Breakfast - why bother?

Wow, what an amazing week it has been! I have been working tirelessly on the final touches to the nutrition workshop on 19th September and just have to trust myself to leave it alone now! I have to honest that when I first started to write it I was more than a little daunted. I mean how was I going to decide what to include and what to leave out? Nutrition is such a minefield and the deeper you delve the worse it gets!! However, I decided that there was only one way to go and that was to get stuck in and get on with it, so I did. Boy, have I had fun! I have loved writing it and am already planning future workshops. I made myself a promise that I would only write when I wanted to write and that made such a huge difference. This workshop is from the heart. I have covered the main areas that I know so many of you struggle with but I have made it a mission not to lecture you, to inject humour wherever possible and to show you how to make the changes. Those of you that know me know how I feel about slimming clubs, if they work for you fine, and I am pleased if you are getting the results that you want. However, there are so many of you out there that they don't work for. So many of you that spend all your money to have nothing to show for it. I was determined to make my workshop different. I have no intention of giving you miracle cures as there aren't any. I give you the information and the strategies to take you forward and look forward to hearing the success stories!

Following on the nutrition theme my thoughts on breakfast!

If I had a pound for every time somebody said to me I don't eat breakfast I would be driving a porshe !! As a lot of you know one of my biggest moans is that people skip meals and the main one they skip is breakfast. However it is not just about eating breakfast its also about choosing the right things to eat. This is the most important meal of the day, and you can stimulate the ideal metabolic rate for the day, as long as you choose your food carefully and use your common sense. Remember skipping breakfast is likely to set the scene for subsequent highs and lows in energy during the day.
A breakfast of cereal, black coffee and orange juice contains no protein and very little fibre. All of these foods encourages an increase in blood glucose levels and thus triggers insulin production. The combination of these means you will feel hungry sooner than you need to. Cereals and convenience breakfast foods have a pleasant misinterpretation about them they are sugar refined and have a relatively high GI value. If you like to eat a cereal simply chose a sugar free cereal or even better porridge, then add some fruit and protein in the form of nuts or seeds. This reduces the simple carbohydrate element and changes the cereal into one that contains protein.
Smoothies are great but if possible chose fruits with a low GI score such as plums, strawberries, blackberries and pears. Add some milk to create the right consistency, or add some tofu or seeds to the blender to increase the protein content.
Crunchy yoghurt (serves two);
300ml live natural yoghurt, 2 table spoons jumbo oats toasted (toast a job lot and store in a tub), 4 tablespoons mixed seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower and poppy),2 tablespoons soft fruits (blueberries, raspberries or blackberries). Divide all of the ingredients between two bowls, put the yoghurt in first and the soft fruits last so that they top the other ingredients. To toast oats spread them thinly on a baking tray, bake at 180/gas 4 for about 8 minutes until brown.
Red and green scramble(serves two)
1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped, 4 eggs, lightly beaten, 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, Ground pepper,2 slices rye bread toasted and thinly buttered. Heat the oil, add the tomatoes and cook for 2 mins until soft, remove from pan and set aside. Pour the eggs into the empty pan and stir gently into a scramble, fold in the tomatoes, parsley and black pepper. Serve over the toast.
Mushroom and tomato frittata(serves two)
1 tablespoon olive oil, 75g brown mushrooms sliced, 4 eggs, 2 tablespoons live natural yoghurt, Black pepper, Parsley chopped 2 medium tomatoes chopped. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mushrooms and soften over a gentle heat. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly, add the yoghurt, pepper and parsley. Mix well, and add the chopped tomatoes. Pour the mixture over the mushrooms in the pan, spread the filling evenly over the base. Cook over a gentle heat until the bottom of the mix is firm. To cook the top you can stick it under the grill for a couple of minutes (in the pan) or slide the frittata onto a plate, invert it and put it back into the pan to finish.
So there you have it—no excuses now.

No matter what you think, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. I am also a firm believer in starting as you mean to go on. If you start the day with a healthy breakfast and hopefully a little exercise (I had to get that one in there didn't I!) you are far more likely to remain healthy for the rest of the day.

The nutrition workshop really will be an amazing afternoon with the opportunity for you to fire as many questions as you like at me!!! Don't forget that one of you will also be getting a fantastic makeover by local make up artist, Helen Spenser - I only wish that I could win it!