USGBCNF Blog Green Tip of the Week: Morning Story

Smart tweaks turn ordinary breakfasts into nutrient-packed meals.If you regularly scramble eggs or blend a smoothie for breakfast, you can congratulate yourself for starting your day off right. Eating breakfast can help you lose weight, control blood-sugar levels, and sustain energy for workouts. But even when your usual choice is generally healthy, it still may be missing key nutrients that runners need to perform their best. With the help of experts, we turned these reader-runners' go-to breakfasts into peak-performance fuel.The Fast Food EaterBusy working mom JoAnn Flett of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, has eaten a prerun toaster waffle with half a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of peanut butter most mornings for the past decade. The waffle delivers quick carbs to fuel her runs-and takes less than five minutes to prepare. But according to Kristine Clark, Ph.D., R.D., director of sports nutrition at Penn State University, Flett's breakfast lacks calcium, iron, and antioxidants like vitamins A and C-all needed for good health and to continue running strong.Makeover: Flett could boost her intake of quality carbs by swapping the traditional waffle for one made with whole grains. Topping it with berries and fat-free yogurt adds calcium and antioxidants while shaving calories and fat. Or she could ditch the waffle and have a hard-boiled egg (made ahead of time), a piece of fruit like an apple, and a single-serving container of fat-free Greek yogurt. The high-carb combo is just as quick to assemble but contains fewer calories with more protein to keep her full, says Clark.View the full article with tips for many other types of from Runner's World here:Source: Runnersworld.com (Thanks Kim Jowers for passing this along)