Start your day off right with breakfast!

Stop skipping breakfast with these tips

Are you a breakfast skipper? If you answered yes, you’re not alone. In a recent survey, almost 40% of Canadians admitted they skip breakfast. So what’s the problem with skipping breakfast?

While you sleep, your body has been fasting overnight and by morning your body needs energy to get the engines going. Research shows that eating a healthy breakfast is linked to having and maintaining a healthy weight. Eating breakfast helps control appetite and improves your intake of calcium, vitamin D, potassium and fibre.

Commonly, the reason given for not eating breakfast is simply a lack of time. But, breakfast doesn’t have to be a complicated meal, just something to energize your body and prepare it for the day ahead. Here are a few tips to help you make breakfast happen:

  1. Make breakfast a priority
  2. A little pre-planning can go a long way:
    • Set out dishes and breakfast foods (non-perishable) the night before
    • In the evening, decide what to wear the next day
    • Set out anything you need to take with you in the morning
  3. Head to bed a few minutes early, so you feel rested in the morning
  4. Try preparing a breakfast-on-the-go in the evenings – there are lots of delicious recipe ideas available like Overnight Apple Pie Oatmeal or Grab ‘n Go Granola Bars – Yum!

Other quick breakfast options include hard boiled eggs, homemade muffins, leftovers, or fruit and yogurt.

And remember, if you have kids, you are their role model and set the example for breakfast eating. If you are skipping breakfast most likely your kids will too. So set a good example and resolve to use March, Nutrition Month, to focus on starting your day off well with breakfast!

Do you have a go-to breakfast food?

Karen Wismer
Public Health Nutritionist