Nutritionists have emphasized the importance of breakfast for years and yet so many people who want to improve their health and well-being still have meals full of empty calories, or worse yet, skip breakfast. One of the best things I got out of reading about the “Zone” Diet system was that it helped me put together a few breakfasts that are just right for me in terms of my activity level.

These power breakfasts are all quick and easy to make. They’re nutritious and give me plenty of energy for my day, and because they have a good balance of carbs and protein, I don’t get hungry an hour or two after eating. You can easily adjust amounts and make substitutions based on your own personal tastes too as they’re very flexible recipes.

1. Banana Berry Protein Shake

1/2 a banana

1/2 cup frozen mixed berries.

1 scoop vanilla flavoured whey protein powder

1/2 teaspoon ground flax seed

1 teaspoon flax seed oil

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

Blend together all of the above ingredients together and serve. Skim milk can be used instead of soy milk, but be aware that it has a lot more sugar in it. I like to use a Magic Bullet to make these shakes so there’s less clean-up.

2. Cereal with Hemp Seed Hearts

3/4 cup Kashi Go Lean Cereal

1/2 cup skim milk

2 tablespoons hemp seed hearts

Cereal does not usually make a great breakfast because there isn’t usually enough protein in them for a balanced meal. This cereal “recipe”, with high protein Kashi Go Lean combined with hemp hearts, takes care of this issue. Hemp hearts are also really nice blended into yogurt or sprinkled on salads if you want to add protein to it. I buy them at Costco ($14 for a 675g bag).

3. Cottage Cheese & Fruit

1 cup cottage cheese

1 orange, cut into pieces

1/2 teaspoon ground flax seed

Stir all ingredients into a bowl and serve.

On the weekends, I’ll eat more elaborate breakfasts with eggs, ham, hash browns etc, but I like to have quick and easy meals that are healthy during the week so I don’t have to think to much about it and I can move on with my day. I usually drink a cup of green tea with my weekday breakfasts and have coffee on the weekends.

Do you have any other healthy breakfast recipe suggestions? I’m always interested to hear other ideas, so please share them in the comments. 🙂