Shake Up Your Wake Up! 2013

Last week (20-26 January 2013) was Farmhouse Breakfast Week, an annual celebration which aims to promote the importance of eating breakfast. 47% of the nation regularly skip breakfast, they say, and Breakfast Week  hopes to change these statistics. It is run on behalf of arable grain farmers and hopes to show, through the sharing of breakfast photos on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, the wonderful variety of homegrown breakfast produce available across the country. You can view the images in their Breakfast Watch Gallery.

I have to say that I am one of those 47%. I quite often skip breakfast, or eat a later breakfast than most, preferring to start the day with a coffee (or two), heading to the gym/swimming pool after the school run and then returning home to grab something quick to eat, usually a bowl of homemade yogurt, fruit and homemade granola.

This week I made a bit of an effort with my breakfasts upon my return from the fitness centre. The Patient UK website has written that exercise before breakfast can lead to greater weight loss. Researchers at Glasgow University have found that the time of day when one exercises can have an impact upon weight loss, with those exercising before the first meal of the day experiencing greater weight loss. This is because the body is forced to rely on its own stores of body fat to fuel the exercise on an empty stomach.

Suits me! With a BMI of 21.0 I'm not trying to lose weight, but it's always good to hear that my morning exercise may be helping burn off the cakes I ate the evening before! Cake, in the words of Miss Lane: it's my one weakness.

So, here's my round-up of this week's breakfast challenge entries.

Sunday, 20th January 2013: 
Homemade lemon prune honey butter on toasted homemade rye bread, a handful of dried apricots and a cup of good coffee. This was followed by a hill walk with the children while we searched for dragons.

Monday 21st January 2013:
Quick half mile swim in the pool after the school run followed by homemade natural yogurt with granola and a kiwi breakfast smoothie.

Tuesday 22 January 2013:
1 km warm-up row, week 4 (Day 2) of the Couch to 5 km running program and upper body weights at the gym followed by homemade vegan post-workout protein bites (not very pretty, but tasty nonetheless) and a large glass of locally produced Shetland milk.

Wednesday 23 January, 2013:
Soft boiled egg & homemade buttery soldiers, a banana and a glass of orange juice followed by a 2 mile hill walk.

Thursday, 24th January 2013:
1 km warm up row, week 4 (day 3) of the c25k programme and upper body weights followed by Scottish pinhead oatmeal porridge (made with water and salt), a spoonful of coarsely chopped almonds and whole raisins, a glass of orange juice and a cafetiere of coffee.

Friday 25th January 2013:
Quick 1/2 mile swim followed by homemade pancakes with raspberries and agave syrup and a glass of orange juice.

Saturday 26th January 2013:
Overnight stuffed cinnamon raisin French toast with raspberries and blackberries. This looks better than it tasted so I won't be sharing the recipe followed by a 1.5 mile hill walk.

For more breakfast inspiration see the Shake Up Your Wake Up! breakfast inspiration recipe page.