During the hot weather months of the year, my body craves & is completely satisfied with nothing but green & fruit smoothies, cold-pressed juices, raw veggies, loads of salads (this never really changes) fruit & yogurt and such… Now, as the seasons shift & we move into the cold, winter months I naturally start to crave warm & comforting foods, which tend to be a bit more carb heavy than I eat throughout the rest of the year. Standing in my kitchen this morning, I was trying to convince myself to blend up yet another (cold) green smoothie for breakfast but my body was craving something warm, cozy & nourishing. 

The result was this bowl of warm & healthy goodness! Incredibly delicious & super satisfying, this cozy breakfast was like a hug in a bowl. The first breakfast bowl of the season, I thoroughly enjoyed each & every bite! 

Brown Rice, Egg & Veggie Breakfast Bowl 

What’s inside this yummy bowl!? 
– 2 eggs, scrambled
– 1 cup, brown rice
– 3 mushrooms, sliced
– about 6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
– big handful of Power to the Greens Mix, (trader joes) chopped
– Cooked in organic coconut oil & topped with a pinch of sea salt & pepper

How I made it:
– Heat a large frying pan with about a teaspoon of coconut oil.
– I scrambled my eggs half way, then set aside in a bowl
– mushrooms first, then I dumped in 1 cup of rice (I already had this in the house). Let the rice & mushrooms heat up for about 90 seconds, giving it a few stirs, tossed in my tomatoes, let those cook, eggs go back in letting everything get all happy together, stirring a few more times.
Very last, for less than a minute, my chopped greens so they turn out lightly wilted.

Aside from craving warm & cozy eats due to the colder weather, the other reasons for this mornings stick to your bones breakfast was 1) my need for carbs to give me energy to push thru my intense boxing sesh this afternoon 2) feeling physically tired for the last few days due to not eating enough foods of substance over the last several days…  which leads me to talk about 2 things:

1) Carb Cycling. 
A big believer in earning your carbs, otherwise known as Carb Cycling, this means lowering your carb intake on non-training & lighter training days (for me, a light day would be yoga or pilates) and increasing your carbs on the days when your really pushing yourself. (intense cardio, like HIIT, strength training, boxing) A common misconception about weight loss is that you need to cut out all carbs in order to drop weight, which couldn’t further from the truth. What is true & important when it comes to eating carbs…what type of carbs are you consuming?? Eating the right complex carbs, at the right time will give your body the energy it needs to both get you thru your training & recover afterwards. 
My choice of gluten free, slow digesting/complex carbs:
– brown rice
– quinoa
– gluten free rolled oats
– beans & legumes (lentils are my fave!)
– vegetables (steamed or roasted)
– sweet potatoes (typically steamed)
– white potatoes (i’m partial to Yukon Gold, YUM. Poor potatoes get a bad rep but its what you put ON the potato that does the damage, not the potato itself. Simply prepared, either steamed or roasted with a bit of olive oil, sea salt & pepper. Potato Perfection!
An easy real life example to give, yesterday was a rest day for me so the only carbs I took in were from fruit & vegetables. I drank a green smoothie, some healthy snacks (apples, raw nuts) throughout the day & a light dinner of fish & broccoli. On the flip side, today I boxed which is a really, really intense workout! There’s no way I would have made it thru my workout if I started my day with a green smoothie, hence, the hearty bowl of rice, eggs & veggies. 

2) Intuitive & Seasonal Eating.
Touching upon this at the beginning of the post, my body craving more comforting foods like this mornings breakfast bowl is attributed to being crazy in tune with my body, (sometimes too in tune) and listening when my body tells me that it needs something — an extra recovery day, more sleep, more water, more movement, more food — whatever it may be, your body will tell you. The deeper the connection you have with yourself – mind, body & soul — these little internal signals that your body sends you become more & more apparent. After years of working out and knowing what my body needs, depending on my workouts (type & intensity) + some wild hormonal changes that i experience throughout the month, you’d find me eating more or less carbs & more or less animal protein. Plenty of leafy greens and veggies are a constant as enjoy eating a primarily plant based diet. 
A few intuitive eating tips:
– First & most importantly, please love yourself, your beautiful body & never be on a “diet”
– cultivate a healthy relationship with food
– know your hunger – are you eating because your really hungry or for other reasons?
– know when your full
– know that its ok to indulge. Eat that piece of cake and eat it without any guilt attached 

What types of foods does your body crave as we move into the winter season? 

Thanks so much for visiting. xx