard how important breakfast is.  Don’t skip breakfast!  Most important meal of the day!  <insert sugary fortified cereal name here> is a part of this complete breakfast!  (Ever look at that “complete breakfast?”  You could probably skip the cereal altogether and still have a great breakfast.)

I’ve always eaten breakfast…or so I thought.  As a child it was the cereal, minus all the other parts of the complete breakfast.  I hardly ever even put milk in it, as I really hated mushy cereal (still do).  As an adult on workdays it was a stop at starbucks to grab a pastry and a coffee, or eat a diet protein non-food bar with my coffee.  Occasionally I’d splurge on a tiny 1-egg breakfast on a croissant.  Bingo, I’d eaten breakfast…right?

As it turns out, no.

This past week we’ve been changing our entire diet around to drop sugars and most refined carbs, and to ensure that we have a good 4oz portion of protein-packed eggs or meat.  Which means breakfast is more likely to be a free-range high-omega3 scrambled eggs and uncured sausage, or a  3-egg + veggie/cheese omelet .  To drink, I’ve really grown fond of seltzer with a small splash of orange juice.  It’s refreshing and has a slight sweetness to it that’s great, and it doesn’t have the sugar shock of a glass of undiluted juice.  As a treat it might be a sandwich of eggs pork roll  and cheese (pork roll definitely a nitrate no-no but a New Jersey staple).  For Thanksgiving I made whole grain no refined carb bread as real french toast with lots of egg, light cream, and vanilla, with a little cinnamon sugar sprinkled on the top.

I have noticed immediate and profound effects to eating a full protein-packed breakfast and adding vitamins and supplements.

• I’m more awake
• I no longer require coffee to get through the morning

• I’m not starving an hour before lunch

• I feel better
• I’ve lost 2 pounds this week, without adding exercise in.  And believe me, this week isn’t one where I should be losing weight.

Of course the other courses of the day are healthier as well.  The overall increase of protein and decrease of sugar has stopped my cravings for snacks and handfuls of candy bars.  The occasional single square of good dark chocolate is enough.  They’re not huge meals, either.  A 4oz portion of meat is about the size of your palm.  With some veggies and a half cup or so of cooked whole grains or root veggies, I’ve actually stopped wanting seconds, which was always an issue.

The moral of the story?  I realize I’ve never really eaten a good breakfast before now.  I’ve still got to figure out how to make-ahead breakfast so I can run out the door with it, or get my butt up even earlier than my current 5:30am so I can ensure I have that breakfast  before I leave for work at 6:00.  “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”, so they say (or the more modern american shortened “the proof is in the pudding”).  The new diet is definitely working out for me.

Do you have a good protein-rich breakfast every day?