At Kripalu, someone shared the notion of eating Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dinner like a Pauper. This is really backwards meal planning from what we’re used to. But, it can work! When planning seven servings of fruits and vegetables into your day (every day!), Breakfast is the ideal meal to eat green. I’ve talked “off blog” with a few of my Kripalu friends who struggle with that first meal of the day. Dr. Lisa gave us the wisdom to grab a true convenience food of almonds or walnuts on the way out the door.
I drive into work each morning. I usually do not have a lot of extra time left over in the morning to prepare a breakfast. I have been preparing organic celery and peanut butter or a few pieces of fruit. Recently, I found something that, pre-Kripalu, I would never have considered eating for breakfast but has worked out really nicely. Edamame! Restaurant prepared edamame have a HUGE amount of sodium but… I found that Trader Joe’s sells a pound of frozen (no salt) edamame for $1.69. I toss a bag of these into a pot of water a few nights a week and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, cool off, and pop them into (BPA-free) containers. Then, I grab one on the way out the door in the morning. Trader Joe’s has a really high quality bean. I’ve also tried Hannaford Supermarket’s brand but found those to be misshapen and with a lot of brown spots. The Trader Joe’s are green throughout. They even come in their own biodegradable wrappers that can be tossed out the car window (back to nature!) or kept for composting. Super easy breakfast with the following nutrition facts:
1/2 Cup
Calories 120
Total Fat 5g/Saturated Fat 1g/Trans Fat 0g
No Cholesterol
Sodium 10mg (remember that our goal per Dr. John is to stay under 1500mg/day; having a breakfast with 10 mg total really makes this a lot more attainable!)
Total Carbs 8g
Dietary Fibre 5g
Sugars 1g
I have a consult with Dr. John on Tuesday and I’m going to ask his opinion about this legume. I want to be sure it counts toward our goal of 1 cup of beans, lentils, legumes/day.
I’m off to the local Trader Joe’s tomorrow. Meeting Maureen for some face-to-face support. I have tried their edamame in the past and was quite pleasantly surprised, must put them on my list.
As a recovering sugarholic I am stunned at my lack of interest in the stuff now. Having said that, like Nan, I believe that many of my fruits are of the high glycemic type and perhaps I’m still getting my jolt of sugar.
I’m so excited about your consult on Tuesday. Good luck and ask lots of questions.