Not another overly sweet protein bar?!!
Last week I mentioned that aiming for 30g of protein at breakfast stabilises your blood sugar and fuels your brain for the morning. I've often been asked: "But what does 30g actually look like on my plate?"
Fair enough. Let's make it practical.
Here's the problem with most of our weekday breakfasts. A bowl of cereal with milk gives you roughly 8g of protein. Toast with butter, maybe 5g. A fruit smoothie, unless you've added something to it, about 3g. So by mid-morning your blood sugar has spiked and crashed, and you're reaching for biscuits in the staff kitchen wondering why you can't concentrate.
Now here's what 30g looks like, and some of these might already be in your kitchen:
The quick options: Three eggs, any style: about 18-20g. Add a slice of wholemeal (sourdough preferably!) toast and you're close. Two eggs scrambled with some smoked mackerel: roughly 30g and done.
The Nigerian breakfast: A generous serving of moin moin gets you to about 34g of protein on its own. If ogi is your thing, it's low in protein by itself, so pair it with moin moin or stir in some ground nuts or soya milk rather than having it alone.
The easy assemblies: Greek yoghurt (the thick, plain kind, not the sweetened pots) with a handful of nuts and seeds: about 25-30g depending on how generous you are. Overnight oats or a chia pudding made with protein powder or a big spoonful of nut butter stirred through. A tin of baked beans on toast with a fried egg on top: unglamorous, effective, about 28g.
Last night's dinner: Nobody said breakfast has to look like breakfast. A small portion of last night's chicken stew or fish with some quinoa or brown rice reheated in the morning will get you to 30g without a second thought. It's already cooked, it's already seasoned, and your family will stop looking at you strangely after the first week.
The cheat: If you're genuinely in a rush, two boiled eggs (prepped the night before) and a handful of almonds will give you about 20g. It's not 30, but it's a long way from the cereal crash.
You don't need to weigh anything or track anything, at least to start. Just look at your plate and ask yourself: where's the protein? If the answer is "there isn't much," add an egg, a scoop of beans or lentils, a handful of nuts. You'll feel the difference by 10am.
Try it for a week and tell me what you notice.
