If you've lived in the same millennia as us, you've likely had fond memories of choosing your favorite cereal on grocery shopping day as a kid, picking up something quick from Starbucks in your older teen or college years, and maybe even skipping the most important meal of the day all together when entering the workforce and rendering yourself with not having time.
We grew up with processed and boxed breakfasts, put the low-nutrient pastries and coffee in our bellies first thing in the morning, and have woken up in a fasted state, only to be starved by lunchtime to eat everything in sight.
We are not here to tell you what you should or shouldn't eat, but we have put together our favorite basic ways to fuel up in the morning. Depending on if you're a high-functioning athlete, sedentary worker, or someone who has goals to neutralize body fat percentage, most people will need something different to feel their best.
Steel Cut Oatmeal
To some, oatmeal and its porridge-like substance would feel like the worst, most boring meal on Earth, but oats are dense in nutrients and complex carbs that take the body a longer time to break down, leaving you satiated, full for a longer time, and fueled up with healthy fiber to diversify your gut biome and lower cholesterol. Other oats are good too, but we stay away from sugary and processed packets with dehydrated apples and cinnamon. Steel cut are the least processed, but take a bit longer to cook. It's worth the wait and you can even make them the night before! Add some fruit, raw honey, superfoods and spices to liven up the flavor and nutrients and you have yourself a damn good breakfast.
Breakfast Hash
Eating protein for breakfast can be tough, especially for someone who isn't enthusiastic about some plain eggs. Making a hash with stir-fried, sizzling ground beef, crispy potatoes, some bell peppers, eggs, cheese, spinach, onions, topped with salsa or sour cream can be an amazing and quick meal full of ingredients that you possibly already have. You'll get something with vibrant flavor and color that arguably can actually be eaten at any time of day.
Yogurt, Kefir, & Skyr
Time for another option that where you can go with a cheap sugary option, or something high-protein, high-culture, and nutritious. We all had our time with Yoplait's GoGurt, but let's go with something better. If you're pressed for time, we love these gut-friendly options. A little on the more tart-side, these three options go through a fermentation process where the added culture converts sugars into acids. Kefir tends to be more runny and has a lot of probiotics. Yogurt, most of the time, Greek, is full fat milk fermented with heat and much thicker. Skyr on the other hand uses rennet, a lower fat milk, which can technically be a cheese and is full of protein. We love adding a bit of raw honey to balance out the tartness and adding fruit, granola, or chia for more mass.
Smoothies
Everyone likes their smoothie different! Some like it milky and smooth, others love it all-fruit based and thicker. Whatever your take is, smoothies are a great alternative for an on-the-go breakfast. Be careful to balance out the high sugar content with a lot of protein. Still, natural sugars are preferred over artificial sweeteners. You can add dates, banana, and/or peanut butter for a dessert-like protein kick, or simply frozen tropical fruits with a splash of coconut water. If you have the time, take out your fruit and put it in the blender with a bit of time to defrost so that it melts off a bit of juice to assist the blending, while keeping the structure and not having to add too much water, juice, or milk. We believe that smoothies are the better alternative to juicing as you get to keep more fiber. If you do juice, try not to waste those scraps and use them in ice cubes or cooking later on!