With Christmas behind us and the New Year just around the corner, many are now looking to lose weight gained over the holiday season. A common error that I see in the weight loss quest is skipping breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast is linked to healthy weight and reduced weight gain over time. Read on to find out more.
Eating breakfast helps with weight loss by revving up your metabolism for the day. During sleep, our metabolism runs slowly. Eating food in the morning shifts our body out of this starvation mode by giving our metabolism a little jumpstart. Breakfast is the fuel that will provide us with both mental and physical energy for the day ahead.
Another way that breakfast can help with weight loss is by reducing food intake later in the day. I often see that people who don’t eat breakfast end up eating more than compared to breakfast eaters. Most people are not even aware that they are doing this until I point out their calorie distribution throughout the day. Often, they’re starving mid-afternoon and overcompensate on calories throughout the evening.
Finally, breakfast provides an opportunity to eat many nutrient dense foods, such as whole grains and fruit, to help meet daily fibre needs and milk products to help meet daily calcium needs. If people don’t eat these at breakfast, they often have a hard time meeting these daily nutrient requirements. Breakfast is the perfect opportunity to include these important foods in our diet.
If you think that eating breakfast makes you “hungrier” later on in the day, then take a good look at what you’re eating. If not chosen carefully, some classic breakfast foods tend to be high in refined carbohydrates. These foods can cause a quick rise and consequent dip in blood sugars that makes you feel hungry. The key to preventing this rise and drop in blood sugar is selecting complex carbohydrates that are a good source of fibre as well as a good source of protein with breakfast. Some good examples include: Greek yogurt with berries and All bran, whole grain toast with cottage cheese and avocado or fried eggs on a whole grain English muffin.
The top excuse for not eating breakfast is lack of time. Getting in the habit of eating breakfast each morning would be a great goal for 2018. If you struggle with lack of time, try making breakfast the night before, such as high protein overnight oats or breakfast muffins. Other breakfast ideas like greek yogurt with berries take little time to make in the morning. Set your clock 10 minutes earlier so that you have time to eat breakfast.
Bottom line, eating a breakfast rich in fibre and high in protein will help you achieve your weight goals. Whatever the excuse, vow to make eating a balanced breakfast part of your 2018 routine.
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