I have to admit I am not a huge breakfast fan, especially when I first get up. I have to wait a bit before eating but I do love breakfast foods. I know how important it is for my body to be fed properly with wholesome foods to start the day off right!
However, when dieting, many people are tempted to skip breakfast as a way to cut back on the calories. Scientific studies have shown that avoiding this meal completely backfires for most dieters. Let’s look at why and some things we can do to over come that.
Why Eating Breakfast Can Help You Lose Weight
There are several reasons, but first and foremost is that you are setting your body’s hunger level for the rest of the day.
It’s hard to stay on a diet when you are constantly thinking about food, right? Well, you can assure yourself of an easier time with your eating intentions if you start your day out with a high protein breakfast.
The reason is simple: when you keep your blood sugar level steady, your hunger level remains steady, too. Plus, that is when you are able to start losing the bloat and drop weight.
The second reason is that, as implied with the term ‘break’ and ‘fast’, it’s important to break the fast from your sleep state and wake up your body by eating.
When you eat a quality breakfast, you literally fire up your metabolism and the rest of your body’s functions. This increases your burn rate on calories throughout the day – something that we dieters are working towards anyway.
There are other health benefits, too.
When you eat breakfast consistently, you have an easier time processing fat through the liver. Your cognitive levels are stronger throughout the day. Your body will process insulin more efficiently, leading to healthier blood sugar levels.
Make Protein Priority
Now before you start digging out the cereals and waffles, you need to make sure you are eating the right things for breakfast. Think protein and complex carbohydrates, like Canadian bacon, cottage cheese, eggs, whole grains, and fruits.
The reason for this is if you eat processed items like white bread, pancakes, cold cereals or waffles, your blood sugar level will jump, causing your hunger level to return with a vengeance a few hours later. You want to focus on food that requires more work for your body to digest.
Think eggs, bacon or sausage, cheese, plain Greek yogurt with berries, and whole grain breads like pumpernickel or stone-ground whole wheat bread, if you want a bit of carbs.
These type of foods will fill you up, feed your body the nutrition it needs, and satisfy you for a long time.
Protein is also perfect for those that do long fasts. Breaking your fasts with protein is the only way to feed your body after it has been working on healing your gut and cells.
Prioritizing breakfast is something I need to do and doing it with protein is a game changer for balancing blood sugar which helps you lose weight in the long run.
Hi! I’m Chris! Just a Midlife Wife sharing about life’s journey; screaming and kicking through it while supposedly aging gracefully…
Focusing on healthy living, low carb & keto, things I am loving right now, and life in general.