Different morning routines and different activity levels affect individual breakfast needs. According to top dieticians these are the best breakfast foods for each lifestyle …

Are your mornings active, busy or sleepy? See which of these personality profiles describes you, then discover which foods are best to get your day started. You can’t get a good start on your day without a healthy breakfast, but your ideal brekkie may differ from your friend’s ultimate morning meal. Different activity levels—even different morning routines—affect individual needs.

The Busy Multi-Tasker – Your mornings are all about juggling the needs of kids, car-pool, work prep, and getting out the door with your sanity intact. Go-go-go morning rushers should make protein, fruit, and fiber their mantra.

The Slow Starter – You find it difficult to wake up alert and refreshed, and your mornings (and desk job) are more sedentary than you’d like. For a sedentary lifestyle, just the essential carbs are needed: a little fruit and one serving of grains to go along with protein-rich food.

The Morning Athlete – You’re raring to get out the door at the crack of dawn for a heart-pumping workout. You may not feel much like eating before you head out but if you’re training hard you definitely need to gulp down some pre-workout carbs.

Once you’ve determined your breakfast personality, it’s time to plan meals that will give you the energy you need to be your best. Not sure which meal plans are right for you? Find out your breakfast personality first.
 

Breakfast foods for a Busy Multi-Tasker

Go-go-go morning rushers should make “protein, fruit and fibre” their mantra.

Make hard-boiled eggs on the weekend and stash them in the fridge for busy weekday mornings; eat one with a handful of baby carrots.

Not keen on eggs? Try cottage cheese with berries, an apple with almond butter, or a low-sugar granola bar (look for a 100-150-calorie bar with less than 6 grams of sugar), a mid-morning snack will also complement.

Or try one of these portable brekkies during your commute:

Breakfast 1:
• 50-75 grams of reduced fat cheese such as cheddar, or two skim-milk mozzarella cheese strings
• An apple or pear
• One slice of whole grain toast
• Tea or coffee

Breakfast 2:
• Fruit
• Tea or coffee with steamed low-fat dairy or soy milk, or a glass of milk

Breakfast foods if you’re a Slow Starter

“For a sedentary lifestyle, just the essential carbs are needed: a little fruit and one serving of grains to go along with a protein-rich food,” . Protein will help maintain your muscles. Avoid extraneous fat, refined sugar and extra calories to minimize weight gain.

If you have time to cook, treat yourself to a vegetarian omelet made with one whole egg plus two egg whites, plenty of fresh, diced veggies such as onions, mushrooms, green pepper, spinach, served with whole-grain toast and fresh tomato slices.

Or try packing this option:

Breakfast :
• 3/4 to 1 cup of cottage cheese/ Bean Curd with one or two percent milk fat
• 1/2 to 1 cup sliced fruit
• 1 slice whole grain toast with 1 Tbsp natural nut butter (peanut, almond, sesame, or cashew)
• Coffee or tea

Breakfast foods for the Morning Athlete

You may not feel much like eating before you head out for a vigorous early-morning workout, but should you force down some food to help maintain your stamina?

That depends on your activity level. If you’re training hard five or more mornings per week—especially in preparation for a marathon or triathlon—you definitely need to gulp down some pre-workout carbs.

Easy-to-digest choices include chocolate milk, regular milk, yogurt, banana, or even a sports drink. If this is hard, a bedtime snack with low-glycemic carbs, like oatmeal and milk, is almost as good.

If you workout moderately, three or four mornings per week, feel free to exercise on an empty stomach. If you find your workout running out of steam, however, you would benefit from some fruit, milk or yogurt—even a coffee with at least 1/2 a cup of steamed milk (soy or dairy).

Post-workout, eat any of the breakfast options in this article. After a particularly vigorous workout, restore depleted glycogen with extra carbs on top of the menus above—drizzle yogurt with honey or maple syrup and toss in a handful of berries, or eat some extra toast with nut butter and an apple or banana slices.

Extracts from besthealthmag.ca

Compiled by Keshiya Leitch