We get a lot of questions asking about what to eat for breakfast when starting a REAL food, “paleo” type diet.  Most people do well for dinner, but get a little tripped up on what to make for breakfast and sometimes lunch too.  The first thing we like to tell people is to get rid of the idea that breakfast has to look or be a certain way.

In America, we have this concept that breakfast has to look like cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, pastries, doughnuts, muffins, fruit, fruit juice, etc.  Talk about starting the day with a sugar overload!  Try to step away from this mindset and switch to one that allows you to have anything for breakfast that you would have for lunch or dinner.  We both work full-time jobs and don’t have a whole lot of time in the morning.

This video explains a quick an easy way to make breakfast and lunch the night before.  You have to do a little planning, especially if you need to pack a lunch to bring to work.  You don’t have to do exactly what we do here in this video, but it is a good template or idea especially for those that work full-time and need something easy and quick.

The idea is to cook some ground meat in a quality fat (butter, coconut oil, palm oil etc), add in herbs/spices, steam some veggies, mix together and top with avocado, olive oil and/or a handful of nuts/seeds.  Make enough at one time for multiple meals.  Store in glass containers and eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Take a container with you to work for lunch instead of eating out. Think about how you can make this work for you!

How We Eat Breakfast

Ideas:

• Ground meat and steamed veggies (add avocado, cultured veggies and/or a handful of nuts and seeds on top)
• Scrambled or fried eggs and steamed veggies
• Make an egg and veggie frittata and eat on that multiple times a week for breakfast
• Bacon and eggs with sautéed yellow squash and zucchini (add spices and herbs)
• Bacon and eggs with some berries
• Sausage and eggs OR just *sausage and veggies
• Coconut milk smoothie (berries, coconut milk, coconut oil, carrot, spinach, cucumber, ice, raw egg yolks…there are all kinds of possible items you can add here)
• Leftovers from dinner the night before (make a big dinner and eat leftovers for breakfast or lunch)
• Every once in a while make some almond flour pancakes or muffins to have for breakfast on the weekends.
• Make sure your bacon and sausage is from a QUALITY source without a bunch of added sugar, additives and preservatives. We buy sliced pork belly from the farmer’s market and add our own salt and pepper when cooking.  We also get sausage from a farmer we trust that doesn’t add a bunch of junk to it.

“What if I can’t have eggs?”

I was not able to have eggs for about a year…it can be done!  You can eat the following for breakfast:

• Ground meat and veggies
• Leftovers from dinner (example: leftover butternut squash soup with some ground meat)
• Bacon, berries and veggies
• Sausage and veggies
• Egg-free Bread topped with almond butter (from the book Gut & Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell Mc-Bride). Go HERE for recipe in previous post.

These are simple, tasty and cost effective options for you.  The important thing is to keep searching for how to make this work for you.  Find ways to make it easy and enjoyable!  When you create new habits it eventually becomes second nature.  You will begin to feel amazing and your body will thank you for it!

by Chad & Brenda Walding, DPTs