What to Eat for Breakfast – ‘Desayuno’ – in Costa Rica?
So you like to skip breakfast or wait a few hours before having your first meal? You have been hearing from everybody who is anybody how much of a bad person you are for this but you don’t know how or want to change it?
Hey, you’re an adult, you do what you want to do. But the insurmountable evidence does seem to point to the value of that first meal taking place every day: it kick starts your metabolism, it prevents snacking or eating poorly throughout the day, it makes you as virtuous the people who always have a bottle of water…
Well, maybe nobody can prove that last one, but I think it does.
As if we didn’t need another argument in favor of breakfast, The Huffington Post this morning reported a study that skipping breakfast could be linked to diabetes in overweight women. According to the article and another study done by NPD group: 10% of the population in the U.S. does not eat breakfast. Doesn’t sound like much? That’s 31-million people, Mae!
It’s called “break (the) fast” for a reason: you have been on a five to eight hour fast. Personally I’m a bear after about two or three hours.
But you’re “not hungry” you say? Okay, let me see if we can find some solutions, but let’s first agree that there are no exceptions to the rule, just solutions to challenges. Okay, good, everybody agrees.
In finding solutions let’s try to solve for a breakfast that occurs as immediately after waking as possible. 30 minutes after waking is the current paradigm in Fitness circles, for the timeframe in which one must eat breakfast for it to count, so that is what we will go with as our measuring stick.
Oh, so you have heard of the 30-30 rule? 30 grams of protein in the first 30 minutes of waking? Tim Ferris, author of “The Four Hour Work-week,” and the “Four Hour Body,” is the major driving source behind this push, but so is everybody’s favorite doctor, Dr Oz. I am no certified nutritionist, so I can neither refute nor deny this claim that eating 30 grams in the first 30 minutes will be a cornerstone to maintaining or achieving a healthy fitness profile, but I will agree that eating early seems to set the stage for healthy eating all day.
I follow the 30-30 rule but that’s me
However, if your current breakfast is oxygen, or at best coffee, I would start with eating whatever you can stomach until the habit is in place. Remember, we cannot improve on non-existant habits, and it takes 21 days to get a habit going. If that means your breakfast is a bowl of fruit, a granola bar, eggs and bacon, or worst case scenario last night’s pizza, then I say get it in and get it in good.
A trick for those who struggle with shoving food in too early is to drink a glass of water first. Give it a few minutes and then try eating. If it stays down, mission accomplished, but don’t think bad breakfast habits are forever. My mother, who never ate before 11AM, taught herself to eat breakfast in her 50’s. People are making this change all the time.
So what options for following the 30-30 rule are there if eggs are not on the menu?
Many people have picked up the protein shake thing. You can drink RTDs (ready-to-drink) or mix powders with water or milk. Inside of those option there are about as many options for protein shakes as there are opinions on what is good or bad. Soy gets a bad rap these days, but if that’s where you start your breakfast journey and it works for you, fine. Get the habit in place and we will make it a better habit next month.
Dry nuts or peanut butter can be great sources of protein and a nice compliment to a first meal. Combine them with some fruit, like a banana or mango, and now you’re getting fancy.
Nuts not your thing? Then what about legumes? Mix a bowl of frijoles with rice and we now have a complete protein.
Gallo Pinto alone is nice source of building blocks for your muscles, not to mention tasty, and found everywhere in Costa Rica. If you don’t like frijoles go chickpeas, lentils or any bean out there. Cooked properly, beans digest well, and have a ton of good-for-you stuff in them.
For the bold of heart, tuna, mixed in a bowl with lettuce and tomatoes is a brave early morning meal. It’s really not my cup of tea that early in the day but tuna is a very clean and action packed source of protein. In Costa Rica, the options are plentiful: in oil, in water, with vegetables, with jalapeños, the list goes on endlessly at every corner super in town.
Here is what I suggest. First, think about what you might consider eating in the first 30 minutes of the day, either from the things above or anything that will go down (and stay down). On your next trip to the super, plan to spend a minute picking out your breakfast, and keep an open mind.
Here is where the ball can drop. If the food goes into a cupboard or in the fridge without a thought, and your habit is to wake and not eat, then that food is likely to rot where you put it. If you can’t leave it out, because it needs to be cool or away from pests, then write and note and put that where you will see it.
21 days, another new habit, lets go.
This is like solitaire or chemical recovery. Nobody is going to be there to make you do the right thing for your body, but if it has been on your mind for any length of time, and if you want to make a change, then you have be accountable to yourself.
Good Luck.
Pura Vida and Pura Fitness!
Written by VIP Member Damon Mitchell who spent over 10 years in the fitness industry before he moved to Costa Rica in search of a better work/life balance. Currently he lives in Playa Tamarindo in Guanacaste, where he and his wife Cristina are owner-operators of Pizza&Co pizza express, located in Plaza Conchal 2.
Daily, Damon runs on the beach or works out at Tamarindo Fitness Center, keeping fit by doing a combination of old-school weight lifting, calisthenics, TRX, stability ball work and just about anything he can do to create new and fun exercises. Most recently he is learning to surf.
You can email Damon here if there is anything specific about staying fit and healthy in Costa Rica you would like him to cover in his next article.
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What to Eat for Breakfast – ‘Desayuno’ – in Costa Rica?
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Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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