Breakfast, it does a body good!

Vegetable Omelet & Paleo Waffles

So I've already posted a ton of times about what I think is a great breakfast, but as a refresher I thought I would post again. I've had several questions lately about what to eat for breakfast: what can I eat with high protein, what can I eat if I am Zone-Paleo, or generally asked about ideas for what to eat for breakfast. Well, I have a few. The picture above is about my everyday example, but there are several others as well. 

First, if you are in a rush then I would suggest grabbing a bowl of Paleo Crunch with coconut milk. If you want to up the protein then sprinkle some whey protein on there and voila, a great, high protein, high fat, tasty as hell, breakfast that should easily hold you for a few hours, get you through a workout, or just satisfy your need to feed first thing in the am!

If you aren't in a rush then you can make a "proper" Paleo breakfast. Here's what I have about every morning (see Pic). 2 eggs - either in an omelet with some veggies or simply sunny side with a side of steamed vegetables (think spinach or broccoli), or a side salad. I also have a few Paleo waffles. They're really easy to make and round out a 4 block Zone-Paleo breakfast, if you care about such stuff. Here's the recipe, again... LOL

Whisk two eggs (preferably from free-range Omega-3 enriched chickens). Whisk in 1/3-1/2 a ripe banana (the riper the better for taste and cooking). Add almond flour to this mix. I make my own almond/nut flour by grinding up about 12-15 almonds, 2-3 pecans and a lot of cinnamon. Mix this into the egg and banana mixture. That's forms the base of your waffle batter. (Note: It can also be used as a pancake batter, although you'd probably want to add more banana or nut flour to make it a bit thicker for pancakes). To the batter you can add just about anything you like: I tend to add crushed walnuts or some dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, blueberries, etc.)  One thing to remember about the waffles, these are not regular waffles so when your waffle iron says they are done: that light blinks or the iron makes a ding indicating it's time to take the waffles off the iron, it's not time to take the Paleo waffles off. I leave mine on for about another 1-2 minutes. That way they don't stick to the iron and you won't be left without that part of your breakfast. 

The eggs, omelet or veggies & two eggs on the side, and waffles (maybe a bit of fruit if you fancy it) rounds out to about a: 4 Protein, 4-8 Fat, and 1-3 Carb blocked meal. Perfect way to start your day, if you ask me. 

So, enjoy a good hearty Paleo breakfast. I would bet that you will feel better all day long.

The Need, for Speed....

It's twice now that this has happened to me: my apparent dependence on coffee has waned while going unrestricted Paleo. Normally, I would "need" at least two, sometimes 3 cups of coffee in the morning, to get myself going. One cup while making breakfast. Another while eating breakfast. An occasional third cup if I a slow to eat or just chilling out after I ate. I am not sure if this was a personal dependence on caffeine or just the fact that I LOVE the taste of good coffee - probably some associatively conditioned combination, actually - but, you probably wouldn't want to be around me for long if I didn't have coffee with breakfast. It's be like driving without a steering wheel. 


Well, a few months ago I went unrestricted Paleo and I noticed that my cravings for coffee dropped. So, as usual, I utilized myself as an experimental subject and stopped drinking as much, just to see what would happen. Turns out: nothing bad happened. I was fine. OK, neat effect. Then I was training for a competition and again experimenting on myself so I tried to dial in my fitness by combining a Zone-Paleo eating style. First off, this was utterly annoying - I am not a big fan - at all - of weighing and measuring our foods. I certainly understand the utility of doing so, but I am far from an elite athlete so it just frustrates me (not to mention those around me) and it makes me very irritable. Very irritable!  Additionally, while weighing and measuring I redeveloped the need for my morning coffee. In fact, within just a few short days of Zoning in, I was back to a solid, unwavering 3 cups a morning. I'd also add 1-3 cups throughout the day in the form of a coffee smoothie or iced coffee with coconut milk. Sure, tasty as hell, but I did notice I was drinking a lot more coffee again. (When I was a graduate student I peaked at about 12-13 cups per day during my third year.)

Immediately after the competition & after a long conversation with my gorgeous wife Austen I decided to switch back to unrestricted Paleo. Within just 2 short days I now am again feeling as though my dependence on coffee is loosening. In fact, I drink one small cup in the morning with my breakfast (not while cooking or while sitting afterward) simply because I like the taste of it. I wonder what would happen if I tried decaf?! Oh boy, I hear another self-experiment in the works. 


At any rate, I was wondering if anyone else doing Paleo has experienced a similar effect and if they'd like to share it here.