Carly has always had breakfast. As a child, this was non-negotiable. She has a very poor memory, so has no idea what she ate as a child, but as an adolescent she loved to cook a quick type of porridge called Readibrek. Mostly because she liked the adverts on television about this product. There were kids venturing in their dark clothes in a cold village in rural England with a warm orange glow around them because they ate Readibrek. A bit like a fuzzy halo but all over their bodies and it kept them warm, and sustained all the way to school, and well into the late morning!
Carly knew this was all drivel. She would never be seen by anyone as a kid in dark clothes in a rural English village. No, she went to school in a burgundy uniform with a red and white striped tie on the tube from Finchley Central to Moorgate. And every day she passed a mirror on the way out of the house and there was no hint of a halo in any shape or colour. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. As microwaves had not yet been invented, cooking porridge always made the saucepan sticky and tricky to clean by hand. At least dishwashers had been invented. Phew!
Carly was always drawn to breakfast as her most favourite meal. It could be sweet, or savoury, or a mix of both. And as Carly has a real issue with boredom, there could be a lot of variety with small portion sizes. At lunch and supper there was always one plate with no more than three different elements. Protein, greens and a carb. A meal with not a lot of variety. And the entire meal had to be finished. Well, certainly that was the case, when growing up.
Breakfast could be more, shall we say, entrepreneurial. And since she has been a committed and devoted coffee addict for over 30 years, this has played a central role in her first meal of the day. A sort of ritual, as she nearly always goes out in the morning, for at least one coffee from a Fourth Wave Coffee institution. One of those independent places, with exposed brickwork, hopefully comfy sofas and lots of wood. Preferably with great staff. And breakfast must fit in either side, depending on how her day is looking. Certainly, food must be after early morning exercise. Coffee has more fluid rules.
During the pandemic, Carly decided to embark on an online personal development programme called Life Book. It was supposed to take six weeks and even though Carly is a completer/finisher and pretty speedy at most things, it took her double the amount of time. And work wasn’t busy, as no kids caught any bugs. She works in a hospital as a paediatrician, and early in lockdown didn’t have much to do. She thought about why she took so much longer to complete this course than advertised. Especially as she is designated as a hurry up person rather than the others in the ‘Authentic Talent’ leadership model. There are five sorts of people. The people pleasers, the try harder types, the be strong guys, and those who try to attain perfection. Of course, all these types are not mutually exclusive, but you do lean towards one of these five types. And Carly’s was full on hurry up type.
In the Life Book programme, the first category of the twelve units was nutrition and fitness. It seemed to Carly quite a large one to cover and make meaningful and lasting changes in half a week! However, when Carly looks back with her retrospectoscope, she can see she did make some permanent changes. Jon and Missy Butcher designed and ran the programme. They appeared outwardly as this splendid couple but claimed they had been through hard graft to get there. They recommended a green smoothie for breakfast and some form of cardio exercise every day. Carly has been religiously adhering to both. She prepares a flask of oats, milk, yogurt, frozen spinach, half a banana and a date, to be liquidized with a blender and drunk over two days. It is too much effort to be done daily, and any longer, the smoothie starts to taste fizzy. Carly always felt it was best to use as many fresh and organic ingredients as possible. But spinach sold in frozen cubes is way cheaper and so much more convenient.
Probably the best breakfasts in the world are the ones in hotels in Tel Aviv. Almost to the point of being overwhelmed, but as Carly lives there, she goes oh so rarely and so she can enjoy the treat of the most amazing spread. It is like a culinary exhibition from all over the world. It is always served buffet style. This means it is not only not very relaxing as all the guests are marching back and forth to fill up, but also so very difficult to moderate the quantity you bring back to your table. Well, maybe Carly is just much worse at this, as she has no breakfast food filter. Yes, some aspects of her personality do need work. Greed is not an attractive trait, thinks Carly. However, she can maintain a reasonable weight without resorting to Ozempic like so many people she knows!
Her favourite holiday breakfast is in Lemnaradis as it is during the silent period. This is where she attends a yoga and writing retreat, and there is enforced silence until lunchtime. She cannot make a green smoothie for herself but nonetheless has a ritual she enjoys and comes back to each time she returns to this haven she has found in Greece. Half a piece of bread, toasted. Some butter is then applied, a few very thin slices of hard yellow cheese and a bit of homemade marmalade. Recently, she tried orange bergamot! Then she spoons into a smallish bowl a large dollop of Greek yogurt with fruit salad. But it needs something to sweeten it. Usually honey. This last time she bought a pot of a sublime white chocolate paste with hazelnuts, almonds and a hint of coffee. Then onto the coffee. She heats the small cafetiere and then adds some fresh-ground coffee. She heats up the milk in the microwave and adds a spoon of sugar. She whisks it by hand as fast as possible so that it looks frothy like a cappuccino. One of the things she loves about Lemnaradis is that there are lots of different crockery and cutlery to choose from. One day she might want a want a pale blue mug and the next a shiny royal blue one with a totally different shape. This has led her to letting her guests choose, when coming to her for a meal, their cups or glasses for wine and other beverages. Unfortunately, she only has a limited supply of plates, bowls and cutlery to extend this choice offered to her guests beyond fluid receptacles. But Carly is amazed how people at the same meal chose different vessels and designate each one for wine or water. Bizarre but fun!
Recently she had breakfast with her German friends. This always has to involve alcohol irrespective of the time of day and playing a board game. Carly prepared mimosas with orange juice she squeezed herself. She tried to find windfalls from the orange trees in her road, and fizzy white wine instead of real deal champagne. They brought most of the food as they are quite particular about the bread and cheese to be consumed. They played a terrible game. They nearly always are! It was Famous Women Bingo. No skill whatsoever involved but after every woman was called, the caller had to read out information about her. Which was educational and maybe fun, but no talent required!
Carly likes to read mindfulness magazines. All sorts of activities seem to appeal to Carly. She would like to join an adult Lego group and take her dog to agility classes, where Carly gets to run around, and Talulah jumps through hoops and over obstacles. One thing that she found out about was getting a wellness coach. For nutrition and exercise. Carly felt she had nailed breakfast so that was pretty healthy. But lunch needed more work. At her work, she asked for a coach and voilà, she was introduced to Louis Larche who had just started at her hospital and so was bright-eyed and bushy tailed. They worked on goals together. She found out that walking upstairs and uphill fast counts as cardio. Tick that one off. And soups are a great way to go for increasing veggie intake. Her most abiding memory was him holding up a banana. It wasn’t overly ripe as Carly doesn’t like them when they are yellow with brown spots. He picked it up and went with this scenario. You are nearing the end of your meal. If you think you could now eat a whole banana, in addition then for sure, carry on eating. But if not, STOP! Carly brings this image of this perfect banana (just this side of a bit green) to mind and considers whether she is sated.
One of Carly’s big bugbears about breakfast is the number of people who don’t eat it. They get hangry (hungry and angry) and then eat too much later in the morning. It is a particular problem for obese adolescents who make up a significant proportion of the children she sees. Besides the parents giving them enormous portion sizes, free range of snacks, they also do not insist on the most important meal of the day – breakfast. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
