Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast!

This post is a little late because I was busy making the Breakfast of Champions. Every Sunday I make a gigantic pot of steel-cut oatmeal, to feed me for the next week. Steel-cut oats are also called Irish Oats. They’re tough little things, totally different from the quick oats we’re used to. You can’t really eat quick oats the next day. Ick. But Irish Oats cook for a good 30 minutes and make a fabulous thick porridge that reheats beautifully. 30 seconds in the microwave, some sliced banana, voila: a perfect breakfast.

Make a big pot on Sunday so that your mornings are taken care of. Now that we’ve added training to our already busy lives, we need to find food that is both fast AND healthy. I cook 2 cups of oats in 8 cups of water and that lasts me through the week. Sometimes I add a handful of raisins, a chopped apple or two, or a whole cinnamon stick. Every morning I spool out my serving, heat it, and top with banana. Sometimes walnuts, cinnamon, more apple, things like that. Not only is this convenient and healthy, it’s filling. A big bowl of oats will keep you from grabbing a donut or fatty muffin, it will give you loads of energy for the day, and it won’t give you any fat for those hips.

Compare this: One donut has around 340 calories and enough fat to condition your hair. One big bowl of oatmeal has only 140 calories and no fat!! Donuts are fatty and calorie-dense, but not filling. Eat a donut and 30 minutes later you’ll be hungry for more junk. Oatmeal is the opposite. Filling and packed with nutrients and energy, but not fat and calories. When you’re full you don’t have to worry about giving in to junk food temptations.

Icing on the cake: When you eat foods like oatmeal you don’t have to measure or count calories. The more you eat the better because it will fill you up. I’ll be posting lots more energy foods like this. I’m not suggesting we won’t be eating our beer and French fries on Saturday nights, after our long runs. I’m suggesting that we eat less fat in general so that our training goes better and our junk food nights are that much more enjoyable!

Note: I don’t eat a big bowl of oatmeal before running. A bouncing, full stomach does not a fast runner make.

Alex