Breakfast : Protein & Fruit

By popular request ... truly! People have asked for help to eat the way we do. Wow.
... And said, Oh thank you ... and That would be wonderful ...
when I have said I will work on it soon.

The first year we were married, we had dinner every morning before work ... our big meal of the day ... like meat and vegetables, etc. And smaller meals at noon and in the evening. Very healthy. We remember now being concerned about weight, and reasoning that a big meal at the beginning of the day was better. But we didn't keep that up after the first year. I have read that there are people who do this ... but .... anyway ...

We still have protein to start our day. Two eggs**(see egg paragraph near the end of this post), cooked in about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of macadamia oil (I have found that it sticks less for me) and 1/8 teaspoon of butter for flavor. Those measurements are per serving. Pepper to taste, and salt if no blood pressure issues.
No bacon, sausage or sausage links in our breakfast.
Maybe you have one egg a day.
This plate was my mother's. She was just a bit more traditional than I am, but I appreciate the things I have that were hers.

These are the kinds of oatmeal we use. The "Holly and the Ivy" bowl was a gift from family. I love using it year round. The oatmeal is cooked with about a tablespoon of flame raisins and a tablespoon of dried cranberries per serving.

Don decorates his oatmeal with marvelous fruit and berries ... and walnuts, the nuts with omega 3.
These are some of the supplements and vitamins I take. Don takes many more, of course, because he is targeting myeloma. Any antioxidants are probably worth considering. Check the internet; discuss it with an ND (naturopathic doctor).
No time in the morning for cooking eggs? You can hard cook (not hard boil) eggs ahead of time and they will keep in the refrigerator for several days. Many cookbooks and the internet have instructions.

Low fat or non fat cottage cheese or yogurt is another possibility for protein. A cold piece of last night's left-over meat (not processed meat, of course) is another possibility.
Here are other fruit choices. Watermelon can be good for breakfast. We are finding that filling our meals and our lives with fruit leaves little room for junk.

If you eat bagels, pastries, hamburger buns, candy bars, bags of chips, think about substituting a cup of blueberries, half a grapefruit, an orange, an apple, a banana.

Nearly everything we eat either contributes to health or has some negative effect. Now that Don is eating to fight myeloma (and to be a runner!) that seems clear to me.

RUNNERS: need to eat protein and carbs within an hour after running or working out. Whole fresh fruit is great; that's why they have bananas for post-race food. It is helpful to think of fruit and bread and cereal and carb vegetables ... being the carb group. The idea of bread and cereal being a separate group may have been contrived by the food industry when they were designing the first food pyramid, around the time of the beginning of the obesity epidemic.
Note: Sugar is not a nutrient.
Running AND good eating is a lot to fit in before getting to a job in the morning: I hear you... and my best wishes are with you to keep moving toward both.

PEOPLE LIVING WITH MYELOMA: healthy eating (essentially a diabetic diet) may help in this life-and-death way of life.
As for aerobic activity, all of Don's doctor's have strongly encouraged his continuing to run: "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!"

GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE: everything we do to eat a little better, every effort to be active, every positive change really does make a difference in health. I like to think of it as a journey.

Part of the journey for us may mean finding ways to include herbs and spices in breakfast: cinnamon (moderates blood sugar) in the oatmeal, a Denver omelet or salsa with scrambled eggs (for antioxidants.) Thanks to Margaret, I will add: .. thinking about turmeric, curry spices for the eggs ... perhaps a splendid weekend breakfast of eggs and curried fruit?

** What about eggs?? My HDL (good stuff) has always been too low .. until this spring when it was actually above the desirable range (Yea!), and the LDL was fabulous. What had I been doing? Running, a little resistance training, eating lots of good fats: nuts, avocadoes, salmon, olives, olive oil ... and 2 eggs for breakfast every morning.
Also lots of fruit, melon, and berries, vegetables ... and no wheat, no gluten, no processed meat.
And, of course, the vitamins and supplements pictured above. The vitamin D3 (2,000 units) and the curcumin were probably additions since the last blood test.
Eight years and pre-Weight Watchers, I weighed 20 pounds more than I do now.
I am 5'3 1/2 and wish I weighed 15 pounds less.. which would be 123, but my blood is beautiful, and sometimes I get age group awards.

OUR RUNNING THIS WEEK: Hot humid days are a little easier for Sweet Pea and me on the indoor track, air-conditioned, but still humid. We are working on getting our miles in this week.