It is often said that a healthy breakfast is the foundation of a successful day and long-term fitness. Unfortunately, there are few healthy breakfast options at most restaurants and in store-bought breakfast products.
The traditional American breakfast is highly unhealthy. Here are the usual options.
Un-Healthy Breakfast
- Fried eggs; bacon, sausage, or ham; fried potatoes; buttered toast; & coffee.
- Fried omelet with cheese; bacon, sausage, and/or ham; fried potatoes; buttered toast; & coffee.
- Pancakes, crepes, or waffles; butter; syrup; bacon or sausage; and coffee.
- Sugar-coated cereal, buttered toast, and coffee.
The above breakfast selections contain a massive amount of bad fats (saturated & trans fats), mostly from animal products. They also contain high levels of other unhealthy ingredients, such as salt and sugar. Fried foods are also bad for your health.
An unhealthy breakfast will not only damage your body in many ways, but it will also give you a limited amount of energy. If your breakfast contains a lot of sugar, you’ll get a short burst of energy followed by a dramatic drop, leaving you feeling lethargic. This is known as the “crash.”
Healthy Breakfast
Since breakfast is often considered the most important meal of the day, it should be nutritious, filling, and satisfying. It’s the most critical meal because your body is in urgent need of food in the morning since you haven’t eaten for 6-8 hours while you slept, and it establishes your body’s energy level for the day.
Intermittent fast – If you are doing intermittent fasting, then some of the information in this section does not apply.
There are several bonuses to having a healthy breakfast. It will help you to control your weight. When you skip breakfast and don’t eat until lunch or later, your body goes into survival mode, interpreting the lack of food as starvation. In this mode, your body lowers its metabolic rate, holds on to fat, and burns lean muscle for energy. This happens because when you wait until noon to have your first meal of the day, it will have been 12-14 hours since you ate last, perhaps dinner the night before. If you start your day with a healthy breakfast, your body’s metabolic rate increases, and it burns fat and the food (calories) you ate for energy — instead of your lean muscles.
Another bonus to making breakfast the most important meal of the day is that you can afford to have a hearty, delicious one, provided it’s healthy, because you have all day to burn it off.
To further help control your weight, breakfast should actually be your biggest meal of the day, and dinner should be your smallest. Eating a few healthy snacks in between is a good practice as well. I am not talking about those so-called healthy snacks created by processed food manufacturers, however. I am talking about fresh fruits (apples, oranges, grapes), vegetables (carrots, celery, broccoli), and unsalted nuts (walnuts, almonds, peanuts).
A healthy breakfast is very low or zero in bad fats (saturated & trans) and high in quality proteins, carbohydrates, and fiber. These nutrients should come primarily from vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
Since many nutrition experts consider soy a perfect protein, tofu is the main ingredient in my daily breakfast. It works well for breakfast because it has a similar texture and taste to scrambled egg whites.
Soy promotes heart health, strong bones, and cancer prevention. Soybeans contain high amounts of protein, including all essential amino acids — the only such vegetable source. Soybeans are high in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, and fiber. All this makes tofu an ideal ingredient for a healthy breakfast.
My Healthy Breakfast
- Spicy tofu scramble with egg whites, brown rice, spinach, avocado, and cherry or grape tomatoes. Seasoned with chili powder and ground red or black pepper. (Full recipe below.)
- Multi whole-grain sprouted flourless bread, toasted (unbuttered), topped with all-natural fruit spread and all-natural unsalted almond butter. 1/2 slice.
- Fresh cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, and/or blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries. 1/2 cup diced.
- Fruit juice (unsweetened) and/or vegetable juice (mixture or separate) – blueberry, pomegranate, acai berry, cranberry; and/or vegetable; or orange, grapefruit, and/or lemon/lime. 4 oz.
- Filtered water with a splash of lemon juice or homemade super water.
- Select high-potency vitamin supplements.
- No coffee. Gave it up!
Spicy Tofu Scramble – Recipe
Download recipe below.
Ingredients (1 serving)
- 5 oz. extra firm tofu block, drained and diced.
- 1/4 cup egg whites or similar.
- 1/3 cup pre-cooked whole-grain brown rice.
- 1/4 cup pre-cooked chopped spinach.
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder or other low or non-sodium (salt) seasoning.
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red or black pepper or similar seasoning.
- 1/2 diced small (Hass) avocado.
- 5-7 (based on size) cherry or grape tomatoes.
Note: Liquid seasonings are not recommended as they make the recipe watery.
Equipment
- Microwave oven.
- Medium size (deep & 6-8” wide) microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave-safe cover. (I use a plate.)
- Heat protection pads or gloves.
- Medium-sized kitchen knife.
Preparation
- Tofu usually comes in 14-16 oz. blocks packaged in a tub filled with water. Using a knife, cut an opening in the plastic covering along one side of the tub and discard the water.
- Completely remove the plastic cover. Cut the tofu block into thirds. Place one of the pieces into a medium-sized (deep & 6-8” wide) microwave-safe bowl. Put the remaining tofu into a storage container, cover it with filtered or spring water, and refrigerate. To keep the tofu fresh, change the water daily or as it is used, as I do.
- Dice the tofu block by slicing it into 3-4 strips across the top. Turn it on its side and do the same. Then slice it in the other direction across the strips so you end up with a bunch of 1/2”–1/4” cubes.
- Cover the bowl with a microwave-safe cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 minutes.
- Using heat protection pads, remove the bowl from the microwave.
- Push the cover (a plate works best) slightly to one side of the bowl to create a tiny opening. Using heat protection pads, firmly grasp the bowl and cover it, and then carefully rotate it toward the opening until the water from the tofu begins to drain. Shake up & down to encourage thorough draining. Reverse the process by creating an opening on the opposite side and then drain again.
- Add 1/4 cup of egg whites or similar, cover, and microwave on high for 1 minute.
- Slice the cooked egg and tofu in both directions, then stir to break it up.
- Add 1/3 cup of pre-cooked whole-grain brown rice.
- Add 1/4 cup of pre-cooked chopped spinach.
- Mix ingredients thoroughly.
- Cover the bowl and microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Drain in the same way described above. Little or no liquid should drain out.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon chili powder or other low or non-sodium (salt) seasoning.
- Add 1/8 teaspoon ground red or black pepper or similar seasoning.
- Mix in seasonings.
- Add 1/2 diced small avocado on top.
- Add 5-7 cherry or grape tomatoes (based on size) on top.
Details
You don’t have to measure each ingredient exactly or include every item. If there are ingredients that you like or don’t like, increase, reduce, or eliminate them. However, I encourage you not to remove ingredients simply because you’ve never eaten this particular combination of foods before. Be bold! Try it!
Draining is necessary because tofu has a high water content. There is also some water in spinach. Although it’s a bit of a hassle, draining it well makes the recipe much better by preventing it from being watery.
To expedite my healthy breakfast, I make a 5-7 day supply of brown rice and chopped spinach in advance. Doing it in the way that I will explain takes very little time and effort.
I buy 30-oz. boxes of frozen precooked whole-grain brown rice. Since I’ll be adding it to the recipe later and then microwaving it for 1 1/2 minutes, I only microwave the rice for two (2) minutes and not three (3) minutes as the instructions say. This way, I am not overcooking the rice and ruining its taste or consistency. I recommend subtracting 1 minute from the cooking time if you use a similar frozen precooked brown rice product.
I buy 16 oz. bags of frozen chopped spinach. I cook the entire bag in the microwave for 1 minute less than the instructions say, as I do with the brown rice.
Once I add the brown rice and chopped spinach to the recipe, I microwave it for 1 1/2 minutes rather than 1 minute to account for the fact that it is usually cold from refrigeration and mixed with the tofu and egg.
You can add many different ingredients depending on what you have on hand. For example, if you have some salmon, skinless chicken breast, or broccoli leftover from the previous night’s dinner, you can add these items to your tofu scramble.
You can also play with the seasonings to make the tofu scramble match your favorite flavors. One word of caution, though. It’s easy to overlook the high sodium (salt) levels in many seasonings. For example, most hot sauces are high in sodium. That’s why I use chili powder instead. It’s low in sodium and doesn’t make the recipe watery, as liquid seasonings do.
One of the nice things about tofu is that it easily absorbs whatever seasonings it’s around. Knowing this, you can experiment. For example, if you add some diced teriyaki chicken from the night before, the tofu will take on those flavors.
Preparing this healthy breakfast may seem like a lot of work, but once you get used to it, you’ll have it ready in a snap! And once you see how a healthy breakfast affects your vitality, appearance, and health, you’ll be eager to prepare it.
Recipe Download
Get a copy here: Spicy Tofu Scramble – Recipe
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A healthy breakfast has another benefit that I haven’t yet mentioned. It’s the psychological benefit. When you know you’re putting the best possible foods into your body, you are inclined to feel more powerful, intelligent, and optimistic. When you expand healthy eating to all your meals, these feelings grow.
To your health and fitness.