Some people do not eat breakfast. They get very hungry mid-morning, and reach for that next cup of coffee. In the early afternoon, same thing happens so they get a large latte. Meals like an aspirin should be equal throughout the day. Your body needs energy to function, and if you have dinner and the next meal is lunch, you are missing out on the necessary nutrients to be able to think clearly, and do your best at work or at home. If you have a very strenuous job such as construction or like my family back home who were fishermen, you need to eat breakfast.
What about lunch? The same applies and doesn’t it make sense that if you have an early breakfast and are off to work, that about 4 or 5 hours later, you have to eat again? What you eat matters too. Every one of us has heard of the nutritional needs from the FDA and what that Food Plate should look like.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced My Plate: in June 2011. My Plate breaks down daily nutrition needs into five categories – grains, vegetables, fruit, dairy and protein.
For some of us it seems impossible that we can get all those 5 categories of nutritional products in one meal, much less in every meal. It is possible but you have to know what a carbohydrate is and what protein is
Fat is fat, well not so fast. Some people eat peanut butter and call it protein. There is protein in peanut butter but our bodies do not recognize it as such, since we make peanut oil from peanuts, hence, it is oil. The same goes for carbohydrates, such as grains. Grains have protein, but are not used as such in our bodies.
So, with very little planning, you can achieve a balanced diet, and it is especially important to eat those three meals a day. Of course it is fine to include a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Make sure it is a balanced snack, such as a Shaklee Snack bar from the Shaklee 180 – Perfectly balanced and delicious.
Chef Jeannette