Eveyday Essential #3: Start Your Day With A Healthy Breakfast For Your Family and Children

Okay, let's get off on the right foot everyday with our essential uplifting affirmations and the right fuel for our bodies to function at the highest possible level.

Eating a healthy breakfast will give your family and children the best chance for optimum balance in their bodies and balanced eating through the day. Studies have shown that skipping breakfast leads to slower reaction times, more prone to accidents and being more likely to struggle with weight. School age children that skip breakfast have greater chance of increased hyperactivity, irritability, anxiety, disruptive classroom behavior, tardiness and decreased ability to concentrate and solve problems.

The benefits of eating a healthy breakfast are decreased chances of fatigue and sleepiness in the mid-morning hours. It also helps to banish the blues, improve concentration, increase alertness and to function more efficiently. Also calories that are eaten earlier in the day are more effectively utilized.

So what is a healthy breakfast? Well you want to make sure that you are fueling your body in the morning but that you are also fueling it with the right types of food. What you don't want to do is fuel your body with foods that are going to leave you feeling more sluggish, bloated, irritable, etc. Those foods to avoid are the ones that are mainly simple carbohydrates. That is danishes, pastries, many sugar-laden cereals, and baked goods made mostly of white flour and sugar. Simple carbohydrates will send your blood sugar soaring, triggering an over release of insulin, the hormone that carries glucose into storage. This surplus of insulin results in too much glucose being taken out of the blood. Thus, sending blood sugars crashing making you feel lethargic, unable to concentrate and possibly sick to your stomach.

Here are some suggestions for healthy breakfasts foods that won't send you crashing an hour later.

• Low fat yogurt (I suggest Cascade Fresh-not sweetened with high fructose corn syrup! Stay away from that!) Add some low sugar granola or wheat germ and some fresh berries.
• Whole wheat English muffin topped with a poached egg, cheese and tomato slices
• Whole wheat toast topped with peanut butter, banana slices and raisins
• Cooked oats with dried fruit, nuts and seeds (I like to sweeten mine by cooking with a banana or adding a little agave nectar)
• Breakfast smoothie made with plain low fat yogurt, frozen or fresh berries, bananas, flax seeds and/or hemp seeds, and a few tablespoons of coconut oil.
• Or simply some fruit and nuts or seeds.

When you are buying cereals and breads read the labels! A lot of so called whole grain, healthy cereals or breads will be sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, 3+ different sugars or artificial sweetners. So try and pick cereals and breads that are very low in sugar. Stay tuned for more posts on the things you see on labels to avoid, like high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners!

I hope that this has helped you to look at breakfast in a new light! Be blessed and have a wonderful start to a wonderful day!

-Barbara

My Journey To Healthy Family and Children

My journey to healthy eating and living actually began before I ever had a family of my own. As a child I struggled with food addictions and weight issues that continued into to my adult life. I was walking in intimidation, fear, worry and doubt. Consequently, I used food as a way of comfort and escape and thus had continual weight issues. Through this struggle I obviously became very frustrated with the unhealthy way of eating and living that I was stuck in. It wasn't until 1996 when I went to massage school, that I started to become educated about the human body and ways to become healthy. Though I didn't make choices for healthy eating and living then, it exposed me to alternative ways of thinking about my health. From then I began to read and research about health and nutrition. Step by step I made better choices along the way to have a healthy life.



In 1997, after graduating from massage school, I began my 10 year career as a massage therapist. In order to encourage my clients to take care of themselves I needed to take care of myself physically, mentally and spiritually. I needed to exercise regularly, eat nutritiously, fellowship and build relationships with others, spend intimate time daily with the Lord and speak words that bring life. Although my journey to a healthy way of eating and living is still a work in progress I continue to press on through the good times and times of struggle.



I have been married now for 9 years and have two children ages 41/2 and 2. Many of you may understand how much effort it takes to have a healthy family and children. It is not an easy task and will always be a continual work in progress. I feel that there is always room for improvement in our lives. Though I am not an expert, I hope with my life experience and background to share with you some information that may begin to change your life. I believe that our purpose is to encourage and edify others. If you have life experiences that would be encouraging and edifying to a healthy life I would love to hear from you!



-Barbara

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out all fear.." 1John 4:18