The Word on Weightloss

Is healthy weight loss a challenge because of your busy schedule and lifestyle? Balancing home, work, school, family and your personal life - all at once - is often a big challenge for maintaining healthy weight loss and a sensible diet. We often eat in between meetings, grab some fast food or snack too much – all things that can sabotage our dieting efforts to lose weight.

Well, with a little meal planning and some time for prep, you can manage both – fixing a quick, healthy breakfast and getting on with your busy day! Weight loss programs really don’t need to be time consuming. Breakfasts can be a particularly challenging meal to fix quickly. Most of us don’t have enough time to spend making a healthy breakfast before work.

So, here are some quick, healthy and nutritious breakfast ideas that you can incorporate in your busy lifestyle and diet...and not skip an important meal!

Fruit Smoothies
It’s summer, and a wide variety of fruit is in season. A quick, healthy breakfast can easily be thrown into the blender and be ready in no time! Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, bananas, oranges, and so many other fruit work well in smoothies - try pineapple, mangoes, ,elons and cherries for something different and delicious.

Here are a few healthy smoothie recipes from Cooking Light to get you started. Once you get the hang of making smoothies you won’t need recipes any longer - create your own special smoothie!

• Banana-Berry Smoothie: This delicious smoothie is flavorful and contains antioxidants and fiber...It's low-fat and will keep you going for a while! 0.6 g fat, 327 mg calcium, 3.3 fiber.

• Peach-Mango Smoothie: Peach and mango makes for a heavenly smooth flavor and texture! It's a low-fat winner with only 0.3 g fat.

• Blueberry Power Smoothie: Blueberries and raspberries combine for a simply delicious protein-packed berry shake: 9.4 g protein, 1.3 g fat, and a whopping 231 mg calcium.

• Sunshine Smoothie: Mango, apricot, nectarine and cantaloupe combine to make a unique flavor. 108 cal , 86 mg cal

• Cherry Smoothie: A great smoothie idea for extra cherries, especially if you own a cherry pitter. 6.2 protein, 195 mg calcium.

Cereal
Cereals have gotten a bad reputation, but they’re not all bad for you. By all means avoid sugar-coated, refined-grain cereals. But don’t write off all cereals when you’re on a weight loss program or are dieting. Some cereals can make great quick, healthy breakfasts. Try some of the whole grain, low-sugar cereals and granols that many manufactures are now making  for healthy lifestyles. You can also make your own ahead of time and pack it in a container for breakfast at work.

Try these tasty granola recipes for starters.

• Maple Nut Granola: This granola from EatingWell is sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup and full of nuts and seeds. Stores for up to two weeks in an airtight container, making this a great cereal for a busy schedule.

• Cherry, Almond and Cinnamon Granola: From the Food Network's Ina Garten comes a spiced granola that's sweetened with honey; it's a nice treat for a healthy weight loss plan.

• Homemade Granola: Another recipe from Garten and the Food Network, this recipe is particularly flavorful with dried cranberries, cherries, figs and apricots. (Readers loved the granola but advise using a 325-degree oven.)

Breakfast Wraps
Combining eggs, cheese, vegetables and lean meat in a wrap is another option for quick, healthy breakfasts. Below are a few recipes you can work into your weight loss plan for a healthy breakfast on-the-go.

• Quick Breakfast Taco: This recipe from EatingWell uses an egg substitute, so it’s ideal if you’re avoiding eggs on your diet or weight loss plan.

• Southwestern Omelet Wrap: EatingWell's high protein and spicy version of the breakfast wrap. The whole wheat wrap makes your weight management easier if you’re on-the-go all the time.

• Breakfast Wrap with Ranchero Sauce: This wrap from the Food Network is a wonderful addition to your diet with fresh, seasonal tomatoes, a little spice and  a sunny-side-up egg.

Quick, healthy breakfasts aren’t hard to make when you're busy and dieting. Don’t avoid eating breakfast on your weight loss programs because you’re afraid that it will be time consuming. A little planning goes a long way in sticking to your fitneess plan and healthy weight loss.