If you’re always running late for work, or have a million and one things to do in the mornings, it can leave you with very little time to cook and prepare a healthy breakfast. It often seems easier to grab a muffin at the coffee shop or skip breakfast altogether- but both of these can sabotage your healthy lifestyle.

Eating too many sugars and refined carbs is an inefficient way to get energy, and is likely to leave you feeling sluggish, hungry and craving calorie-heavy foods by mid-morning. And skipping breakfast means you’re more likely to overeat later in the day, and you miss the chance to kickstart your metabolism and get the energy you need to get off to a flying start.

So it’s important that you keep in the habit of starting your day with a small, healthy meal, even if it’s on-the-go.

Prepare in advance

If you know you’re often rushing around in the mornings and are likely to run out of time to make breakfast, prepare it the night before. It’s one less thing to worry about, and it means it won’t be left off your to-do list! Planning ahead also means you have time to think about what you’re making and choose healthier options. Stock up on plenty Ziploc bags and containers so you can easily store what you need and take it with you.

What to make

Remember the basic rules of a good breakfast and try to choose on-the-go options that incorporate these:

Choose complex carbs over simple carbs. The basic rule is choose brown over white- that is, whole grains over white grains. Things like wholeweat bread and oats give you extra nutrition and are digested more slowly, which helps you to feel full for longer, so you have more energy throughout the morning.

Choose foods with protein. Some yogurt or skim milk is a great addition to your breakfast- proteins take a long time to break down, giving you more energy for longer, and help to support your metabolism.

Avoid sugars and fatty foods. All that jam and those sweet muffins will just weigh you down and make you feel sluggish- not to mention the extra calories. 

Healthy on-the-go ideas

So what should you prepare? Think about some of these ideas and get in the habit of having healthy, portable breakfasts at the ready to mix and match with your skim-milk latte…

Low-fat yogurt. Grab a single potion of yogurt and you’re good to go. For a more filling meal, half-fill a small container with instant oats or muesli and mix the yogurt in.

Hardboiled eggs. You can book them the night before (and they’ll stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week!) for an easy, high protein breakfast.

Celery sticks with natural peanut butter. Slice up the celery and keep it in the fridge, and keep a portion of peanut butter in a small container that you can take with you.

Cottage cheese. You can get single-serving packages to low-fat cottage cheese for a good protein fix. Stir in some berries or other fruit for some extra flavour, and fibre.

Fruit salad. Cut up a bunch of fruit and make a big batch that will last you a few days- just split into smaller containers and grab it when you go!

Wholegrain or bran muffins. Make your own healthy muffins and avoid the fatty ones from the coffee shop!

Wholewheat bread or English muffin with cheese. Spread it with low-fat cottage cheese or part-skim ricotta.

Rice cakes. Spread some low-fat peanut butter, cottage cheese or other spread of your choice over rice cakes for a quick breakfast.

Cheese and crackers. A few wholegrain crackers with low-fat cheese are tasty and satisfying.

Cereal. Put a single serve of wholegrain cereal in a small container and add some skim milk or low-fat yogurt.

Muesli bar. Make your own or buy low-sugar muesli bars for a quick and filling energy hit!

Fruit smoothie. You can put all the ingredients in the blender the night before, so all you need to do in the morning is add ice, blend and pour! Use yogurt or skim milk as your base to get a protein-rich beverage that will keep you feeling full.