This Annoying Hack Will Set You Up For Success Everyday
You won’t like it but you’re gonna love it.
by The Candidly Team
No matter how hefty our health goals may be, getting anywhere close to them really boils down to some tiny, incremental choices.
The tap of a thumb that sends the word “ok” to the friend who invited us to yoga. The hang-time of a bag of chips in our hands before we put it back on the shelf and buy a damn banana.
Eventually, these things become habitual enough that we stop having to force them. As much, anyway.
Which is why we love a small, doable, daily step that makes being healthy something we can do more easily but think about a lot less.
And we just heard about one such step from author and fitness inspiration Jennifer Cohen that we’re pretty intrigued by.
You may not like it, but it just might change the game.
Here’s what it is:
Eat the same breakfast every day.
Right so, does it feel like we just gave you the health advice of a 104-year-old grandmother being interviewed about her longevity secrets for a local news show?
Well, don’t worry, because we’re not about to tell you that the fate of your wellness rests in a bowl of Wheatabix. However, as Cohen put it, eating “a really clean, solid, healthy, satiating breakfast” is “a big win” that you’re “much more apt to maintain for the rest of the day going forward.”
Basically, your first decision of the day has some added weight to it, kicking things off in the right direction and keeping your choices from immediately slipping into a “downhill spiral.”
Here’s why it works:
1. It’s specific: Research on the importance of creating habits and routines around health suggest adding one or two targeted lifestyle changes at a time, because too much too fast can lead to burnout and a relapse into old, unhealthy habits. None of us needed research to tell us this, but we like to be thorough. And breakfast is a natural place to start.
2. It’s a set-up for all-day success: We know breakfast has gotten a confusing rep in the age of intermittent fasting, however, we’d venture to say that you can apply Cohen’s concept to whatever your first meal of the day may be. That said, a study from 2018 showed that “breakfast eaters consumed lower overall daily levels of added sugar and higher levels of fibre, folate, iron, vitamin C, vitamin A and calcium.”
3. It lays the groundwork for routines to form: Patterns are established when things we’ve done long enough switch to automatic. You probably have a way you brush your teeth and make your bed and all that stuff you never need to think about, not just because it’s boring, but because you figured out the way it works for you and stuck to it. There’s no reason little acts of healthfulness shouldn’t be the same.
Cohen talks about how putting her morning meal on auto-pilot means she never has to worry about it or feel compelled to bend to bad habits. And by choosing a meal that’s as satisfying as it is nutritious, her future self benefits throughout the day.
Which, of course, brings us to what the hell to even eat for breakfast. We’ll be honest. We can’t be 100% sure what Jennifer Cohen’s current breakfast consists of but back in a 2020 interview she said she started everyday with “half a grapefruit and an egg with at least 16 ounces of water.” And that is totally fine if that works for her. However, many of us tend to need a little more than that to feel “satiated” and that’s fine, too.
Appetites aside, we’re all just different in terms of taste, so here are some nutritious breakfast options we’ve sourced that might be helpful to picking yours.
And because it’s actually good to diversify the healthy foods we eat day to day in order to make sure we ingest a wider variety of nutrients, you can definitely make small tweaks to these recipes, especially in terms of fruit and veg. An omelet with different fillings is still an omelet after all. By swapping out little elements, the dish stays pretty much the same but with the wiggle room we need to make them better for us in the long run.
Breakfast Ideas To Consider:
Find your favorite way to eat an egg: Or you know? Make them like we do.
Consider a complex carbohydrate: Recent research shows that incorporating a complex carb (think whole grains, organic oats, beans, lentils, starchy vegetables, and fruit) into your breakfast can make you more alert the following day. So by eating them on a given morning, we’re literally investing in our future energy levels. Plus, many of these same foods help us to reach our extremely high daily fiber needs.
Make a smoothie packed with secret ingredients: As enormous children ourselves, we’ve long been saying that blending incredibly healthful things together is our surest way of making ourselves consume enough of them in a day. A smoothie can be gloriously brimming with all the things we constantly talk about being beneficial. Use organic ingredients as much as possible and follow this simple technique:
Start with a selection of red and purple fruits – yes, the color matters and berries and pitted cherries are an excellent choice.
Pick your favorite protein source such as a nut butter or full-fat Greek yoghurt.
Feel free to toss in a banana for potassium, which matters more than you think.
Add greens – you know the usual suspects, but be adventurous and try watercress, which sounds insane but is actually the #1 rated item on the CDC’s “Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables.” Because such a thing exists.
Pour in your favorite milk…or water if you’re hardcore.
Add flavorless nutrient-rich extras like a bit of avocado which doesn’t mess with the taste or texture or seeds like chia, hemp, or flax.
We get that limiting yourself to the same(ish) breakfast everyday can sound like a Truman Show level of tedium to some. But given that many of us skip (or seriously skimp) on breakfast anyway, eating something wholesome and energy-boosting might be a welcome and nourishing change we wind up loving. Especially when the rest of our day (lives?) go better as a result.
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used in place of professional advice, medical treatment, or professional care in any way. This article is not intended to be and should not be a substitute for professional care, advice or treatment. Please consult with your physician or healthcare provider before changing any health regimen. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease of any kind. Read our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
