The right breakfast / Day 1

Introduction

Simple steps for a balanced diet

In the next 4 weeks, you’ll improve your diet step by step. Every week, you’ll make one of your meals more balanced. The more you stick to our advice, the better.

Let’s start with breakfast.

What about the basics ?

You’re coming into this phase well-prepared – you’ll have already stocked up on healthy foods and are keeping an eye on the fat and sugar content of your ingredients. You’re also drinking plenty of water, eating 5 portions of fruit and veg a day and indulge in moderation. Small changes can make a big difference. Maybe you already feel fitter or your focus has improved?

Keep up with the basics and make them part of your daily routine.

What’s the plan for the following weeks?

We’ll look at each meal in turn.

You’ll learn how to plan your 5 meals and get plenty of tips and tricks to build into your daily routine. Let’s get started!

A balanced breakfast / Day 2

What’s a healthy breakfast?

Here’s how to put it together

This week you’ll optimise your breakfast, which is often called the most important meal of the day. If it’s put together correctly, it’ll provide you with lots of nutrients, give you energy and prepare you for the day ahead. Ideally, you shouldn’t skip it.

We’ll show you what to put on your plate!

Your breakfast plate

Your breakfast should include 3 components

Ideally, your breakfast should include 3 components: a high-protein food, a good quality, starchy food and fruit or veg. Each component should take up a third of the plate. These guidelines don’t refer to the weight, but the volume of these ingredients. What’s important is the proportions. You don’t need to weigh or calculate anything.

The proportions don’t have to be exact, but they give you an idea of how much space the 3 components should take up on the plate. 

Breakfast basics

High-protein foods

About a third of your breakfast should be high-protein foods. This includes milk and dairy products like cheese, yogurt, low-fat quark, cream cheese and cotDaye cheese, as well as turkey, chicken breast and cooked ham. Other sources of protein are eggs, fish and tofu.

Proteins keep you feeling full for longer.

High quality starchy foods

Much less complicated than it sounds

Starchy products should take up about a third of your breakfast plate. Have wholegrain products like wholewheat bread, oats and other wholegrain flakes. They have valuable fibre that keeps you feeling fuller for longer. There’re also hard to beat when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Be careful with granola, chocolate cereal and other breakfast cereals – they can be real sugar traps! Have unsweetened flakes and brighten up your muesli with fresh fruit and nuts.

Fruit and veg

Make your plate more colourful

The last third of your plate should be full of fruit or vegetables. They bring variety to your diet, are fresh and crisp and packed with vitamins and minerals. They also have a low calorie count which makes them an essential part of every meal. Try fruit in your muesli, tomato or cucumber slices on bread, fruit salad or a glass of unsweetened fruit or vegetable juice for breakfast.

As a rule of thumb, fill up a third of your plate with fruit and vegetables.

What does a healthy breakfast look like?

Examples of a healthy breakfast

It’s not hard to have a balanced breakfast.

If you like to eat a warm breakfast you could make an omelette with 2 eggs, half an onion and a pepper. Fry in half a teaspoon of rapeseed oil and serve with a slice of wholegrain bread.

Fill your omelette with vegetables of your choice!

You can also go for something sweet

How about an overnight breakfast? Prepare it the evening before and have it straight away in the morning.

Porridge is really easy to make. Soak 50 g of oats and a pinch of cinnamon in 200 ml of milk or almond milk and put it in the fridge overnight. Add a handful of berries and half a banana in the morning.

You can have as many vegetables as you like! Eat until you’re full.

Summary

Breakfast gives you the energy and nutrients you need for the day. Try not to leave it out.

Ideally, your breakfast should contain 3 components – a high-protein food, a good quality starchy food as well as vegetables or fruit. Each of these elements should take up a third of your plate. You could also have a smoothie, sandwich or muesli, it’s completely up to you.

You decide how much you want to eat. Just make sure that it stays in proportion.

Make your breakfast perfect

Use butter and margarine sparingly. If you like you can also add unsalted nuts to your breakfast. They’re packed with healthy nutrients. However, because they’re very high in energy stick to a small handful.

Walnuts and hazelnuts contain important fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins.

Don’t forget to drink

Have a drink with every meal and in between meals too

Have water and unsweetened tea or coffee with your breakfast. Milk and juice count as foods because they are high in calories.

Infused water is popular right now. Just put fruit or herbs into water and leave to infuse. This gives the water a pleasant taste.

Not hungry in the morning? / Day 3

Should you have breakfast or not?

Don’t like to eat first thing in the morning?

No problem, then your system may need some time to wake up. Time is usually tight in the mornings anyway. Prepare your breakfast and take it with you to work. That way you’ll have some time between getting up and having breakfast, which is great if you’re not a morning person. Once you’ve arrived at work then your system and digestion will be active and you’ll be fully awake.

Your breakfast box

Breakfast to go is easy to throw together

Prepare your breakfast as you would a normal breakfast – a third fruit or vegetables, a third starchy foods, and a third high-protein foods. You could have a bread roll with cheese or cream cheese and chopped pepper and an apple as a snack. Great for the office.

Overnight oats are another good way of saving time in the morning.

Savoury or sweet? / Day 4

What do you prefer?

Here are a couple of ideas

Whether you like it savoury or sweet, try these tricks to tailor your breakfast to your taste.

Prefer savoury?

No problem, the sky is the limit.

If you like it savoury in the morning then why not try a vegetable or mushroom omelette? You could also give scrambled eggs, shakshuka, sandwiches, vegetable quark or baked beans a go. Just make sure to include the 3 components in your breakfast.

Get inspired by our recipes.

Got a sweet tooth?

A balanced diet can also include sweet dishes. Instead of using sugar or honey you can also use fresh fruit like bananas, figs, berries and grated apple to sweeten dishes. People often forget that dried fruit also has a high sugar content and should be eaten in moderation. Sweet yet light breakfast ideas include fruit salad, wholegrain pancakes with fruit and smoothies. Just make sure to include the 3 components in your breakfast.

Discover our recipes for jams with less sugar.

The best choice / Day 5

Spoilt for choice

Swap rather than ban foods

There are a lot of temptations on the breakfast table. We don’t just eat because it tastes good, but because some foods have become a habit. Instead of banning them from your diet completely, swap the treats with healthier alternatives.

We’ll give you some delicious alternatives that you can enjoy guilt-free.

Latte macchiato versus cappuccino

Cappuccino wins hands down! It has 100 kcal less than latte macchiato with only 80 calories.

Salami versus cooked ham

Cooked ham is the clear winner! Cooked ham only has 180 calories per 100 g whilst salami has 300-400 kcal per 100 g, depending on the type.

Indulge guilt-free

Croissant versus wholewheat roll

Both are delicious, but the wholewheat roll has the clear advanDaye. Not only does it contain fewer calories (130 calories versus 350 calories), it also keeps you feeling fuller for longer because it’s wholegrain.

Butter versus low-fat cream cheese

You can save a lot of energy with spreads. Try replacing butter with cream cheese. This works out as 40 calories per portion instead of 75.

It’s an easy swap and it’s also very effective.

Chocolate cereal versus oats

100 g of chocolate cereal contain 30 g of sugar. That’s more than 7 cubes of sugar! Oats are naturally low in sugar.

It’s worth comparing foods! What healthy alternatives can you find?

Breakfast on the go / Day 6

No time for breakfast?

It’s all about preparation!

Always in a rush in the morning? Then prepare your meal the evening before. Overnight oats are the perfect solution. The basic recipe is always the same. Mix 50 g of oats, 100 ml of low-fat milk and 50-100 g of natural yoghurt and put everything into a sealable jar. Pop it in the fridge overnight and enjoy the next morning.

Quick and easy!

Porridge to your taste

Oats are a versatile breakfast option

You can also add some cinnamon, cocoa, a small handful of nuts or fruit (for example berries). Sweeten it with half a mashed banana. You don’t need any sugar or other sweeteners! Bear in mind that a third of your breakfast should be fruit or veg.

Use fruit to sweeten your porridge!

The right balance

Important to know

Oats, wholewheat bread and other wholegrain products contain a lot of iron. But the body has difficulty absorbing it. You can improve your body’s capacity to absorb iron by adding foods with a high vitamin C content.

Peppers, kiwis, berries and citrus fruits are particularly high in vitamin C.

Monitoring your weight / Day 7

Don’t weigh yourself every day

It makes sense to weigh yourself regularly if you’re trying to gain or lose weight. You shouldn’t weigh yourself every day, though. Once a week is more than enough and will reflect your weight more accurately. Even with a balanced diet and regular exercise, fluctuations in weight can happen, often as a result of the season. For women, it can also be linked to their cycle and hormonal changes.

Don’t weigh yourself more than once a week.

What you should bear in mind 

Weigh yourself in the morning after getting up. Always put the scale on the same surface, otherwise the result won’t be accurate. Always wear the same clothes. It’s better if you haven’t eaten or drank anything yet.

Changing your eating habits long-term has nothing to do with short-term success on the scale. Instead of concentrating on your weight it might make sense to start a food diary to track everyday changes. Maybe you feel more relaxed, happier or that your digestion has improved since changing your diet. Make notes.

Measure yourself

Measuring yourself is often more accurate than the scale

In addition to weighing yourself, measure the circumference of your waist because your body weight can also be influenced by factors that aren’t related to gaining fat.

Balanced breakfasts in the long run / Day7

Tips for the perfect breakfast

Achieving lasting success

Great! Now you know how to plan your breakfast. We’ll give you some simple tips on how to continue in the future so that you can keep your diet balanced long-term.

Keep including the 3 components plus a drink in your breakfast.

The 3-component breakfast

Include fruit or vegetables, starchy products and high-protein foods in your balanced breakfast.

Light alternatives

Rethink your habits. Is there a healthy alternative to your favourite breakfast food?

Healthy breakfast with a lasting impact

Improve your iron levels with fresh fruit and veg!

Combine iron-rich foods like wholewheat bread and oats with vitamin C-rich foods like peppers, kiwi, berries and citrus fruits.

Prepare in advance

Try not to skip breakfast. If you don’t have the time in the morning, prepare it the evening before.

A prepared breakfast saves stress in the morning.