Weekly Meeting Topic: Breakfast!

I find it hard to believe some people don't eat breakfast. And I find it even harder to believe that some people with weight issues are guilty of this. I mean seriously, what kind of a sicko skips breakfast!? Not only is it the most important meal of the day, but it's the most delicious!

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. I look forward to it every night and sometimes days in advance if I know I'm having a special breakfast for some reason. In addition to that, breakfast has the BEST foods! Pancakes, french toast, pastries & baked goods, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, scrambles, omlettes, scones, waffles... huevos rancheros, people!!

Ok, I'll stop fantasizing about breakfast to tell you about the meeting...

The leader gave us a quote that I never heard before:

"Eat breakfast like a king
lunch like a prince and
dinner like a pauper."

I suppose the basic premise is to eat a substantial breakfast, a slightly smaller lunch and an even smaller dinner. But personally, I prefer to spread my points out pretty evenly throughout the day. I think in general though, it's a good idea to not starve yourself most of the day, saving the bulk of your points for dinner, as that can be dangerous. But we all eventually figure out what works best for us as we go along.

As for my own breakfast habits, it took me years before I realized that cereal alone just does not work for me in the morning. I learned that if I start my day off with cereal, I tend to want sugar and carbs all day. I get that 'never full' feeling that is dangerous and maddening. In fact, I went years without cereal in my house because I knew that if I opened it, I was going to consume the whole box. So it was safer not to even bring it home. However, that was back when Boo Berry, Lucky Charms, Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs, Golden Grahams, Honeycombs and other total garbage sugary breakfast cereals were all I ate. Now it is 'safe' for me to buy a box of Kashi, or 2 even, and leave them in my apartment. However, just to be extra safe, I store them high enough out of reach and in a remote cabinet so that it requires a step stool to get them :) But I never eat them for breakfast - only as a snack or 'dessert'.

(Side note: Speaking of Boo Berry and since so many of you asked about my tattoos, I have a giant tattoo of the 1973 version of Boo Berry on the outside of my left forearm. And before you mention it, yes, I know I'm completely ridiculous. But Boo Berry is my favorite cereal of all time. I got this tattoo in 2003. Civ, of the band Civ, did it for me @ Lotus Tattoo in Long Island. Click to enlarge:



You may also have noticed the Tabasco tattoo on my calf. Why, you ask? Quite simply, I love Tabasco. That's actual size by the way, 5 oz bottle...)

Back to breakfast... I have learned what works for me and these days I make sure to start off my day with protein, and now squeeze in one of my oil servings too. It used to be a scrambled egg with a tsp of olive oil. But I am phasing out eggs, so as of this morning I started a whole new breakfast ritual - 1/2 cup beans with sauteed onion and pepper on a corn tortilla with 1 tsp olive oil. This is a really nice sized, satisfying breakfast of whole, natural, filling foods for 3 points in the same amount of time it used to take me to scramble an egg. I have this with my morning coffee as I'm getting ready for work in the apartment.

Then, when I get to work, I consume about 4 glasses of water over the first hour I like to have my fruit. Lately, it's been grapefruit (I'm obsessed with them since January!). And typically an hour later I will make a packet of my other new obsession - oatmeal.

So I tend to have a pretty large breakfast (8 points), but spread out over about 4 hours.

And on weekends, I have been making some version of French Toast - like the oat bran version I recently posted (I actually created an eggless version this weekend), or a modification of the pumpkin version I posted last year (again, eggless, and with my new natural bread).

If you are unsure about your own breakfast choices, think about what you are currently consuming and ask yourself if it is satisfying you. Does it hold you until lunch time? If not, maybe you should reexamine the number of points you are allowing yourself for breakfast as well as the foods you are choosing. This is why journaling is so important- you can track different breakfasts and how they affect your hunger level, then review the different combinations and you may see a pattern of what works and what didn't. You may also see where you should juggle points (ex: you may decide to try taking 2 points off your lunch and adding them to your breakfast meal to see if it holds you better.)

In NYC, a typical breakfast on the go is probably coffee and a bagel. But 6 points is a lot for a bagel (that's 6 points for a naked and moderately sized bagel, mind you). That's a lot of points and it might not be what your body needs at that time of day. Maybe try half a bagel with cheese (protein) or something else completely.

The thing is to listen to your body, and experiment with whatever works for your lifestyle (you may need a portable breakfast like fruit and yogurt or a cereal bar) and always make sure you eat foods you love. There are so many food choices available that you should never feel like you 'have' to eat something. That goes for all meals. I am sure that by now you realize there is no such thing as a magical 'diet food'. No food on its own causes you to lose weight. It's the combination of foods, amounts of food and calories in vs. calories out that enable your body to lose weight. But I am sure we all knew that, right? :)

If you still need some breakfast ideas, the leader reminded us that the Week 1 booklet has some suggestions on pages 44-46.

And on a *bravo* note, I want to mention something amazing I did at work today- Normally, William and I go to the gym on Monday but he couldn't make it today. It was raining out so I didn't want to walk the mile. While I was sitting there, I thought "I wonder if I can walk up and down the stairs for 15 minutes straight".

Now, despite doing punk rope, and cardio, and pilates, and riding my bike for 50 miles, I *still* have trouble with stairs. I get winded typically after 3 or 4 flights. But living in NYC, we are forced to deal with stairs all the time, thanks to the subway. So this is something I would love to build my endurance for.

I put on my sneakers and workout pants and at 12:26, I began. I walked from my floor (5) to the roof (8) then down to the basement. Then I walked from the basement to the roof (8 flights) and back down to the basement. I did that 4 times, then walked from the basement back to my floor (5). When all was said and done, I had walked for *exactly* 15 minutes. I had climbed up and down 40 flights of stairs, totaling 610 stairs in each direction!

I was sweating more than I sweat at the gym. It took me a while to regain my breathing and my legs were weak. But I did it!!! And at 3:45, when William went out for coffee, I decided to do it again. The same exact process. It was definitely harder the second time but I completed it in 14 minutes and 40 seconds (roughly 3 minutes to go up - and back down - 8 flights of stairs, or 122 steps in each direction).

I told the leader about this monumental accomplishment tonight and she gave me TWO Bravo stickers. So go me!! I walked a total of 80 - EIGHTY - flights of stairs today, over 1200 stairs in each direction - for no reason. And it felt amazing! I had no idea I had that in me!!!

I'm going to do this at least twice a week at work and keep track of my time (I used the stopwatch feature on my phone). Once again, I did something I never thought possible; and totally on a whim.

I must admit, I am pretty amazing. ;)

Have a great week, everyone!