My go to winter fruit-based breakfasts
My favorite fruit-based breakfasts to enjoy during the winter months!
Over the last few years, I have really enjoyed eating more seasonally.
The food is fresher, more nutritious and it invites more creativity and change into your life, which I always welcome. A stale routine is the pits.
One practice I’ve really come to love and benefit from is eating a fruit-based breakfast, which is a fancy way of saying just fruit for breakfast.
Eating fruit in the morning hours, on its own on an empty stomach is the best way to maximize its benefits (according to Ayurvedic wisdom). And eating it only this way can help you avoid fermentation in your stomach, which leads to digestive distress (acidity, gas, indigestion, bloat, etc.), which I’m very much not into.
So, I start every day this way (around 9-10AM, for inquiring minds), right after finishing a nice, long hard Tracy Anderson workout. It is my favorite ritual and completely non-negotiable. The combination of these things has helped improve my digestion, elimination, energy levels, confidence in myself and overall vibration.
So in the spirit of that, I wanted to share my favorite winter fruit-based breakfasts with you. If you eat seasonally, you know that winter can be trickier and honestly less inspiring in the fruit department than the summer months (when fruit is way, way more abundant).
This list has everything - from plain fruit to juices and smoothies to warm fruit-stews.
To kick things off, here’s a rough idea of what’s in season at the moment:
Apples
Oranges (all varieties)
Grapefruit
Kiwis
Lemons
Limes
Pears
Papaya
Pomegranates
Persimmons
As you’re gonna see, there’s no “one” or “right” way to do a fruit-based breakfast.
You can eat any one of these on their own. I often do. Some days I like to add a simple spice to enhance the flavor, and on others I like to combine a 2-3 fruits in a bowl.
Here are some of my favorite combinations:
Papaya chunks with fresh lime juice and chili powder
Persimmon slices with pomegranate seeds
Apples and kiwi with a quick splash of fresh squeezed orange juice
Grapefruit with cardamom and squeeze of fresh lime juice
When I crave it, I enjoy what I like to call “combined fruit-based breakfasts”, which is my fancy way of saying a juice or smoothie that combines one or more fruits (sometimes with with a seasonal vegetable or leafy green), or cooked fruit paired with simple spices to enhance flavor or optimize digestion (warm foods are great for this).
Here are my go to combined fruit-based breakfasts:
Smoothies
Apple, lime, coconut, banana, fresh mint and filtered water
Pear, spinach, romaine, lemon or lime, coconut water and filtered water
Juices
Apple, cucumber, spinach, ginger, lemon
Pear, celery, cucumber, ginger
Stews
Cooked apples with ground turmeric, cinnamon and ginger
Stewed pears with cinnamon
For those wondering about portions…
Fruit is always roughly between 1 or 1.5 cups (no matter how many fruits I use or whether I’m eating it whole, cooked or juiced)
If adding a leafy green to a smoothie, it’s about a handful.
If juicing, I will increase the volume of vegetables in general and use mostly water-based veggies (usually 1/2 to 1 whole cucumber, 3-5 celery stalks) to increase hydration (a must in winter!) and volume.
If you’re new to eating this way, and want to give it a go, here’s some advice I can offer:
First, try not to focus on fruits that aren’t available to you (i.e. out of season). Embrace the variety that eating seasonally brings; fruit is fresher, and the flavor is deeper and more satisfying than eating out of season. I will take an orange over berries in the winter any day of the week.
Leave rigidity at the door and lead with your gut. In my experience working with clients, breakfast is typically the most rigid of meals, meaning most people eat the same thing every day. If you’re going to be successful with this habit, you can’t eat on auto pilot. So when you wake up in the morning, really listen to your tummy and be mindful about what you’re craving.
If your appetite is low one day, maybe all you need to start your day is a few bites or piece of fruit.
Craving something more substantial? Opt for a combined fruit-based smoothie (and maybe up the portion size if you’re feeling extra hungry).
Having trouble going to the bathroom, or want warmth and nourishment? Enjoy a fruit-based stew with digestive spices to help move things along.
Want to give your body a deep antioxidant boost? Grab your juicer.
Finally, if this is completely new to you, try it for just a day. Set a goal to enjoy one of these fruit-based breakfast and only eat it in the morning, on an empty stomach to really feel the benefits. And avoid fruit with or after meals. Take a pause throughout the day to check in with how you feel. If you’re feeling good, do it again tomorrow.
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