How to be a Breakfast Ninja!!!

I advise all my patients to eat breakfast.  

Eating breakfast is the universal rule if you want to be vibrant and healthy for years to come. 

Nobody thinks they have time, however, in the time it takes to make toast you can make a breakfast with enough protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and sustained energy to carry you into the afternoon.  Below are four power breakfasts that can be prepared in 5 Minutes or less!! Commit, focus and you can do it!

(As a general rule clean and prep fruits and veggie for rapid use prior to 

refrigerating.  Most fruit and veg do best stored in airtight containers with paper towel

inserted to absorb any excess water.)  

Veggie scramble,  sprouted grain toast with flax seed oil:

1) Leafy greens* chopped and in pan over medium heat, 

2) Pop the toast in toaster; scramble eggs in bowl, 

3) In that wee bit of time  the greens are done; eggs go into pan, 

4) While eggs cook, toast is topped with a healthy oil.  

    If you prefer a wrap, warm a sprouted grain tortilla** while eggs cook

    and put your healthy oil or avocado on the scramble before wrapping. 

EACH OF THESE STEPS TAKE ABOUT ONE MINUTE!! 

* leafy greens cook fast; leftover cooked veggies will heat quickly; if using 

   fresh veg, cut small, throw in a little water and cover to steam  

**breakfast ninjas heat tortillas directly on the burner - Whoo-yah!

 Oatmeal with nuts and fruit:

1) Boil water while you get dressed.

2) Instant Organic Oatmeal* in bowl, throw in a handful of nuts, and raisins

    The nuts increase the protein, raisins are high in iron or banana high in potassium

    or berries are full of antioxidants. Take your pick. 

3) Pour boiled water into bowl - let it set for a minute. 

4) Add butter.  Yes BUTTER!  It is a healthy fat when you don’t fry with it. Healthy fats

make foods more satisfying and are a slow burning fuel that does not need insulin to 

metabolize. 

Note:  If you seriously are jamed for time, Starbucks can supply you with an oatmeal breakfast. 

*Conventional instant oatmeals include artificial flavors and chemicals easily avoid by

using an organic brand; also to increase fiber, protein and omega’s add a tablespoon of flaxseed meal.

Yogurt & fruit with high fiber cereal

1) High fiber cereal, such as, Kashi Original* in bowl.

2) Yogurt** in bowl. 

3) Add desired fruit

4) Sweeten with alcohol free vanilla, or a bit of maple syrup/agave.

* Kashi Original has 14 grams fiber in one  serving; Fiber One is good as well.*

**Check protein levels they vary greatly. Fage 2%, a greek yogurt, has 20 grams of protein in a one cup, and has enough fat to give you a satisfied feeling. Also plain yogurt allows you to control added sugar.

Blended Smoothies - 75% Veggies

If you think you do not have the time to eat breakfast--drink it!!  

A 3-horse-power blender will blend any vegetable to a smooth consistency in one minute.*  

1) Grab bag of prepped veggie from the refrigerator**; put in blender 

2) Cut corn from cob; trim skin of of limes/lemons; but most veg goes in whole.

     All fiber, enzymes, minerals, vitamins and phyto-chemicals are intact.

3) Add protein source: Fage yogurt, protein powder, “So Delicious Almond Plus”

4) Add healthy fat:  Coconut Oil, Flax Seed Oil, Olive Oil or Avocado***

5) Add any “boosts”: like Goji Berries, or Bee Pollen

6) Include the avocado pit to add 9 grams of fiber 

*An effective and more reasonably priced commercial blender is the Waring Commercial Blenders.  At 3.5 horsepower these bad boys get the job and can be found for about $250 online, on sale.  Check out the full array of blenders at www.everythingkitchen.com. 

**Ninja-like speed depends on prep and strategy.  Divvy up veggies into 4-5 bags in advance.  In the morning you grab a bag and blend!

*** Add the avocado pit to your smoothie to gain 9 grams of fiber and a mild peppery

flavor that you may not even notice. 

Look for my upcoming post on how to make certain your smoothies are healthy enough to fight disease butand still yummy!

Final note:  Do not get stuck in a rut! All these approaches have variations and

you can rotate through the approaches to keep breakfast from becoming a drudge. 

5 Life Changes for Greater Health

Less Salt, More Vinegar

Less Rushing, More Breathing

Less Worry, More Action

Less Doubt, More Trust

Less Fear, More Love

Each step makes the next one easier.

Don't feel you must do them all at once. 

What is a Healthy Breakfast

Scramble eggs with a whatever veggies you have on hand, add salsa or some cheese; wrap in a tortilla for robust breakfast.

The Chinese Medicine adage:  "Eat breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Merchant and dinner like a Pauper", is rooted in the TCM theory of how Qi, life-force, circulates though the organ systems. 

Similar to the Western concept of biorhythms, Qi is considered at high-tide in the digestive system in the morning, and at low-tide for the digestive system in the evening. Therefore breakfast should be the biggest meal and as the day wears on the amount of food taken in should decline in volume.  This is opposite of how Americans think of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is regularly skipped or pacified with a muffin.  Even the American ideal of a bowl of fruit, croissant, and glass of juice break down to: sugar, sugar, and sugar.  Fiber and protein slow the transference of sugar into the blood and should definitely be included at breakfast time. Trade the croissant for a fiber-full bread and the juice for eggs and then you you have a breakfast fit for a KING.

Breakfast like a King 

This means a full complement of nutrition in the morning: protein, fiber, minerals, vitamins all in a warm meal. Obviously a King would eat their meal in a comfortable setting.  If this sounds impractical or not worth the effort consider this:  in his book,

Timeless Mind Ageless Body

Deepak Chopra reviews a study of people who lived to 100, undertaken to identify life-habits or attitudes common in this population.   Interestingly, a particular diet consistent with reaching 100 years was not found; however it was found that all the centenarians identified themselves as regular breakfast eaters. 

When you eat a Breakfast like a King, you take in 40-50% of the nutrition you will need for the day in a tight caloric package. However fast your crazy-busy day becomes you can function with sustained speed and clarity well into the afternoon if needed.  This is a clear competitive edge! 

The coffee and muffin crowd will drop into an energetic gutter within hours.  Then they overtax their adrenals by making them fill the energy gap left by improper diet.    Even if it takes Ninja-like skill to insert breakfast into your morning routine, it is well worth it.

Lunch like a Merchant

This acknowledges that this meal will be a simple, functional, and likely hemmed in by work.  Most people eat fairly well at lunch, the bigger problem is eating while stressed.   If you must eat at your desk take this time to turn your attention to your food and your breath.   Put brackets around that fifteen minutes of eating and use it as a break; do not multi-task.  Take a few deep breaths and relax your shoulders and jaw.  Look at that photo on your desk and remember a fun time with a loved one.  Trust that relaxing for fifteen minutes will make you more productive when you resume working.

Dinner like a Pauper 

This means at day’s end you're tired and eat whatever is available (remember junk food did not exist in Ancient China).  If you don’t have the energy to prepare a full meal, why assume your body has the energy to digest one. As the day winds down, eat a small, light meal or throw the meal away entirely.   If you want a muffin as a meal, or lose your wits and want to call popcorn dinner, this is the time to do that. 

Wiring Your Brain For Happiness

Recently science has proven that what you think actually creates the physical shape of your brain. Scientist now know that as a the brain fires off a neural sequence repeatedly over time, the brain cells involved wire together so the sequence can run more efficently.  The upside is this process of hard wiring in the brain helps the brain conduct routine business more efficiently, however the down side is that most people are not actively choosing how their brain, their life, is getting wired to operate. 

An example of an active use of this principle would be an athlete, or a piano player, who enhances his performance by visualizing the sequence he needs to perform.  The necessary brain wiring, or neural sequence, becomes stronger by thinking though the performance because the same neural pathways used to visualize it are used to perform it.

Given that the same thing happens with ALL your thoughts and feelings actively making choices about what you focus on starts to make a lot of sense.  If you are constantly stressed and overwhelmed your brain becomes wired to be very good at being stressed and overwhelmed.  It will then trigger the stress sequence in your body at the first thought of trouble, real or imagined.  

If you began thinking negative critical thoughts about yourself in puberty (and who didn't!) every day those thoughts have run through your mind unchallenged they have become more entrenched and more real.  Ever notice how that Critical Voice in your head speaks with absolute authority, those negative thoughts are deeply reinfored.  

Thousands of years ago the Sages of India knew this was how humans operated and their teachings are full of references to  “mental grooves”,  “patterned thinking” and "conditioned exsistance".  Liberation from this mindless, repeating of sequenced thoughts, behaviors, and/or actions is what meditation is meant to do. 

Beyond the science that supports the existance of "mental grooves", there is a  study out of China  that now shows the oldest brain exercise, meditation, remains the best for maintaining a positive outlook, off-setting stress, and keeping your brain “young” . 

Meditation not only can bring a person to a state of calm, it promotes a more positive outlook.  As time is spent in a calm, positive, state this is what becomes wired into the brain.  Each time you meditate your ability to mindfully, willfully, shake-off life's stresses and return to a state of ease grows stronger.

If you would like to give it a try, check out the free audio down loads of mediations at UCLA’s Mindfulness Research Center.   I recommend you start with the 5 minute Breathing Meditation or the 3 minute Loving Kindness Meditation.  

If sitting quietly watching your own breath sounds like science-fiction consider acupuncture treatment or yoga as a starting point.  If those options are not realistic, please read my post on practicing Gratitude and use that to get yourself moving in a positive direction. 

Or simple set the intention that you want a calm, more positive mind, and know that every mindful breath you take while holding that thought is a step in that direction. 

Acupuncture Proven Effective

Creating a study to properly measure the effectiveness of acupuncture has proven difficult because the gold standard, the double-blind random controlled study, was designed to test pharmaceuticals against a placebo/sugar pill.

There simply is no good way to "fake" an acupuncture treatment.  And even if sham acupuncture could be devised it would be impossible for the person administering the treatment to be "blind" to the knowledge of whether they were giving real acupuncture or sham acupuncture.

However, the tide is turning and different ways of approaching the need to scientifically prove the effectiveness of acupuncture are being found.  In a Georgetown University study, neuropeptide y (NPY) a protein associated with stress, was measured before and after acupuncture treatment.  Findings concluded an immediate and long lasting reduction in the protein measured.

The study is significant because once duplicated, acupuncture will be "scientifically" proven as a treatment for stress.  Since stress is a recognized precursor for so many more serious ailments there is hope that this scientific finding will open the door for a wider acceptance and use of this valuable therapy.

In the meantime, the US Military after performing it's own vigorous studies has recognized publicly the value of acupuncture and  introduced the therapy into both Veteran's Hospitals and combat settings.

Chinese Herbs versus Supplements

The medicinal herbs used in Chinese medicine are categorized as supplements by the Food and Drug Administration, and their production and distribution is overseen by this agency. Herbs are in this category because they, like supplements, are considered safe when taken as directed; so both are equally safe.

About ten years ago, “Bah Humbug!!” lost steam as an argument against alternative traditional medicine when statistics showed that people were spending billions of dollars for this kind of care. Now, Western medicine has begun to admit that there are things they don’t treat well, such as chronic pain, chronic diseases and disease prevention.

For some M.D.'s pharmaceutical grade supplements became the way to address these areas of shortcoming, however, the docs and others who recommend supplements still use a western approach. They still treat symptoms, not the root cause, and they still use a 'one size fits all' approach.  The result is people often take fists-full of expensive supplements with mediocre results.

A custom herbal formula is a customized supplement designed to treat both the symptoms and the root. It is designed specifically for the individual, and because of this, people should expect to feel an improvement within a week. One formula to treat your personal laundry list of issues.

Chinese herbs are safe, effective and have no side-effects.

Western doctors who warn against Chinese herbs do so because they do not understand how a medical system based on sticks 'n twigs, and roots 'n berries can work so well without side effects.