Morning Breakfast Prep

Feeling like you're flailing on your New Year's resolutions already? If you're like many, eating better has been a resolve for you in 2017 and likely, years past. Why is it such a difficult goal to achieve long term? I have some theories. First, after weeks of over indulging and excess, cutting back actually feels good. We get instant gratification for making healthier decisions since it's been a slippery slope of sugar overload for the past month or so. The first couple weeks are easy and satisfying. The memory of feeling like crap is still fresh in your brain and you'll do anything to avoid that.

But as the weeks go on, the stress of work and life returns in full force and the discipline necessary to maintain our healthy habits begins to wane. We justify the fast food run with lack of time to prepare good fuel for ourselves. We're hungry and basically unprepared to navigate the pitfalls of packaged, processed food. And we've long forgotten how crappy we felt just two months ago. Along with our healthy habits, our memory has faded.

Research is now suggesting that it takes 66 days for a new pattern to become a new habit, not 21 days as previously recommended. That's over two months. And in our quick fix instant gratification culture, that's a hell of a long time.

The best defense you have is preparation. Prepare for the weaknesses and laps in good judgment. Prepare for the daily stresses and pitfalls of the drive thru. Build up your defenses while you're still strong. And if you slip, don't beat yourself up. Get back on track ASAP.

One of the simplest things to pre-prepare in batches is breakfast. If eating healthier is indeed on your resolution list this year, you have no excuse to skip out on a morning meal. I'm giving you a recipe for exactly that.

I was looking for an easy breakfast to whip up and something more satisfying and nutrient dense than plain oatmeal. This recipe adds healthy fats, necessary protein for satisfaction, and fiber for fullness. Make a huge batch and keep on hand to take to the office or whip up before you leave the house in the morning.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup flaxseed
• ½ cup quinoa
• ½ cup chia seeds
• 2 tbsps. cinnamon
• 1 tsps. cardamom
• dash sea salt

Directions

Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and pulse on high speed until the mixture is well ground. This is a great base, but I usually add a ½ cup protein powder for extra protein after it's all blended up well.

You can cook this mixture any way you like. Often I'll boil a ¼ to ½ cup with water or almond milk in a pot and stir until thick. Or, even easier, you can soak overnight in your milk of choice and warm up in the microwave in the morning or even eat cold.

Add some sliced banana. I always top mine with a nice swirl of almond butter and sprinkling of goji berries!

You can use honey or maple syrup as a sweetener, but try to limit the sugar content which may set you up for a crash an hour or two later.

It's also a great base for healthy protein pancakes. Use about 2 tbsps. of the mixture and add 2 tbsps. of protein powder. Mash with about ½ banana and some almond milk (about 3 tbsps.) until well mixed and then whip in an egg white. Heat some coconut oil in a non-stick pan and pour batter into single serve pancakes. You can spread some almond butter in between the pancakes and again, add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

Also, feel free to adjust spices in the mixture. During this time of year, I love to add a pumpkin pie spice that already has a nice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and other warming spices. Get creative!