Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and sometimes it just doesn’t fit into our schedule the way it should. How we begin the day definitely determines how the rest of the day goes: it is the foundation for whether we feel energized or experiencing a sense of dragging around lacking in energy. Does this sound familiar?
So, if you are a “skip breakfast and/or grab the coffee mug and go” morning person, then this blog is totally for you.
We all need and desire energy – not hyper, bouncing off the walls type energy, but a sense of vitality and well-being as we go through the day. Sometimes it is so easy to want to grab a quick bowl of cereal or we may even forget breakfast and muddle through the the morning on 1-2 cups of coffee for energy. Have you ever skipped breakfast and thought to yourself “I’ll make it up at lunch?” We all have at some point.
Listen, I don’t want you to simply survive through the day; I want you to thrive…in your physical body, mind, spirit, and emotions and this requires optimal intake of nutrient-dense foods. I also don’t want you to go on the “crash and crave” roller coaster for the entire day. If you begin your morning with coffee or other caffeinated beverage or sugar, you will crash, and you will either be too tired to make it through your responsibilities or you will be reaching for another cup of coffee to get through a few more hours. Trust me, I’ve been there! Read my article Coffee & Adrenal Fatigue to find what happened to me once upon a time and you’ll understand why even as a former coffee addict, I am so hard on coffee.
Smoothies are a quick alternative to a timely and nutritious breakfast that can help energize throughout the entire day. When you toss in some greens, a little fruit, a superfood such as raw cacao, maca, or camu powder along with a healthy liquid such as coconut milk or coconut water, you are bound to feel energetic and ready to take on the day. Starting the day with a complete and balanced smoothie as a meal will provide you with necessary antioxidants which help protect the body from free radicals (a/k/a nasty little devils that attribute to disease, accelerated wrinkling & aging). Smoothies are also low-glycemic which means they help to curb sugar cravings all day long – preventing crashing in the afternoon. Check out My Smooth-Move Morning Smoothie blog post for my favorite morning smoothie for spring/summer.
Try one of my favorite smoothie recipes from my 7-Day Smoothie Challenge:
Mood Stabilizer:
Mood Stabilizer:1 cup almond, coconut, or rice milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
1 teaspoon maca powder 1 tablespoon almond butter
1 handful of spinach 1 tablespoon raw, organic honey or stevia to taste (optional)
I also like to add warming spices in the winter such as cinnamon or cloves in addition to raw cacao powder
**Use a scoop of protein powder of your choice
What is your favorite “go-to” smoothie recipe?
