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In the hectic hustle and bustle of our daily lives, many people may think that breakfast is just an option and it’s alright to skip it when you are in a rush or simply don’t have time to fix and eat a meal. Unfortunately, this is not true as breakfast is very important for your overall health and you should always ensure that you make time to have a healthy breakfast to start your day off the right way. When you eat breakfast, you will feel more awake and alert for whatever jobs you need to tackle throughout your day, plus it can even help with weight loss as an added bonus.
For starters, if you are attempting to lose weight or at least maintain a healthy weight, breakfast should be considered the most important meal of the day. Your body hasn’t had any food all night long and it needs food in order to have energy for the day. When you skip breakfast you are also more likely to feel hungry later which could lead to unhealthy snacking or making unhealthy food choices. It also means that you will probably become more hungry when it is lunch time which may result in overeating. Eating breakfast will help you to feel fuller until lunch time.
When you wake up in the morning, your body has been busy repairing tissues and cells while you were sleeping, causing your glucose level to be low. Not eating breakfast may cause you to feel tired during the day because your body doesn’t have the fuel that it needs to stay active and keep going. Food is your body’s fuel; your body breaks down food and turns it into energy. If you don’t eat breakfast, it’s like trying to drive a car with no gas; it just won’t go. Your body needs that energy to stay alert and awake throughout the day.
Studies have also shown that when you eat a healthy breakfast your mind is sharp and you will have the ability to focus which is important especially if you have school or work to get through. The fatigue you experience from not eating breakfast may make it difficult for you to concentrate and solve problems that you need to deal with throughout the day. If you want to always be at the top of your game at work, make sure that you don’t forget breakfast. This is just another reason why breakfast should not be skipped; you will gain a sharper mind.
When deciding what breakfast foods you should eat in the morning, stay away from sugary foods. These foods are just empty calories that will give you a quick fix and you may feel energetic for awhile, but sooner or later you will crash from the rush and fall to fatigue and sluggishness. Steer away from fast food restaurants as most of their food is unhealthy. If you do eat breakfast at a fast food restaurant, be sure to ask for light or sugar free syrup, and whole grain bread and skip the bacon or sausage.
You have a variety of things to choose from when it comes to choosing a healthy breakfast. First of all, you want to eat something that is high in protein such as an egg, or peanut butter on a slice of whole grain toast. Protein will give you more energy throughout the day and some studies show that protein can also curb hunger, while carbohydrates and sugary foods will cause you to become hungry soon after eating. Eating more protein than carbs also gets your kidney working harder which burns more calories.
A healthy breakfast may include 1 or 2 eggs, an egg omelet filled with lots of healthy vegetables, a healthy fruit smoothie made with yogurt or low fat milk, a glass of plain low fat milk, fruit, high fiber cereal, or a half of a bagel with hummus or fruit spread on it. These are just a few ideas of a healthy breakfast; the possibilities are endless. Just make sure to cut back on the “bad” foods and concentrate on healthy foods filled with protein to give you a healthy energizing start to the new day. It is recommended that you eat foods from the following food groups: fruits, milk, and grains. If you are buying something that is prepackaged, always be sure to read the label and pick the most nutritious one that you can find. Even if you are not feeling hungry in the morning, you should still try to eat something or find a healthy low carb, high protein cereal bar that you can eat on the run. Whatever you do, just make sure that you don’t skip breakfast or you will be feeling the effects of it later on in the day.
When thinking about becoming healthier, most of us know that we need to eat properly. Not only does this mean eating healthier foods, it also means don’t skip meals, especially when it comes to breakfast. As you an see, skipping breakfast can have a profound effect on your daily routine. Eating breakfast will improve your overall mood and will help you stay more alert when you have a job to do or a problem to figure out. You will make better decisions and have a better memory as a result of eating breakfast in the morning.
If you think you are too busy to stop and eat breakfast, get something that you can grab and eat on the go which could include pieces of fruit or a healthy breakfast bar. Don’t make excuses for not eating breakfast, just make sure that you do have breakfast every morning to start out another good day. It’s also important to remember to eat healthy breakfast foods instead of sugar filled foods. You can make the choice to eat healthier foods and your body will thank you for it in the end plus you won’t feel so sluggish and fatigued later on in the day once you experience the inevitable sugar crash.
Photo Courtesy of: daisybush
About The Author
This article is the courtesy of Jill Macfarlane, one of the editors over at good-health-tips.org, a general health website.
