If you had breakfast at 8 a.m. but by 10 or 11 you are already looking for something sweet, another coffee or a snack, the problem may not be a lack of discipline.
The problem may simply be how your breakfast is built.
We notice this very often when talking and working with people. They tell us, “But I eat breakfast every day.” When we look more closely at that breakfast, it is often coffee and a pastry, bread with a spread, sweet cereal, juice or something quickly eaten on the go.
So, we have eaten something. We have consumed calories. But that does not necessarily mean we have given the body what it needs for that meal to nourish us well over the next several hours.
And that is where the big difference lies.
01
Not all breakfasts are equal
When we eat carbohydrates, some of them are broken down into glucose during digestion and enter the bloodstream. The body then releases insulin so that glucose can be used for energy or stored for later.
This is a normal physiological process.
Our goal is therefore not to “prevent” blood sugar from rising after a meal or to label carbohydrates as bad.
It is far more useful to look at the whole meal.
How much protein does it contain? Is there enough fibre? Where do the carbohydrates come from? How processed is the food? How satisfying will the meal be? Will you be able to function normally for several hours, or will you very quickly look for another source of energy?
A breakfast made mainly from refined flour and sugar will not have the same effect as a meal that combines carbohydrates with a quality source of protein, fibre and fat.
Not because one food is “forbidden”.
But because the composition of the entire meal is different.
02
How do you build a better breakfast?
We do not like to make nutrition complicated.
Most people do not need a perfectly calculated menu or to weigh every ingredient. It is much more useful to first understand a few simple principles you can apply every day.
For breakfast, we usually look at four main components.
Protein
Protein is one of the first things we look for in a meal.
It is important for maintaining and building muscle, recovery and many other functions in the body, but it is also very important for satiety.
If your breakfast contains practically no protein, that is the first place we would look.
Good sources may include eggs, fish, meat, tofu, soy, quality dairy products if you tolerate them, or a quality protein shake.
There is no single amount that is ideal for every person, but a practical question you can ask yourself tomorrow is:
“Where is the protein in my breakfast?”
If there is almost none, you probably have room for improvement.
Fibre
The second important component is fibre.
We find it in fruit, vegetables, oats, legumes, seeds, nuts and whole grains.
Fibre helps slow digestion and contributes to satiety. It also plays an important role in digestive health and the overall quality of your diet.
That is why a whole piece of fruit is not the same as a glass of fruit juice.
Whole fruit gives us the structure and fibre of the food. Much of that is lost in juice, and it is much easier and faster to drink than to eat the same amount of fruit.
A quality source of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are not the enemy.
We eat them every day.
Fruit, oats, buckwheat, rice, potatoes and a range of whole grains can all be a normal part of a healthy diet.
The problem begins when most of the first meal consists of highly processed carbohydrate sources with little fibre, little protein and relatively low nutritional value.
So the more useful question is not:
“Am I allowed to eat carbohydrates?”
It is:
“Which source of carbohydrates am I choosing, and what am I combining it with?”
Quality fats
Nuts, seeds, avocado or olive oil can help round out the meal.
They do not need to dominate your plate, and you do not need to force them.
The goal is simply to have a complete meal.
Protein, fibre, a quality source of carbohydrates and some quality fats will generally create a very different breakfast from coffee and a pastry eaten on the way to work.
03
What does this look like in real life?
A quality breakfast can take many different forms.
One option might be eggs, vegetables and a quality source of carbohydrates.
Another might be oats with an additional source of protein, berries and a few nuts or seeds.
A third option can be a well-built smoothie or shake that is not made from only a few pieces of fruit, but contains a substantial source of protein and the other nutrients you need.
We personally use this third option very often.
Not because we believe everyone must drink a shake.
And not because there is a “magic” breakfast.
The reason is much more practical.
We have work, a child, training, travel, meetings and days that are not always the same. It suits us to have a meal we can prepare in a few minutes, whose composition we know and which fits very easily into our everyday life.
For us, that simplicity is one of the reasons we can stay consistent.
Consistency is often underestimated in nutrition.
The best nutrition plan is not the one that looks perfect on paper.
The best plan is one you can follow well for long enough that it no longer feels like you are “on a plan”; it has simply become your way of life.
04
What if you are not hungry in the morning?
You do not need to force yourself to eat just because it is 7 a.m.
There is no rule that every healthy person must eat breakfast immediately after waking.
Some people like to eat early. For others, the first proper meal comes naturally a few hours later.
If you feel good, your nutrition is well structured and that schedule suits your life, it may be completely fine.
But there is a major difference between consciously choosing a later first meal and a day that looks like this:
You get up and drink coffee.
Two hours later, you have another.
By noon, you have eaten practically nothing.
Then intense hunger hits, so you eat whatever is most readily available.
Your energy drops in the afternoon.
You reach for coffee or something sweet again.
And in the evening, you feel as though you could eat everything in sight.
The problem is not necessarily that you “have no control”.
You may simply have asked a lot from your body all day without giving it enough quality fuel.
05
Try a simple test tomorrow
Do not change your entire diet immediately.
Tomorrow, look at your first meal and ask yourself three questions:
- Where is my protein?
- Where are my fibre and nutrient-rich foods?
- Will this meal truly nourish me for the next several hours, or only remove my hunger right now?
Perhaps you only need to add a quality protein source.
Perhaps you could replace some highly processed food with a less processed source.
Perhaps you could add fruit, vegetables, oats or seeds.
Perhaps you simply drink almost nothing in the morning.
Change one thing and observe how you feel for the next few days.
Do you stay satisfied longer?
Do you have fewer cravings for something sweet?
Is your energy steadier through the morning?
Do you reach lunch normally hungry or completely ravenous?
How do you feel two or three hours after the meal?
Feedback from your own body is often much more useful than blindly following any trend on the internet.
06
You do not need another extreme diet
The longer we work with people and the more we learn about nutrition, health and long-term habits, the stronger our belief becomes in simple principles that can be repeated.
You can know everything about nutrition, but if your system is so complicated that you can follow it for only four days, that knowledge will not help you very much.
Our goal has never been to live “perfectly”.
Our goal is to have simple habits we can repeat long enough to help us have more energy, eat better, stay active and still live our lives normally.
Your next step
Breakfast is often an afterthought?
A busy morning does not need a complicated meal plan. Explore our approach to personalized nutrition: practical food choices, clear guidance and support that fits your everyday routine.
Start with a breakfast you can repeat, then build the rest of your day around your goals. If you would like help choosing where to begin, we are here.
If you have a question before you start, feel free to contact us. We will gladly help you see which first step could make the most sense for you.
Matea & Vanja