The ideal breakfast is always tailored to your personal nutrition and lifestyle goals. Because only by taking your individual needs and challenges into account can an optimal breakfast be put together. No matter what your goal is, we have the most important tips and best recipes for your personal goal. Losing weight healthily, building muscle in a targeted way, improving your overall fitness or simply indulging in breakfast enjoyment – we have something for everyone.
Healthy breakfast from Verival – try it now
How to find the optimal nutrition for your goal
A healthy diet requires that your meals are tailored to your needs and goals. This is the only way to optimally meet your nutritional needs and gradually achieve your goals.
To do that, however, you first need to be clear about what you want to achieve with your lifestyle and, consequently, your diet. We have therefore done some more detailed research in four areas – whether you want to build muscle, improve your fitness or lose weight healthily, we have something for everyone. Even the connoisseurs among you will find something in this article; because enjoyment and a healthy diet do not have to be mutually exclusive.
The perfect breakfast for muscle building
If you want to gain muscle mass and get in top shape, you need two things above all: an individual workout plan and an optimal muscle-building diet. While training provides the necessary stimuli to initiate muscle building, an optimized diet helps you to recover.
The formula for effective muscle building therefore results from an individual training plan and an adapted nutrition plan. However, to get the most out of your training, you should start with the right nutrition in the morning.
The right breakfast for strong muscles and optimal regeneration should consist of several components. On the one hand, you need plenty of complex carbohydrates that provide you with long-lasting energy. To do this, your body needs high-quality proteins that serve as building material for new muscle tissue.
In addition, foods should be combined that provide you with plenty of vitamins and minerals. And last but not least, you need valuable dietary fiber for healthy digestion and healthy fatty acids for a healthy hormonal balance.
How to build muscle with breakfast
What may sound like a Herculean task at first is not that difficult in the end. A good portion of porridge for breakfast with fruity toppings can provide all the necessary components.
Oats contain complex carbohydrates, healthy fiber and fatty acids, as well as valuable vegetable proteins. Add some fresh berries and crunchy nuts or seeds for a few essential micronutrients, and voilà, your perfect breakfast for building muscle is ready.
But a tasty portion of nicecream with an extra portion of protein can also provide you with all the nutrients you need.
Fitness breakfast: What you should eat if you want to get fitter
We also have a few tips for those who are less concerned with muscle and more with their general fitness. However, since physical fitness is a very broad concept, we won't go into every little detail.
Instead, we will now take a closer look at how you can support your daily exercise routine with an adapted diet. Because whether you like hiking, running, swimming or playing tennis, your body needs a similar combination of important nutrients in all cases.
However, in contrast to strength training, the requirements are not quite as specific. Only extremely ambitious endurance athletes are recommended to take a closer look at their nutrition. After all, several hours of endurance exercise per week burns plenty of calories, sweats out nutrients and provokes minor muscle trauma. A slightly higher intake of carbohydrates, healthy fatty acids and minerals such as sodium is therefore highly recommended in this case.
This is what your fitness breakfast should include
As with muscle building, the same applies to fitness enthusiasts: a healthy diet starts with breakfast. It is particularly important to provide your body with energy sources that will keep you full for a long time and give you enough energy for your daily sporting activities.
Long-chain carbohydrates, such as those found in whole grains or oats, are particularly recommended for this. In combination with healthy fiber, high-quality plant-based proteins and healthy fatty acids, you are well equipped to increase your overall fitness and feel better in your own skin.
All you need is fresh fruit and vegetables, and you have an optimal breakfast with all the essential nutrients ready to go. We have also prepared some recipes to inspire you for your fitness breakfast:
Gluten-free overnight oats with banana
Preparation time: 5 mins
Leave to stand in the fridge for 3 hours
Total time: 3 hrs 5 mins
Serves: 1
Ingredients
- 50 g gluten-free Bircher porridge or gluten-free rolled oats
- 120 ml milk or plant-based drink
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 banana
- 50 g blueberries
- 1 tsp agave syrup (optional)
Preparation
- Put the gluten-free Bircher porridge or gluten-free rolled oats in a preserving jar.
- Next, add 120 ml of a liquid of your choice (milk or plant-based drink) and mix the ingredients together.
- Add a pinch of salt to your overnight oats and if you like your overnight oats sweet, add a teaspoon of agave syrup.
- Put the jar or container in the fridge overnight or for at least 3 hours.
- When your overnight oats are nice and creamy, you can take them out of the fridge.
- Now you can add fruit of your choice to refine your overnight oats. For this recipe, we used banana and blueberries.
Video
recipe: porridge with oat bran
Porridge with oat bran is ideal for anyone who wants to try something new.
Preparation time: 5 min.
Total time: 10 min.
Keyword: oat bran
Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 60 g oat bran
- 250 ml (plant-based) milk or water
Preparation
- Bring (vegetable) milk or water to a boil in a saucepan and add the oat bran.
- Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes creamy.
- Remove from the stove and let it steep for another minute.
- Depending on the desired consistency, you can add more liquid.
Tip
Refine your porridge with toppings of your choice, such as fresh fruit, nuts or seeds (such as flaxseed or chia seeds). Of course, you can also round off your porridge with a few spoonfuls of low-fat quark. Porridge is naturally vegetarian – but you want to prepare it vegan? Then, as you have seen, this is easily possible with plant-based milk alternatives
As you may have noticed, the optimal breakfast for muscle building and endurance is not that different. No matter if it's cold overnight oats or warm porridge. However, it looks a little different if you want to lose weight. So, let's take a closer look at what exactly you should consider.
Weight loss: the ideal breakfast for losing weight
While a slightly higher energy density is beneficial for strength and endurance athletes to boost their performance, those who want to lose weight should instead opt for a high nutrient density.
In short, if you want to lose weight, you should consume fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight. You can easily calculate your individual needs with a calorie calculator.
Based on the calculated calorie intake, you can now subtract about 500 to 700 kilocalories. This range is considered effective for losing weight, as it ensures that you don't cut back on too many or too few calories. Consuming too few calories is one of those mistakes you should avoid when losing weight.
With these recipes, you can lose weight healthily
To avoid overshooting your goal with the first meal of the day, you should keep your goal in mind at breakfast. To get as many nutrients as possible from a few calories, you should choose foods with a high nutrient density.
These foods not only provide you with essential micronutrients despite their low energy density, but also keep you full for a long time. This is an effective way to avoid cravings and unnecessary snacks in between meals, which could mess up your weight loss efforts. So, we've put together a few delicious ideas for your breakfast for weight loss.
Breakfast recipe: low-calorie porridge for weight loss (sugar-free)
Simple, classic porridge recipe for weight loss. Garnish your porridge with the right toppings and you have a delicious, healthy porridge that will help you lose weight.
Preparation time: 3 min.
Steep porridge: 3 min.
Total time: 6 min.
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 200 kcal
Ingredients
- 50 g rolled oats
- 1 pinch of salt
- 130 ml water
- Optional: healthy toppings such as berries (like blueberries), chia seeds, flax seeds, healthy oils, fresh fruit or dried fruit (like apricots or prunes). Note: dried fruit contains a lot of calories.
Preparation
- Heat the water (for example in a kettle).
- Put the oats in a bowl with a pinch of salt
- Pour the boiling water over them
- Stir the porridge well until it has a creamy consistency
- Top it off with your favorite toppings
Nutritional information
Calories: 200 kcal
Pure indulgence: how to enjoy a healthy breakfast
If, on the other hand, you are not pursuing the goal of achieving peak athletic performance or an extraordinary weight loss success, you are more likely to be a hedonist. However, since hedonism is associated with unhealthy lifestyle habits for many people, we would like to show you a healthy alternative. Because enjoyment and health go together much better than many might assume at first glance.
Of course, you can enjoy highly processed foods for breakfast that are full of added sugars and flavor enhancers. While this may delight your taste buds at first, the satisfying effect wears off more and more over time.
This is because your taste buds become dulled and soon your body will crave more – more sugar, more flavor, more food. This throws your body's entire reward system off balance, which in turn can lead to further issues. From an increased BMI to eating disorders, many health conditions have been linked to a high consumption of highly processed foods 1.
Breakfast ideas for more healthy enjoyment
However, since you want the pleasure to last and not lead to potentially serious health problems, you should take care. Of course, you don't have to give up ready meals completely. Instead of doing without, you should aim to eat more natural foods in their natural form.
Fresh fruit or individual types of vegetables are perfect for a delicious and healthy breakfast. Cereal and pseudo-cereal varieties, which are high in complex carbohydrates and healthy fiber, are particularly suitable as a base.
The following recipe suggestions will show you how to make a delicious and indulgent breakfast. Have fun trying them out!
Berry porridge tart
A crunchy porridge base with chocolate chips, a creamy filling with jam, and a topping made with lots of berries. These are the main ingredients of this summery and fruity tart.
Preparation time 20 mins.
Cook time 30 mins.
Waiting time 30 mins.
Total time 1 hr 20 mins.
Servings: 12 pieces
Calories: 315 kcal
Ingredients
Dough
- 150 g butter
- 80 g dark chocolate, e.g. with 65% cocoa
- 60 g Verival blackberry porridge
- 180 g spelt flour
- 150 g brown sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 60 g ground hazelnuts
Cream
- 4 eggs
- 60 g sour cream
- 160 g cream cheese
- 80 g berry jam, e.g. strawberry, forest fruit or similar
Topping
- 300 g fresh berries
Preparation
For the dough
- Melt the butter. Chop the chocolate. Mix the flour, porridge, sugar, salt, chopped chocolate and ground hazelnuts. Add the melted butter and mix everything with the dough hook of a food processor or hand mixer to form a crumbly dough.
- Grease a tart tin (Ø 24 cm). Spread the dough in the tin and press down evenly with your hands. Form a rim of about 2 cm all around. Then chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees convection.
For the cream
- Mix the eggs, sour cream, cream cheese and jam to a smooth cream. Then spread the cream on the tart base.
- Bake the dough in the preheated oven on the second rack from the bottom for 30-35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes.
For the topping
- Wash the berries and pat them dry. Spread them on the tart.
Nutritional information
Calories: 315 kcal | Carbohydrates: 35 g | Protein: 7 g | Fat: 16 g
- Schiestl ET, Rios JM, Parnarouskis L, Cummings JR, Gearhardt AN. A narrative review of highly processed food addiction across the lifespan. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. Published online March 2021:110152. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110152
