Good morning in the lay-by! Do you feel yourself drawn irresistibly to the truck stop, where you would like to indulge in a hearty farmer’s breakfast? Unfortunately, the tight waistband makes you realise that this is not the best idea? No problem, you can also rustle up a healthy breakfast in your truck without any effort. Here are ten ideas for you:
1. Drink your coffee black
For most people there is no reason to give up the morning coffee. Scientists have been arguing about the pros and cons for years, but if you don’t suffer from high blood pressure and don’t overdo it, coffee will kick start your circulation and boost your ability to concentrate. Just make sure that you drink plenty along the way, because the black gold has a diuretic effect. If you need to count the calories, drink your coffee black and avoid milk and sugar.
2. First drink, then eat
After a long night you can feel really hungry. But before you tuck straight into your breakfast, you should have a drink. A large glass of water, preferably with a dash of lemon juice (available in small bottles at all supermarkets), helps to reduce fatigue, balances the fluid balance of your cells and usually shows you that your hunger is not as great as you thought.
3. Healthy breakfast: Porridge oats are a classic
Maybe you ate porridge oats for breakfast as a kid? You can try that again. Do not choose the fine variety, but the coarse variety that you have to chew thoroughly. This is how you can boost your digestion in the morning. Your body is kept busy breaking down the long-chain carbohydrates you give it. This will keep your blood sugar levels steady over a longer period of time and you will not get hungry again so quickly. The milk or yoghurt with which you mix the porridge oats provides your body with protein, and any fruits and nuts vitamins and fibre.
4. Bread and rolls
When choosing baked goods for your healthy breakfast, you should select whole grain products. Of course a chocolate croissant is delicious, but it also contains a lot of fat and sugar. Cheese topped hearty rolls are also delicious, but are absolutely no good for your waistline. Wholemeal bread and rolls, on the other hand, are just as effective as coarse porridge oats. You need to chew thoroughly, and your body needs time to digest them. Accordingly, this helps to stave off the next hunger pangs for longer.
5. The right spread for bread
If you are a fan of hearty salami or fatty liver sausage, you will not like this at all. You should avoid these bread toppings if possible. Not forever, of course – but once you have opened such a package in a truck, you naturally also want to finish it before the sausage goes off. It is better to pack fresh cheese or cottage cheese with little fat for a healthy breakfast. There are also various delicious vegetarian spreads that you can try. Many of them are spicy, hot or otherwise tasty, so you won’t miss the fatty meat. Simply let yourself be inspired in the appropriate aisle in the supermarket!
6. Vegetables are a healthy supplement
A healthy breakfast should be varied, so that you do not lose your appetite for it so quickly. You should therefore add strips of vegetables to your bread or porridge oats, for example: carrots, cucumbers, peppers or tomatoes are quickly sliced and taste delicious. In addition, they hardly burden the body and have very few calories. Accordingly, they are also a good snack if you start to feel hungry again between meals.
7. A quick healthy breakfast with fruit
With some fruit you can start the day the healthy and tasty way. Be it by slicing a banana into your porridge, washing a peach or quartering an apple. You should consider the latter in particular if you want to lose weight. The correct order would be to first drink a glass of water and then eat an apple. You then first visit the service area washroom and get ready for the day. In the meantime, your stomach has had time to get used to the liquid and fruit – your hunger may not be as great, so your healthy breakfast can be smaller than usual. To lose weight, eat an apple half an hour before each main meal and then only as much as you need to fill your stomach. Important! This tip does not help if you eat the apples in addition to your normal portions!
8. Yoghurt or quark
If you can’t eat so much in the morning, a yoghurt or quark is good for a healthy breakfast. You supply your body with proteins which allow it to start working. But be aware – natural yoghurt and unprocessed quark are the healthier alternatives! They are less sweet than the fruit-enriched industrial products, which usually contain a lot of sugar. Cut some fresh fruit into your own bowl and you will not only get the delicious fruit taste, but also vitamins and fibre.
9. Delicious eggs!
Eggs are full of vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids. This means they have many healthy nutrients and are a good ingredient for a healthy breakfast. You can take ready boiled eggs from home if you do not want to prepare them yourself on the cooker during your breaks. They last a long time if you pay attention to a few things when boiling them. First of all, it is important that you boil the eggs for ten minutes so that the egg yolk also hardens. Then you should neither prick the eggs nor rinse them under cold water, because only if their shell is completely intact will they last long. However, you can still eat eggs prepared in this way after two weeks if you store them at room temperature. If you keep them in the fridge, they’ll last four weeks! But if you prefer a creamy egg yolk, there is no way around preparing the eggs yourself fresh.
10. Don’t forget to brush your teeth
Even if it sounds like a tip from Mum, brush your teeth after breakfast before setting off again. Otherwise you will have the delicious taste in your mouth for even longer, and this can stimulate your appetite again, even if you are not hungry at all. This may tempt you to slip into the snack trap and perhaps eat some unhealthy snacks again. The fresh taste of the toothpaste hardly goes together with any other taste and therefore helps to curb the appetite for food. In addition, since early childhood we have come to associate it with a time when there is no more food – so brushing your teeth is the ideal way to finish breakfast before driving off.
Summary: A healthy breakfast can be varied
If you want to bypass truck stop food and prepare your own breakfast in the morning, it doesn’t have to be boring! A healthy breakfast can consist of very different ingredients and provides your body reliably with important nutrients. With the right combination you can also make sure that you are not suddenly plagued by cravings in the morning. Your body will thank you for it in the long run.
Learn more about how you as a professional driver can also eat yourself healthy on the road and how you can most effectively avoid the risk of becoming overweight!