Healthy Morning Habits: Nourish Yourself

The amount of time, effort and money you spend on this post’s topic is completely up to you. By planning your meals in advance and researching ingredients and recipes, you can create affordable and healthy meals that help you be at your best. In any case, eating healthier now will certainly save you money on healthcare down the line. Read my post “Why We Shouldn’t Cut Corners On Health”.

Benefits of eating well balanced breakfast: 

• Studies suggest eating a nutritious breakfast helps prevent heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and metabolic syndromes.
• Having a well balanced breakfast also makes you less likely to snack on unhealthy, high-calorie food midmorning. 
• Eating at home in the morning means you have more control over what goes into your meal, so you can put as much effort as you like into making breakfast healthy.

Top left, clockwise: Oatmeal with chia seeds and maple syrup; vegan cheese and tomato on high-protein toast; quinoa flakes, banana and chia seeds; multi-seed mix, coconut yoghurt and mango.

What makes a nourishing breakfast: Complex carbs, protein and good fats. It is also important to get enough fibre in your diet, high fibre breakfast foods are a great way to start. All of these components (macronutrients) keep you fuller for longer and help your energy levels stay solid until lunchtime. Aim for a well-balanced meal that is roughly 50% complex carbs, 30% good fats and 20% lean protein. 

Some examples of well-balanced meals can be found here, here and here.

Steering clear of processed foods and going for “whole foods” (whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes) is crucial for optimal health. Why not take care of part of your daily food and nutrient requirements — add some banana to your oatmeal, have some baby spinach with your eggs or sprinkle some chia seeds onto your toast?

Not too much sugar in morning: Junky breakfast products such as pastries and sugary spreads are an obvious no-no. Also, watch out for sneaky sugar in popular cereals that are often marketed as “healthy”. Too much sugar causes your blood glucose levels to spike which can lead to feeling tired, moody, anxious, confused, weak, hungry and craving more sugar (idiopathic postprandial syndrome or reactive hypoglycaemia).

Don’t eat what you can’t stomach: Although for many people breakfast IS the most important meal of the day, some (adult) bodies do not need to “break the fast” first thing in the morning. Some function better when they do not eat until midmorning or even lunchtime. It is all about listening to your body’s needs because it knows better than anyone what is going to make it healthy. 

If you are someone who feels better eating later in the day it can be tempting to go for processed snacks (pastries, “healthy” sugar-loaded muesli bars etc) because they are easily available at work or uni. I suggest using the time in the morning that others would spend making and eating breakfast to prepare a nutritious meal to take with you. 

Save time, prep beforehand: For people short on time in the morning, look for recipes that you can prepare or make completely the night before such as overnight oats or chia pudding.

Why We Shouldn’t Cut Corners On Health

Although the focus of MQ Student Living is about living well without spending $$$ for those on a budget, I am writing this to highlight how highly I discourage cutting corners on caring for mind and body. In fact, I highly ENCOURAGE making your health the number one thing to focus your energies on whenever and wherever possible, as much as you are able. And I say this no matter your age or current level of physical or mental wellness. 

For healthy young people health care is all about preparing for the future. It’s about working to improve your health now so that you aren't as affected by current bad habits, the negative aspects of ageing and possible future illnesses down the line. 

Setting up optimal health and good habits now could really improve your life later on. And because nothing can be enjoyed to its fullest unless we are healthy enough to be able to do so.

If you can, imagine yourself as the tree in this picture. 

Think of each leaf as a symbol of the things we want in life — success, material possessions, events and experiences, relationships. The branches are the work we put into achieving those things — study, career, efforts to socialise. The trunk is everything that makes you the person who strives for those strong branches and green leaves — your personality, your passions, who you have grown to be. 

What makes all of this possible, makes you able to get up everyday, and holds the spark of energy that drives you are the roots of the tree — your health.