Breakfast

For as long as you can remember you've been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, all meals are important, in a sense, but breakfast is unique in that your last meal was probably more than ten hours ago and, even though you were asleep most of that time, your body is definitely ready for some fuel.

Many people fail to get enough protein at breakfast. This is especially important if you are anticipating a pre-lunch workout or are just need to be energized and alert during a hectic morning at work. We tend to like certain kinds of foods at breakfast and more often than not we want to be able to prepare and eat them quickly. This is usually not the time for a dish that takes an hour to prepare, but skipping breakfast altogether, as happens much too often, can lead to a variety of problems.

Lunch

Lunch for many of us is an unplanned affair: a quick escape from the office at the local sandwich shop, a sit-down with co-workers at a restaurant, or a brown-bag meal at our desks. Even those of us who have the luxury of being able to prepare something in our own kitchens, there is almost always a time constraint.

Eating out presents several problems. First of all, there is the problem of portion sizes. Even though the "super-sizing" fad seems to have run its course, the fact is that the portions provided at most restaurants, fast-food or not, are simply too big. Also, they tend to be unbalanced, generally with too much protein and not enough fiber, and unless you're at a seafood restaurant that has cold-water fish on the menu, you're probably not getting any significant amount of essential fats. Here are some ideas:

Portion sizes: There is no one forcing you to eat everything that is put in front of you. A restaurant is usually more than happy to box-up the remainder. Eat it later when you are in the middle of that long stretch of time between lunch and dinner when your body actually needs the food. Also, consider ordering an appetizer and two side dishes of fruit or vegetables. You are looking for about 4 oz. of protein. Most appetizers will provide it and the fruit and vegetables will help provide fiber balance.

Protein/Fiber balance and essential fats: Most lunch menus will have plenty of protein options, but usually the fiber options are fewer. Steamed vegetables and fresh fruits are a good source, but you might also consider carrying with you a small amount of wheat or oat bran to sprinkle over white rice, pasta and other ingredients that may not have high fiber content. If you want to boost your meal with Omega-3, then consider carrying milled flax seed, which also contains a signifcant amount of fiber.

Dinner

Ideally, dinner is the time for socializing, being with the family, sharing the trials and tribulations of our day, and winding things down for the evening. If you live alone, it might be the time when you catch up with the news on television or radio. But it is also a good time for "functional feasting," creating dishes that carefully designed to give our bodies all that good stuff we might not have had the time or opportunity to give them during the day.