Question

INTERPRETING THE REAL LIFE STORY: Karina’s Experience

I used to always be in a hurry in the morning before class. I liked to grab a bagel with jam and coffee with lots of cream and sugar for breakfast (unless I skipped breakfast entirely). For lunch I often had plain pasta with marinara sauce, a soda, and a candy bar. I found that around 3:00 p.m. I would get hungry and have no energy. I always needed a “pick-me-up” like coffee and a muffin. At night, I was so hungry that I often raided the refrigerator and practically devoured every food in sight. When we did a nutrient analysis in class, I found that I was eating a high amount of simple carbs every day that contained a lot of sugar. My instructor suggested that eating a balanced breakfast might help curve my cravings and provide greater energy levels later in the day. So I began to get up earlier and go to the cafeteria for a sit-down breakfast. I would get a cup of oatmeal with blueberries, some skim milk, and a small amount of scrambled eggs or low-fat cottage cheese. This breakfast has complex carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and some fat. I find that when I eat this kind of breakfast, I have fewer cravings for snack foods later in the day, steadier energy levels, and I no longer raid the refrigerator at night. I also started paying attention to what I have for lunch and dinner, trying to eat more balanced meals, including fruits, vegetables, 100% whole-wheat products, and fish. Now I find that I have much more energy for my afternoon classes and lacrosse practice!

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Why is skipping breakfast not recommended? Do you usually eat breakfast within an hour or so of getting up, do you wait a long time to eat your first meal, or do you skip it entirely?

2. What advantages would eating oatmeal with blueberries as part of breakfast have over eating a bagel with jam?

3. Many people, like Karina, like to eat meals and snacks that consist mainly of carbohydrates, especially at breakfast. What protein foods are good to eat for breakfast to make it a more balanced meal? What protein foods are good to eat as a snack or when you are on the go?

Answer 1

1. Skipping breakfast is not recommended because breakfast is the first meal of the day which we eat after 7 to 8 hours of fasting (i.e. sleeping). Our body consumes energy even when we sleep for performing basal metabolism which includes cell functioning and repairment, brain activity, cardiac activity etc etc. So, to replenish our energy and to boost our metabolism we need to eat breakfast within an hour or so of getting up.

2. The advantage of eating oatmeal with blueberries as part of breakfast is that it is a balance diet that contains appropiate amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins whereas bagel with jam contains mostly carbohydrates and lack other nutrients. Because of this reason eating oatmeal with blueberries help curve cravings and provide greater energy levels later in the day.

3.Protein foods that are good to eat for breakfast to make it a more balanced meal are eggs, oats with milk, peanut butter toast, yogurt etc.

Protein foods that are good to eat as a snack or when you are on the go are peanut butter toast, roasted chickpaes, protein bars, spiced cottage cheese, almonds etc.