By: Michael Siegel

I am not a morning person. I calculate to the minute how much time I need to get out of bed, get ready, and get me and my children to school/work on time. Breakfast has come down to how long it takes to prepare. The quicker it takes, the more likely I will prepare and eat it. Oatmeal still remains my staple breakfast food. It takes a total of two minutes to make, and I can take it in a “to go” container in my car. However, I have started to boil eggs the night before and have added them to my choices. Granted, hard-boiled eggs do not taste as good as the oatmeal, but they take no time to prepare. It is like grabbing a piece of fruit. I probably eat hard-boiled eggs about twice a week now.

I also now keep a jar of nuts at my desk just in case I did not have time to eat one of my breakfast staples in the morning. The nuts do not fill me up as quickly, so I tend to eat more of them in the morning. Not sure if that is good or bad, but it is better than munching on high sugar snacks which I was doing before.

I also use the weekends to give me the variety that I was looking for: I make a hot high-protein breakfast or eat a whole-wheat bagel.

Overall, the advice given to me has helped. I have put a little more variety in what I eat for breakfast without having to add additional time in the morning. I do not feel that I will stop eating breakfast now that I have a little more variety.

Read more about Michael and Andrea, our Breakfast is Easy to Ignore Couple.

For those who eat to live, eating is a means to an end, like making your bed. 

For those who live to eat, cooking and eating and shopping for food is a passion. It's an event, and a hobby.

Zoe lives to eat. She's not going to follow a sparse diety-diet with recommendations like half a melon, cottage cheese and diet soda (doesn't that sound so eighties? And not in a good way).

When Zoe and I started working together, bread was her bugaboo. She felt guilty about eating it. But now, she realizes that it's not something she needs to deny herself. We gave her three rules for breakfast ("I like following rules," says Zoe), so that her focus is on what she adds, like fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. By adding "virtuous" foods, she can actually enjoy that slice of bread that used to make her feel guilty.

This month Zoe pursued her big "by-my-thirtieth-birthday" goal of baking fresh bread at home. And true to the food and cooking lover she is, when she bakes bread, she doesn't want to use a bread machine, she wants to knead. This month, she has successfully made yeast-based flatbreads, and less successfully made a whole wheat loaf in her bread machine. She realizes that her failures are stepping stones on the way to success, "Artisanal baking won't happen over night." Zoe says, "It's a lifelong skill."

She's ditched prim and un-Zoe foods like cottage cheese in favor of lean-protein Fage yogurt because, "I actually like it, I'm not just eating to be healthy." Zoe wants a healthier lifestyle that isn't boring, so by focusing on savory breakfasts that she enjoys, she founds ways to feel good about the food she eats while eating the food she likes. 

If you're a Cooking Light reader, than you're likely a "live to eat" cook too, otherwise your diet would be shakes and bars and making homemade food wouldn't have the priority in your life that it does. When you make healthy living choices, it's important to know yourself, recognize the food lover inside you, and stop denying him or her. Figure out the healthy foods you need to add to your regimen (and Cooking Light can show you delectable ways to cook them) so that you can enjoy the foods you want.

If you're a parent (or have ever had a parent), it's the old "Eat your veggies before you can have dessert," line. Same goes here. And trust me, what kid ever feels any guilt about dessert? No kid I know. Same goes for you. Just have the fruits veggies and whole grains your body needs, then enjoy those foods you want.

And in Zoe's case, the food she wants is whole grain bread. No need to feel guilty there!

Please drop me a line via our Cooking Light Facebook page if you'd like to be considered as our June Healthy Habits Coaching Client. This month, our goal Get Stronger! Add strength training to your fitness regimen at least two times per week.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Allison

As part of Zoe's healthy-breakfast coaching, she's taken snapshots of her breakfasts. And we posted them on Facebook. And you gave Zoe some tough feedback. Like:

"All of this is not as healthy as it looks. Unfortunately eating healthy it is not up to the consumer no more..."

"Avocado, bacon and eggs is a lot of fat in one meal."

"Avocado is a healthy fat. Eggs are good protein, unless you are watching your choesterol stick to just whites. Skip the bacon of course unless it is turkey nitrate free."

Whoa now, peanut gallery! The girl posted some photos of tasty, healthful food, and you decended on her with pop-nutrition negativity. "Eating healthy is not up to the consumer no more?" Really? Sounds a little nihilistic to me.

Our goals for breakfast this month were simple:

- Have lean protein

- Have a whole grain

- Have a fruit or vegetable

That was our recipe for breakfast success this month. We didn't say eat zero-fat protein, and we didn't say avoid fat. Part of our goal was to alleviate Zoe's fear that whatever she eats is wrong, and I get the feeling that she's not alone in that feeling.

Why are we descending on Zoe? Are we talking to ourselves like that too? Where's the self-love peeps? Here are a couple reasons I'm proud of Zoe this month:

1. She's emphasizing the container as much as the food. Believe me when I tell you Zoe feels bad about those mini-containers of yogurt. But she feels worse about a bacon-egg-and-cheese on a roll, so this is a compromise she was willing to make. She set herself up for success, making breakfast easy. She focused on what she was eating; maybe next month she'll focus on how she packs up her food.

2. She stopped judging her food choices. With so many conflicting messages—eat local, eat seasonal, eat organic, eat vegetarian—Zoe found that she was having a hard time eating anything without jumping to all the reasons why she shouldn't. No bueno. Zoe focused on the three goals above, and nailed them. This month we set a healthy foundation, next month she can add to it. Start with an achievable goal and stop spiraling around the "shoulds."

3. She's eating fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains for breakfast. That was the goal: 'nuff said.

4. She gives her a day off, and doesn't beat herself up about it. God gets a day of rest and so does Zoe.

5. She took her guilty pleasure and is making it from scratch. She's baking bread. Real bread. One of the things she felt guiltiest about was eating bread. Yep, it's carby. And salty. But it's also the staff of life. So many of us are suffering from post-traumatic carb disorder where just the thought of bread stresses us out.

Zoe wanted to turn that anxiety around. She got a breadmaker and made bread. But the experience wasn't what she was looking for, because Zoe is a cook. And when this cook makes bread she wants to knead, not just put ingreadients in a machine and flip the switch.

And that, my friend, is the very best part of home cooking: getting your hands dirty. Zoe is in her kitchen with a vengeance this week, making breads, flexing those triceps and welcoming back the food that makes her happy.

Happy, healthy home cooking. Congratulations for seeing this through, Zoe! Please come back next week for Zoe's savory breakfast bread recipes; I for one can't wait.

Allison

By: Dana Bacardi

After about a week of making a real effort to eat something in the morning (instead of skipping it to save calories, like I had been doing), my body has become conditioned to having breakfast every single day. I was actually surprised by how quickly I adjusted, and I’m happy to say it really has become a habit for me.

My favorite thing to eat for breakfast is a piece of whole-wheat toast with peanut butter. I usually have the ingredients out from making the kids lunch already, so I just take an extra slice out and put it in the toaster. It pops up, I spread a little peanut butter on it and eat it warm. Yum!

I usually have a glass of orange juice with the peanut-butter toast for some vitamin C, too. If I am running late, I try to at least grab a banana. I also stock up on high-fiber granola bars (even my kids like those!). I put some in the kids’ lunch boxes and take one on the road to enjoy with my coffee on the way to work. (By the way, I still love my Fat-Free French Vanilla Coffee-mate in my morning java, though I haven't tried it in the oatmeal yet. It feels so taboo!)

I haven’t just changed my habits, my entire family now enjoys the upgraded cereals we have in our cupboards, and everyone (including my husband) likes to grab a quick bowl in the morning—sometimes with a little fruit on top. We put cereal, milk, bowls, and some fruit out on the island counter for self-service breakfast. I make sure our new fruit bowl (which I always keep stocked) is in a convenient location—on the kitchen counter—so that we can all eat more fruit throughout the day, too.

Immediately after I started eating breakfast, I began to notice that I had more energy throughout the morning. When I only drink coffee in the mornings, I am really hungry by 10, which would sometimes force me to eat an early lunch. Now, I usually get hungry around 12 or 1. By eating lunch later, I don’t have to eat again until dinner, and I avoid the after school "pre-dinner dinner" that I would sometimes scarf down around 3 p.m. Also, by eating breakfast, my body feels like it's ready to roll and tackle the day’s events. I even think I’m losing a little weight by really planning and thinking about what foods I’m putting into my body.

Thank you for the great advice, Cooking Light! I don't think I'll ever intentionally skip breakfast again. My mom used to always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day—she was so right!

I really am a morning person, I promise. Windows open with the fresh air pouring in, birds casting out a cheerful tune, deer munching in the meadow… Alright, my mornings weren't like that, but I still enjoyed the mornings. Something has changed in the past year where I have started to love sleeping more and more. I love sleeping in, more than I like the mornings, and I haven’t even become a night owl! I go to bed early and wake up late, totally not conducive to productivity. I used to wake up as soon as my radio roared to life with NPR’s Morning Edition at the helm. Now it’s at least two snoozes and 10 minutes of listening to Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne on the radio. Music and annoying sounds are futile at prohibiting my extra slumber.

So where does breakfast fit in now? I want to eat breakfast and enjoy a little solace before the day, but how do I get up in time? It seems petty and ridiculous to not be able to get up in time for breakfast, but that’s my struggle for eating breakfast every day. I am sure I’m not the only one out there, you know who you are.

Right now, it's just breakfast for me. But by the end of May, it will be breakfast for two. Maybe married life will be a motivator.

What is your motivator for waking up a touch early to get your first meal in?

By: Carol "C.J." Johnson

When I was young, my parents would occasionally surprise us “out of the blue” and prepare a dinner of bacon, eggs, and toast. This always blew my mind, and I would exclaim in total dismay, “But breakfast is for morning!” 

Many years have since passed, and I have learned to love “breakfast” at any time of the day—whether it be morning, brunch, or brinner!

One of my go-to recipes is a breakfast casserole with sausage, eggs, cream of mushroom soup and/or cream of onion soup and shredded cheese on top (like Cooking Light’s Breakfast Sausage Casserole). Roll out a can of crescent roll dough into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole pan. Brown a pound of sausage (you can use less or more, depending on your preference), and drain off any grease. Sprinkle the sausage onto the dough. Beat six whole eggs, then stir in one can of cream of mushroom or cream of onion soup. Pour the egg and casserole mixture over the cooked sausage. Then top the casserole with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until set.

The great thing about this dish: It is a basic recipe, and as with so many basics, it can be adapted for your own personal tastes. Mushrooms, green and red peppers, onion, and other meats are easy additions. Or, for vegetarians, make it meatless and load it with your favorite roasted or sautéed veggies. (Just sprinkle the vegetable mix on the crescent roll and top with the egg and soup mixture.)

One thing I have learned about this recipe: It is even better if prepared the evening before and allowed to sit overnight. Just take it out and bake it while you’re getting dressed. Then you can eat the casserole each morning of the week for a delicious and fast breakfast. Yum!

You don’t have to have your picture on a box of cereal to enjoy breakfast—just make sure you start your day in a healthy way with a filling breakfast.

Zoe has a make-me-jealous grocery routine; she shops with her parents every Saturday at Reading Market, then has lunch. It's social, it's local, and it's exactly what modern day food-concious folks aim to do: support local purveyors and make grocery shopping a positive social experience.

Except for one thing: Zoe has no place to go for pantry basics like pasta, beans, granola, yogurt, cottage cheese, and her favorite -- Laughing Cow cheese. So they just fall to the side.

Bummer! A well-stocked pantry makes healthy eating a whole lot easier. And basics like yogurt and cottage cheese? These are exactly the kinds of lean protein that can make breakfast a no-brainer. One of my new favorites is Cabot low-fat Greek style yogurt, with 150 calories and 22 grams of protein per cup:

Remember Zoe's breakfast checklist: Did I have a fruit or vegetable? Whole grain? Lean protein? At least 250 calories? If so, she had a healthy breakfast. Take this yogurt, add some granola for whole grain, and a fruit or vegetable and Zoe's healthy habit is complete.

By: Kimberly Holland

I’m that person who is comically late for everything—and not in the “I overslept my alarm” way.

Take yesterday morning for example: I was up by 8, which gives me about an hour to shower, dress, and eat breakfast before I need to leave for work. I was making good time, so I picked up an apple and banana from my fruit bowl and headed out. Then, as I sit down in my car: Rrrrriiiiipppp! Where once was a seam on my pants is now a gaping hole. I have to run back in (hands firmly on my backside so as not to expose myself to the neighbors), iron new pants, and then rush back out the door, thirty minutes behind schedule. When I get to work, I’m late for a meeting, so I rush to my desk, grab my notepad, then hurry off and hope they’ll have sympathy for my split-pants problem. The meeting ends just before lunchtime, and my stomach is lurching in agony.

  This is a typical morning for me, unfortunately: Something always seems to interfere with my perfectly-timed routine. If it’s not ripped pants, it’s Christmas trees falling off a truck and hitting my car (a true story, by the way).

Despite these interruptions, I do understand the importance of breakfast, and I work hard to make sure I have ample grab-and-go foods in my fridge and pantry. That way, even if I’m late—or I split my pants before I get out of the driveway—I have no excuse.

Some of my favorite fast breakfasts include:

• Sliced homemade bread (such as Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread) with a smear of cream cheese or hazelnut butter
• Single-serve Greek yogurt with honey or fruit topping
• Fresh fruit and small packets of all-natural peanut or almond butter (much less mess and hassle than toting around a big jar)
• Individual packets of oatmeal (My favorite is Maple & Brown Sugar Oat Revolution! by Better Oats.)
• Make-ahead muffins, like our delicious Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins shown here (I usually make a batch Sunday night and eat them throughout the week.)

So who has time for breakfast? With just a little planning, I do. And you do, too! Even when you melt six inches of hair with a straightener. (Another true story.)

See more: Delicious and Healthy Muffin Recipes

Back in February, I shared with Cooking Light readers about my Achilles tendon injury and how that hindered my exercise progress. And although that was (and still is) a big challenge, May's Healthy Habit to eat a healthy breakfast is even more of a struggle.

Most days, I don't eat breakfast. It's not a calorie-saving effort; it's more of a lack of effort. I typically snooze my alarm until about 8:30 a.m., then I'm at work by 9. That 15-minute window before I have to leave my house means I sacrifice either breakfast or my messy hair, and let me tell you a secret — it's never the messy hair.

The days I'm out the door just a few minutes early, I swing by the Starbucks that's 30 seconds from my house to pick up a tall bold coffee (hold the cream and sugar, please) and a Morning Bun, a deliciously unhealthy marriage of a croissant + cinnamon roll sans icing. And lately, I've been craving donuts, as if that's any better. On my good days, I happen to have Greek yogurt in my fridge that I bring to work.

So starting tomorrow, I plan to:
1. Comb through CL's breakfast options for ideas
2. Purchase breakfast items so I don't have to resort to my Morning Bun
3. Wake up 15 minutes early so I have time to make breakfast, even if I have to run out the door after

Are there any other time-crunched cats out there? What healthy things do you make/eat for breakfast if you're on the run? 

By: Vanessa Pruett

As a mother of two girls, I've made every effort to make breakfast part of their routine since they started to school.

Unfortunately, I've faced a few battles: When she was in school, my oldest daughter refused to eat before 9:00 a.m. That’s a tough one for a mom who believes you just cannot send a child to school without breakfast. We struggled at first, but the argument just wasn’t worth it. I eventually gave in and started sending fruit, muffins, peanut butter and crackers, or anything else that she would promise to eat between classes when she did get hungry. (Who knows if that ever happened, but the arguments in the morning stopped.)

My youngest daughter opens her eyes and asks “What’s for breakfast?” While that is great and I'm thankful she's eager to eat the all-important meal, it presents another dilemma for a busy mom: What can I cook in such little time? We’ve tried everything from fruit and cereal, to yogurt with fruit and nuts stirred in (like this Blueberry and Maple-Pecan Granola Parfait shown), to hard-boiled eggs and toast. Occasionally I get up early and cook a real breakfast, but prefer to save that for the weekends when there’s more time.

My youngest graduates from high school this year. Soon the only one to prepare breakfast for will be myself. I can only hope the importance of starting the day with a good meal has been passed along to my girls.

See more: Grab-and-Go Quick Breakfast Recipes