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Life Area: Financial   |  Topic: Tax Planning

6 Year End Tax Moves to Set You Up for Success in the New Year

It’s hard to believe that we’re in the last quarter of the year! With the year coming to an end, now is a great time to make some easy and smart tax moves to help lower your income tax bill when you file. These six quick and easy tax tips will help you get your finances organized and save money at tax-time before the year ends!

1. Defer compensation

If you can delay any compensation until the beginning of next year, do it, you won’t have to pay taxes on it when filing your 2020 taxes.

2. Accelerate deductions

There are a handful of tax deductions that are recognized the year in which you pay them. For example, if you own a home, get a mortgage interest deduction, and if you make an extra mortgage payment on Dec. 31, you may be able to claim the additional interest paid as a tax deduction in the tax year paid.

3. Donate to charity

This is a win-win. With the holiday season coming, it is a great time to clean out your closet and household goods a donate to those in need. You can help someone in need and reap the benefits of a tax deduction for non-cash and monetary donations given to a qualified charitable organization if you can itemize your tax deductions.

Typically if you make a charitable donation to a qualified charity, you can deduct the contribution if you itemize your deductions. However, under the CARES Act, there is the addition of a new charitable deduction up to $300 on your 2020 taxes for your cash donations made to a 501(c)(3) organization even if you don’t itemize and claim the standard deduction. This will be something to keep in mind since close to 90% of taxpayers now claim the standard deduction instead of itemizing and are no longer able to deduct charitable contributions under tax reform.

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Life Area: Physical   |  Topic: Health

How Your Shower Can Boost Your Immune System

I look forward to the day when I can install a cold-plunge in my backyard or patio to reap the benefits espoused by Wim Hof.

Perhaps you’ve heard or seen Wim circulating the podcast and YouTube world. Wim, known as the Ice Man, has done extensive training that enables him to control his breathing, heart rate, and blood circulation and to withstand extreme temperatures.

His Wim Hof Method is built on three pillars, which are breathing, cold therapy and commitment. Combined, these three pillars form a powerful method that is capable of changing your life. The Wim Hof Method is even know to relieve symptoms of several diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and several autoimmune diseases.

Researchers believe that this process is related to an increased metabolic rate which stimulates the immune response. 

So, until I can install that plunge, or get into a regular routine of cryotherapy, I end my showers with a 30-second blast of cold water. Medical experts believe that ending your shower with a 30-second blast of cold water can reduce inflamed skin and leave your hair glossy and smooth. And, I am unsure where I picked it up but somewhere I was told that having the cold water strike the base of your neck between your shoulders has an added benefit.

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Life Area: Personal
Topic: Sleep

Too Little Sleep Can Lead to Dehydration…Whaaatt???

“Are you getting at least eight hours of sleep?”

We hear this question all the time—from our doctors, our parents, and our partners—and yet, most of us aren’t getting enough sleep. Despite the fact that we know there are negative consequences of skimping on sleep, it can still be so difficult to prioritize it over all our other activities and responsibilities.

As you know, my first lesson for higher productivity is “energy control.” And, the three ingredients to increased energy are: exercise, nutrition and sleep. Learn 8 Ways to Gain Energy Naturally in my blog post [here]. But increased energy is not the only key reason for getting plenty of sleep, here’s another one…avoiding dehydration!

I get it! Sometimes we need a little extra motivation to hit the sack at a reasonable hour, which is why a new study showing that sleep deprivation can make you dehydrated is something we should turn our attention to. The study, published in the journal Sleep analyzed data from over 25,000 adults from China and the United States, and the results showed that compared to those getting the magic eight or more hours of sleep, people who slept only six hours a night had more concentrated urine and a 15-60% higher chance of being dehydrated.

Experts think it has everything to do with a hormone called vasopressin, which is released in the body during the night, later on in the sleep cycle.

Vasopressin

So what’s the reason for this? Experts think it has everything to do with a hormone called vasopressin, which is released in the body during the night, later on in the sleep cycle. Vasopressin helps manage the body’s fluid levels. In fact, it can actually pull water back into the body from our urine to prevent us from losing too much water while we’re sleeping. The theory is that when we’re not getting enough sleep, vasopressin can’t do its job as well, and our hydration levels suffer.

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Life Area: Professional
Topic: Paycheck Protection Program

Another View of PPP

This blog post is for my clients and audience member businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors that received or will receive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.

If you were lucky enough to be allocated some of the PPP money, congratulations, many applied but few were selected. The money from the first tranche of the program dried up in just 13 days, the second tranche was gone in less than 24 hours!

So, I know what you are thinking based on my interaction with clients: “I must spend all this money so I can get it all forgiven.” My advice is to: Get that thought out of your head!

The new Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA Act) initiated various loan programs, tax credit programs, and deferral programs that all intermingle with one another. If you opt for one program, it may preclude you from using another one of the programs.

Your goal should not be to spend all the proceeds so that everything is forgiven. If that happens, great, but that should not be your goal.

PPP is a two-step process

The Paycheck Protection Program is a two-step process:

1. Get the Money – you did that!
2. Spend the Money – this is what this blog post is about, and the calculations are a little tricky when it comes to what is forgivable or not!

Your goal should not be to spend all the proceeds so that everything is forgiven. If that happens, great, but that should not be your goal. You received this money to pay for expenses in the normal course of business over a designated eight-week period. You should spend the money as you would in the normal course of business based on your cash forecasting. The driver for spending the funds should be made on an economic basis, not based on making an expense forgivable.

The forgivable expenses are pretty straight forward. If you have to ask yourself “Does this expense qualify to be forgiven?” – it probably doesn’t. I have listed the qualifying expenses below. Simply put, qualifying expenses are payroll and related (at least 75% of the PPP funds) and certain business expenses including mortgage/lease payments and utilities (can not exceed 25%).

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Living Life to the Full

Living A Regret-free Life

Regret is a terrible thing.

Don’t wait to do the things you love. Because you never know when your time will be up.

Create that project

Whatever project you want to create, create it now.

The part of you that wants to create it right now will not be around forever.

The book you write at 25 will be very different than the book you write at 30, and 35, and 40, and so on.

As we change, our perspectives and feelings change as well.

Create what you want to create right now, and capture this moment in time.

You never know where that love will take you —

who knows, maybe you will end up together after all.

Love that person

Do you connect with someone? Do you like someone?

Even if you know you won’t marry this person, or spend the rest of your life with this person, let yourself love them.

Ride that wave together.

You never know where that love will take you — who knows, maybe you will end up together after all.

But trust how you feel right now, because that feeling won’t last forever, and the opportunity will be gone as fast as it presented itself.

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Negative Self-Talk

Spanx Founder Tells Us the No. 1 Reason Stopping Our Success

Sara Blakely is known for her revolutionary shapewear product “Spanx” released in 1998. Since then, Spanx has solved the wardrobe woes of women around the world by designing bras, underwear, leggings, and other intimate apparel in a way that has changed the way women feel about their bodies. In the process, Sara became a self-made billionaire.

Sara Blakely’s success lesson.

In a recent interview, the wildly-successful Blakely admitted that she still struggles with doubt and fear. She told her interviewer the one thing she felt was holding back thousands of us from realizing our full potential was our negative self-talk.

“Our negative self-talk is the No.1 barrier to success.”

– Spanx founder, Sara Blakely

Who can’t relate to that? We all have, at one time or another, been held back by the lies we allow to infiltrate our own heads: you’re not good enough, rich enough, talented enough, pretty enough, so on and so forth.

Jack Canfield provides us with this illustrative of the Self-talk Loop. Read more up on it in one of my past blog posts: 5 Ways of Turning Your Negative Self-Talk into Positive Self-Talk [here].

I admire Blakely’s authenticity and the wisdom she imparted. She states she has been able to manage her negative self-talk over the years by continuing to do the emotional work most people neglect to overcome their own doubts and fears.

Negative self-talk is a very real thing–and a very self-limiting thing holding people back. In a 2005 National Science Foundation study, researchers found that the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. The alarming part? Eighty percent of those thoughts are negative and fear-based!

If you’re struggling with your own demoralizing inner critic, here are three crucial things to help you manage the negative self-talk and overcome your fears.

1. Gain perspective into your situation.

Often, due to failure and rejection, people develop a warped sense of reality where they can’t separate fact from fantasy. When making the entrepreneurial journey or climbing the corporate ladder, failure is a sure thing–you can bank on it.

But when you step back and gain perspective into your situation, you can realize that life will go on and you’re not going to die a horrible death if you get rejected or miss out on an opportunity.

The worst-case-scenario that feeds into our fear or the negative drama we play out in our heads is merely that … drama. Lose the script, put the past in the past, and detach any previous negative outcome from your current reality. Once you start with a clean slate and see possibilities again with renewed insight, you’ll realize that your negative self-talk no longer has any power over you.

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Life Area: Professional  
Topic: Executive Coaching

Not Everyone Can Be Coached

Whether you’re a top executive or a recent grad, coaching could be a huge boost to your career. But it could also be a waste of money.

As a business and life coach, I’m thrilled that so many people are hiring professional coaches like me. However, like any trend, some people rush into hiring a coach who maybe shouldn’t. Here are a few questions I ask people who approach me about coaching and questions I suggest you ask yourself before you hire a coach.

1. How self-aware are you?

While this is a difficult question to ask yourself, it’s key to the coaching process. If you’re not willing, or able, to objectively look at your own thinking, behavior, and actions, then coaching may have limited impact. Those who get a lot out of coaching are highly aware of how their behaviors impact others and situations.

Check the language in your thinking. When something bad happens, do you immediately start blaming other people and finding excuses of why the external world conspired against you and put you in a bad situation? If so, you might want to first work on seeing how you contributed to the outcomes, too.

2. Are you ambitious?

Coaches can help develop great strategies and paths to success, but they can’t do the work for you. If you’re not driven to make changes and not willing to put in the hard work to implement the action plans, you might not get much out of coaching. You need to want the outcomes enough to do the hard work. If not, you might be wasting your money.

Coaches can help develop great strategies and paths to success, but they can’t do the work for you.

3. Do you hold yourself accountable?

Many people come to me looking to be held accountable and for me to drive the process. I have to explain to them that I can’t make them do anything. I can only help them get clarity on what they want, why they want it, and how they are going to get it. But they need to be in charge of doing the work.

If you’re not willing or able to take personal accountability for your commitments, then even the best coach in the world will not be able to help you succeed. That doesn’t mean you need to be perfect; failure is part of the process. But you need to “own it” and be willing to be self-critical. Don’t blame your coach for not making you do your work.

4. Do you have a growth or fixed mindset?

A lot of research has been done in the last decade regarding how your thinking can impact your ability to create change. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset presents this as the concept of fixed vs growth mindset. Which one you have will impact the effectiveness of your coaching considerably.

Put simply, a fixed mindset is one that believes your skills and abilities are innate and determined at birth. A growth mindset believes that while you have many natural gifts, you also have the ability to learn and grow through persistence and focused effort.

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Life Area: Professional  
Topic: Career Success

Career Advice from Tom Hanks

Toward the end of Tom Hank’s 2020 Golden Globe acceptance speech, Hanks shared a 3-step formula for success that he learned decades ago. It’s simple and brilliant–and could completely change the way we work.

He’s widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. So, when Tom Hanks shares career advice, we all do well to listen. In his acceptance speech, Hanks repeatedly got choked up as he thanked his family, co-workers, and several notable actors and directors. After all, Hanks said, “you’re a dope if you don’t steal from everybody you have ever worked with.”

But it was toward the end of Hanks’ seven-minute speech when the famous actor dropped the real golden nugget.

Hanks shared a story of when he worked in his first professional job, as an intern at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. Hanks said he and his fellow interns showed up to rehearsals after doing a little too much partying the previous night. The director wasn’t having it.

“He screamed at us,” said Hanks. “You know what your job is?” the director asked. “You have got to show up on time, and you have to know the text, and you have to have a head full of ideas. Otherwise I can’t do my job.”

And there it is, a simple, brilliant, three step-formula for success:

Show up on time, know the text, and have a head full of ideas.

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It’s already happening…my spin class is starting to loosen up. Packed classes once filled with members jazzed about accomplishing their new year’s fitness goals and resolutions are starting to go by the wayside. It happens every year. January is packed, February lightens up, and by March class is half-full (no…not because everyone is riding outside!). Continue reading →

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Life Area: Professional  
Topic: Productivity

3 Productivity Hacks That Take Less Than 3 Minutes

Productivity is top of mind for every entrepreneur. For my mompreneur clients, productivity is even more crucial as you juggle kids and home, along with work. Whether you have kids, pets, community obligations, or anything else that can divide your time, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed, but here are three things, with the help of writer Stephanie Burns, you can do in under three minutes that will help you be instantly more productive.

1. Visualize A Finished List

When you get in the mindset of feeling accomplished — not overwhelmed — tasks become infinitely easier. That’s why you should start your day off by briefly meditating on your “Finished List” which is a list of three things you absolutely must get done that day. Once you make your list, put a checkmark next to each of the tasks, close your eyes for 10 seconds and imagine it done. Feel the excitement of getting that proposal written or the joy around wrapping up that grueling presentation at work.

This exercise will spark the physiological response of excitement in your body and decrease the feeling of overwhelm or discomfort. Once you open your eyes, it will seem so much easier for you to do even the most grueling tasks because you are past the anxiety and fear of how and when it will get done. You’re firmly seated in the delight of it being completed.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

– Wayne Dyer

2. Take A Gratitude Walk

A jolt of caffeine may increase your energy, but it usually comes with a crash later. Instead try a three-minute gratitude walk.

Research shows that going for a stroll can increase your creativity far beyond sitting in a chair at your desk. Plus, you’ll turbo-charge your productivity when you think about all the things you’re grateful for while you put one foot in front of the other. When you feel thankful to have this level of a “work problem” today, you interrupt your limiting beliefs that cause you to see problems instead of opportunities. As Wayne Dyer loved to say: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

Just remember not to list boring general things you’re “grateful” for, but actually don’t really care about, like “I’m grateful I have clothes” or “I’m alive” (unless you really are in-your-bones thrilled about either one). Mention something that is actually meaningful in a specific way for you. For example, maybe you’re a parent who is usually sleep deprived but last night you got a solid night’s sleep. Say to yourself, “I’m so grateful for how rested I feel.” Or if you’ve ever been unemployed, you may even say something like: “This client may be a headache sometimes, but I am so grateful to have the work.”

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Life Area: Professional  
Topic: Consulting Contracts

7 Key Contract Clauses for the Independent Consultant

I have been an independent contractor and service consultant at various times throughout my career and have come to learn, sometimes the hard way, the key provisions consultants must have in their agreements if you are to survive on your own. These clauses are commonplace among the “big boys” contracts, so be sure to have them in yours to assure you limit your liability and, most importantly, get paid:

Getting paid is not the only issue

Consultants who are well-established with a large clientele do enjoy certain advantages. Most have formed their own limited liability companies and have set contracts that they have devised and refined over the years, providing protections and solid payment clauses. And they will quickly drop clients who renege on any terms of that contract.

But for the newbie consultant who is not well established, it is often the client who presents the contract, and the hungry consultant is at that client’s mercy if they want the work. But there are some “red flags” in contracts that consultants need to look for – clauses that can result in trouble down the road. Here are some of them:

1. Ownership of the work product Who owns the work product? Clients will want that ownership transferred to them. This is normal. But, it should be clearly stated in any contract that ownership will not be transferred to a client until you have received payment in full for that work product.

2. Indemnification This is a legal term that relates to who is liable should there be any lawsuits based upon the work product or the use of that work product. Once you transfer work product to a client, that client should assume all liability for how that work product is used. Your liability should end as soon as that transfer occurs. If a client insists that you retain any liability, walk away.

It should be clearly stated in the contract that ownership of the work product will not transfer to the client until you have received payment in full.

3. Getting paid Never sign a contract in which the terms of payment are vague. While you may have agreed upon a price, there should be a schedule of payments. I always insist on an up-front retainer that gets applied to the last invoice. If the project is lengthy and complicated, there should be scheduled payments along the way. Thus, you can stop your work if a scheduled payment is not made. You may even want to insist that the client provide credit card authorization, so that you can bill through his/her bank.

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Success Habits

4 Self-Care Sunday Activities for the 24/7 Goddess

I recently surveyed the participants in my Goddesses 101 seminar (formerly EmpoweredWoman 101) and discovered that 84% of the respondents felt self-care was a necessity rather than an indulgence, yet the average time they spent on self-care was only an hour a week. Fifty-seven percent of the respondents even said they felt guilty after making more time for self-care. So, if you’re feeling extra cozy as the autumn months roll in and want to set a little bit of time aside for yourself, here’s the four best things to do on a self-care Sunday:

1. Pamper Yourself

When I think of self-care for you goddesses out there, the first thing I think of is a bubble bath. A bubble bath complete with candles and essential oils. Wash your hair … shave your legs … just sink into the bath and relax. It sounds cliché, but taking time out to put on a face mask, exfoliate, moisturize, and do whatever beauty tasks you’ve been putting off can make you feel like a completely rejuvenated woman. Slipping into a pair of new PJs after pampering yourself will make you feel even more loved and appreciated. You deserve to take some time to look after yourself.

When you spend all of your time working, keeping on top of commitments, and trying to maintain a social life sometimes it’s good to kick back and do something for yourself.

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Law of Attraction

6 Steps to Manifesting What You Want

Many of you have asked me to elaborate here on the universal Law of Attraction. Though known for centuries and widely known in the U.S. at the turn of the century by the publication of Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, the Law of Attraction flooded the mainstream by the highly popular mid-2000s movie The Secret. After decades of evolving the description and stating its principles in layman’s terms, the Law of Attraction is now acknowledged as a conventional goal achieving tool one can summon through Affirmations and Intentional Thought. Naturally, the concept of manifestation comes up a lot with my coaching clients and with participants of my workshops, in particular, my Create The Life You Want seminar. In spite of its now wide-spread popularity, this magical process is still often misunderstood.

What is manifestation?

As spiritual beings with free will, we are here to co-create our future with God, the Universe, Higher Power (label it what you will). When we try to manifest something, we are attempting to align with the energy of that thing in order to bring it into our lives.

When the idea of manifestation became popular in the mid-2000s with the movie The Secret, many people mistakenly believed that all they had to do was want something, create a vision board, and then what they desired would magically appear. But the process of manifestation is much more nuanced and involved than that! I often find myself reminding many that the last six letters of Law of Attraction is ACTION!

Here, I share with you six steps to help guide you on your manifestation journey:

6 Steps to Manifesting What You Want

Step 1. Daydream but write it down

We often put limits on what we think we are capable of. Anything and everything manmade that has ever existed, began as a thought. Our mind is a great manifestation tool. An open mind, one with a growth mindset, is an even better manifestation tool. You’ve heard it said again and again: What one can believe to be achieved will be received.  Manifestation can help us discover that there are more possibilities for us than we ever imagined.

It can be very powerful for us to keep a journal and write down what we’re hoping to manifest, especially if it’s something big like a new home, job, or romantic partner. Keeping a journal will hold you accountable during the process. Manifestations can be marathons, or sprint; I would give yourself at least eight weeks of concentrated effort and journaling to see some kind of return on your manifestation investment. After eight weeks, you will have a better idea of how to get there.

Be careful being too unrealistic. And, don’t be too specific, wherein you might block out a greater good that God/the Universe is bringing your way.

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Gratitude

Money is a Tool, Not a Goal

If your goal in life is always to have more money, you will never be satisfied. There will always be an urge to constantly chase money, which will only cause unnecessary stress and dissatisfaction. Conversely, if you view money as a tool to achieve what really matters in your life, you will start to focus on the things that bring you the utmost satisfaction.

In our consumer culture, we’ve been conditioned to believe that buying more stuff will lead to greater levels of happiness. In my experience, this is a horrible misconception. No matter how many possessions you own, there will never be enough. The richest people in the world “have it all” but many are still starving for happiness.

Here are 5 things that I believe you should be spending your money on:

1. Experiences

Material possessions may give you a temporary pleasure high, but they won’t lead to lasting happiness and fulfillment. Psychologists call this “hedonic adaptation.” In other words, the excitement of that new car or expensive purse that you buy will quickly fade. However, nobody can ever take away your life experiences.

It’s not until you’ve acquired everything that you realize that these things don’t enhance your life. The exotic cars that I’ve owned will never replace the travel experiences and memory-making with my kids. Money allows you to experience more.

 “Set a goal to become a millionaire, for the person it will make you to achieve it.”

– Jim Rohn

2. Health

Your mind and body are connected. What you put into your body affects your level of happiness. If you are eating junk food, how do you think you will feel? If you want to be successful in life, you need to make sure that your body is operating at the highest possible level.

Money allows you to invest more into your health. By having money I’ve been able to biohack my health. I invested in things like regular physicals and blood testing and better nutrition to optimize my health, energy and well-being.

3. Time

Time is a depreciating asset. You only have so much time, which is why you need to be mindful of how you are spending it and with whom. More money will buy you more time. It is possible that there are things that you are currently doing in your life that are making you unhappy that money can solve for you. This could be in the form of cooking, cleaning or bookkeeping. I encourage you to leverage other people so that you can focus more on what matters in your life and help them earn money for theirs.

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Gratitude

Gratitude and the Law of Attraction

Befitting the month of Thanksgiving, I thought I would blog on gratitude. Daily habits of gratitude and appreciation are one of the highest emotional states you can experience. When you cultivate gratitude, you’re able to feel true joy and contentment, no matter what you have or don’t have in your life.

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey

The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like, when you’re grateful for what you already have, you will naturally attract more for which you can be grateful. However, many people find that it requires great diligence to cultivate a persistent attitude of appreciation. That’s because we’ve been culturally conditioned by marketers to focus on what we don’t have, rather than appreciating what we’ve already received or achieved.

To help you combat this conditioning, here are 6 simple tips from my mentor and friend Jack Canfield on how to make gratitude – one of the most important habits of successful people – a natural daily habit, so you can attract more joy and abundance into your life all year long:

1. Take 7 minutes each morning to write down everything you appreciate in life

Starting your day this way primes you to be receptive and grateful for everything your day will bring. It also helps you cultivate an air of positivity that makes you naturally more attractive to other positive people – and inspires them to want to help you achieve your goals.

2. Make a conscious effort to appreciate at least 3 people every day

By letting people know how much you appreciate them, you increase their own sense of appreciation and self-worth and encourage them to pay this positive energy forward to other people.

While most people enjoy receiving verbal appreciation, written notes are also nice because they can be saved and re-read. (For ideas on expressing appreciation, grab your copy of The Success Principles and review Principle 53: Practice Uncommon Appreciation).

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Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Time Management

Ideas to Make the Most of Your Extra Hour

Daylight saving time ends this coming weekend giving us our once a year 25 hour day. What will you do with the bonus time? Whether you are for or against daylight saving time, here are a few ideas on how you can maximize the value of your bonus hour for mind, body and spirit:

Mind

If you’re like me, you’re always trying to find the time to read and learn new things. I’ll listen to podcasts or audio books while I’m working out or commuting just to fit in a little extra know-how. Why not use this extra hour to read a chapter or two of that how-to book or relax by the fireplace with a glass of wine and that novel you bought last summer? If you’re a visual learner, YouTube your favorite topic and check out a webinar or two.

Body

Fall brings with it colder weather and less time outdoors for hiking, biking and other activities just when your body needs it most. But here’s the thing – winter might be the most important time of the year to exercise. It releases endorphins to combat the winter blues and it helps strengthen your immune system against the winter cold. Exercise also helps maintain healthy habits that won’t require drastic efforts to undo in the Spring and it keeps your brain sharp and helps you sleep better, too. Use your extra hour to hit the gym or, for those of you in warmer climates, go for it with a hike or trail ride Sunday afternoon.

“Why not use this extra hour to read a chapter or two of that how-to book or relax by the fireplace with a glass of wine and that novel you bought last summer?”

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Life Area: Physical  
Topic: Breakfast Nutrition

The Best Foods To Have For Breakfast

As many of you know, I start my day off with a green drink and a protein drink. My green drink is a blend of spinach, power greens, cucumbers, kale, celery, apples, pears, kiwis, lemons, and wheatgrass powder, which I juice every Saturday. I practice intermittent fasting so I try to eat only during the hours of 12pm-8pm so my green drink and protein drink are not only my early morning pick me up but they’re my only source of nutrients until noon. So, the next time you’re tempted to rush out the door in the morning without something to eat, consider this: skipping breakfast can set you up for overeating later in the day and even a small morning meal, on the other hand, can give you energy, satisfy your appetite, and set the stage for smart decisions all day long.

Here’s a look at some of Health.com‘s favorite breakfast foods, along with some tips for making them even healthier:

Oatmeal

You may have noticed a heart-shaped seal on your box of oatmeal recently. The seal’s there because oats contain beta-glucan, a type of fiber that’s been shown to help lower cholesterol when eaten regularly. Need another reason to dig in? Oats are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and potassium.

Greek yogurt

This tangy, creamy yogurt is loaded with calcium and boasts plenty of protein—nearly twice as much as regular yogurt—to keep you feeling full throughout the morning. Your best bet: choose a plain, nonfat variety, and add some fruit to give it some sweetness and flavor (and a dose of added nutrition).

 “Studies suggest that eating blueberries regularly can help improve everything from memory and motor skills to blood pressure and metabolism.”

Grapefruit

Trying to lose weight? According to one study, eating half a grapefruit before each meal may help you slim down faster, thanks to the fruit’s fat-burning properties and its beneficial effect on blood sugar and insulin levels. Grapefruit is also hydrating, filling, and packed with immunity-boosting antioxidants. For a well-rounded breakfast, pair it with protein—such as yogurt or an egg. But check with your doctor first if you take any medications, as grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interfere with some prescription drugs.

Berry Blend: Blueberries, Strawberries, and Raspberries

Fresh or frozen, blueberries are a super-fruit packing a big antioxidant punch. Studies suggest that eating blueberries regularly can help improve everything from memory and motor skills to blood pressure and metabolism. One cup of strawberries contains your full recommended daily intake of vitamin C, along with high quantities of folic acid and fiber. Raspberries are the main berry source of ellagitannins, a type of antioxidant that is thought to have cancer-fighting properties. They’re also high in fiber (8 grams per cup), vitamin C, and vitamin K, which helps build strong bones.

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