We all know that we need a healthy breakfast, but to be quite honest, most of us fall into an unhealthy routine with it. Then we get comfortable there and it's difficult to make the switch. I'm happy to report that today marks three weeks that I've successfully switched up my breakfast routine!

Typically, I like to have a bagel and chai for breakfast during the week, and on the weekends I make a bigger breakfast (something like pancakes, a tofu scramble, vegan biscuits and gravy, etc.). However, the bagel is not exactly healthy, and the chai has too much sugar. I've also had plenty of days of having a smoothie for breakfast, but due to it lacking protein, I'm starving an hour after drinking it. Then I'd reach for something else and end feeling like I had two breakfasts just to make it to lunch.

Three weeks ago I finished reading the book The Urban Monk (great book, by the way). He talked a lot about a high protein breakfast and protein powder smoothies in the book. I ended up being motivated to try adding the protein powder to my smoothie to see if it would carry me to lunch. I wanted a vegan protein powder, so I opted for the Vega protein powder brand, finding it on sale right at Target (from my shopping around, they seem to have the best price on it locally). 

Here I am with three weeks down! I have been having a high protein smoothie every day for breakfast during the week, and then enjoying my other favorite breakfasts on the weekend. This smoothie pictured has 33 grams of protein, which comes form the protein powder, soy milk, chia seed, and banana. However, I may scale back slightly on the powder and make the smoothie around 25 grams of protein. Doing this will help stretch the powder and it will keep it from having an after taste. I tried to get my kids to drink a reduced version of this (half of the protein powder) and my son hated it, saying that he didn't like the after taste, while my daughter loves it and has been drinking it every morning before school. My husband is now drinking this, too, although he likes to add additional fruit to his smoothie with it.

The good news is that drinking this one smoothie now holds me over until lunch. I start getting hungry around a half an hour before lunch, which works out perfectly. Not only is is giving more nutrition and energy, but it also eliminated all of the sugar that I was getting in the morning chai (about 28 grams!). The Vega protein powder has just 2 grams of sugar, and the soymilk has just one gram.  The protein powder has 20 grams of protein, the soymilk has 7 grams of protein per cup (and I use 1.5 cups), the chia seed has 2 grams of protein, and the banana has one gram of protein.

A win-win situation that I plan to stick with for a while!

Happy breakfasting! :)

- Jacqueline