A startling recent statistic was recently announced that only one-third of Americans eat breakfast on a daily basis. Adults especially tend to avoid breakfast due to daily time constraints and the many obligations they must meet. However, no greater damage can be done to your lifestyle and daily responsibilities than poor health. Many studies state that there may be links between including a healthy breakfast in your diet and weight loss. The benefits of healthy eating can be seen holistically across all areas of your physicality: improved concentration, more energy, better sleep, and less stress levels to name a few.  In order to achieve your goal of staying lean you are going to need to focus on three areas of great importance within your lifestyle: what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat. Here are five tips to help you eat a quick healthy breakfast daily.

• Consume Protein Dense Foods – Our bodies have different requirements for certain foods throughout the day. In the morning the body requires certain nutrients and at night it is best to have others before we sleep. This may come as a shock to some but many food experts are saying that there is a high probability that protein intake in the morning can have a big impact on your metabolism. In other words, foods with a lot of protein (eggs, bacon, chicken, fish, etc.) can affect the hormones that regulate how much excess “weight” your body stores. “Weight” being the excess fat that we tend to store around our waist and other areas.
• Include Vegetables – Vegetables, especially the darker ones, are amazing sources of nutrition and great to have in the morning. Foods such as broccoli have more calcium than milk and help break down other foods to get the most nutritional value out of them. Many people talk about how “refreshed” they feel after eating a plate with good portions of vegetables. Vegetables are a must with almost any plate.
• Eat within 30 Minutes of Waking Up – There are multiple sources that state that eating within thirty minutes of waking is very helpful for your regulating your metabolism and helping your body to not store more energy than it needs, especially around the waist line. Eating a healthy breakfast within a good timeframe of waking can really help boost your productivity for the day and has great long term benefits.
• Create a Calendar – Create yourself a two-week calendar that offers different variations of recipes for each week. This helps you keep organized and helps you to stay on track when you need to buy certain ingredients.  It also allows you to mix up your eating routine. Sometimes eating the same thing can get mundane. Having some sort of rotational schedule can help alleviate the monotony of eating the same things. Also being that we are all busy individuals, having a meal calendar gives us structure and saves us time from having to shop aimlessly.
• Portion Control – Caloric intake is still generally recognized as a big factor in overall health. If you don’t have enough calories you will get sick and your body begins to stop functioning due to lack of fuel. If you have too many calories your body breaks down from over use and excess energy expenditure. It is important to maintain a sense of balance when you make your foods. For many people it might mean slightly decreasing the amount of food they eat. Generally, breakfast should actually be your biggest meal and then you decrease the amount of food throughout the day so you have less energy when you sleep. Before making any dramatic changes to a diet always consult a professional because every individual is unique and has unique circumstances.

Here is a quick healthy breakfast quiche recipe to help you in your pursuit to stay healthy this summer:

QUICK VEGETABLE FRITTATA

INGREDIENTS

• 1 carton (16 oz each) Egg Beaters® Original
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
• 3 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt’s® Petite Diced Tomatoes, drained well
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine Egg Beaters, salt and pepper in medium bowl; set aside. Spray 10-inch ovenproof nonstick saute pan with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add spinach and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach wilts. Stir in drained tomatoes and vinegar.
2. Pour Egg Beaters mixture evenly over spinach mixture; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until edges begin to set. Gently pull edges back while tilting pan to allow Egg Beatears to run beneath. Repeat two times. Reduce heat to medium; cover. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until top of frittata is almost set. Meanwhile, preheat broiler.
3. Uncover; place skillet under broiler. Broil 2 minutes or until top is set and lightly browned. Cut into 4 wedges.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

CALORIES: 105

TOTAL FAT: 1g

PROTEIN: 14g

PREP TIME: 15 (MINUTES)

TOTAL TIME: 30 (MINUTES)

SERVINGS: 4

This post was written on behalf of Egg Beaters. For easy breakfast recipes for a healthy breakfast including brunch recipes visit www.eggbeaters.com.