I've written on the importance of breakfast before. Now I'm going to challenge you to 30 days of high quality (with a focus on high protein) breakfasts. My 30 day breakfast challenge is designed to improve your hormones and ultimately, your health. It doesn’t require endless meal prepping or completely overhauling your diet. We’re simply working to ensure your first meal of the day supports you and your lifestyle by reducing blood sugar roller coasters. When we eat an optimal breakfast we may experience:

• Decrease in mood swings

• Less cravings and hunger pains

• Improved body composition

• Improved focus and mental clarity

• Increase in motivation

• Decrease in aches and pains

• Improved sleep quality

Here are the basic rules:

• Meals are composed mostly of animal protein and fat

• No processed grains or sugars

• Limited vegetables or fruit (less than 20% of meal)

• No caloric limits

• Can be eaten at any time, but must be your first meal

• Eat enough to ensure you are satiated for a minimum of four hours

Here are foods allowed, ideas and links to breakfast recipes and inspiration:

• Eggs: hard boiled, over easy, fried, scrambled, poached, deviled

• Bacon

• Sausage

• Ground meat

• Steak

• Salmon

• Shrimp

• Chicken

• Pork Chops

• Barbacoa

• Egg Bake

• Crepe filled with meat and cheese (use whipping cream instead of coconut milk and omit flour)

• Bacon wrapped scallops

• Feta Lamb Meatballs

• Bone broth

• Breakfast Meatloaf (omit maple syrup)

• Liver pate (use butter instead of coconut oil)

• Smoked salmon with cream cheese (tastes delicious in a crepe!)

• Pork rind crusted chicken thighs

• Lunch meat

• Cheese (if you tolerate dairy)

• Avocado / Guac

• Olives

• Berries

• Heavy whipping cream (if you tolerate dairy)

• Butter

• Tallow or lard

• Oysters

• Sardines

• Fish

• Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

• Liver Meat Balls

• Pumpkin Sausage

• Roasted Chicken with guac

• Blueberry Sweet Potato Meatballs

• Smoked Oyster Tapenade

• Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Skillet

• Breakfast Egg Muffins

What about drinks? Coffee or tea is okay - just omit the sugar. It's only for 30 days. Drink a glass or two of water before you hone in on the caffeine.

As always, I would encourage you to eat high quality food all day every day, but for this challenge I want you to simply focus on BREAKFAST. Remember, the timing of breakfast is unimportant. You may be hungry and ready to eat soon after waking. Maybe you eat your first meal at noon. (A troubleshooting aside: if you find yourself ravenous at the end of the day you may be eating your first meal too late or not eating enough). Either way, this challenge is for you! If you decide to take it on, let me know how it goes!

Want to deep dive into this topic more? My Well Fed Kitchen class, Breakfast of Champions, does just that! Watch here: