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Why Eat A Healthy Breakfast
Numerous scientific studies have solidified the fact that eating a healthy and balanced breakfast is the key to healthy weight loss.
The individuals participating in these studies, who were instructed to follow the scientists’ highly structured breakfast routine, consistently weighed less than their counterparts, who started each day without proper fuel for their bodies.
As wonderful and easy as this may sound, most seasoned dieters recognized the fact that achieving healthy weight loss is far more complicated than just eating a healthy breakfast.
So, how is it that eating a healthy and balanced breakfast plays such an important role in healthy weight loss? Simple!
- Eating a healthy and balanced breakfast helps prevent drastic fluctuations in blood sugar levels, which in turn helps prevent food cravings and makes it easier for us to make healthy food choices later in the day.
- Learning to eat a healthy and balanced breakfast, each and every day, is the foundation on which all healthy diet plans are built. This is because in today’s hectic world learning the discipline to structure one’s day in a way that allows time for planning, preparing and consuming a healthy breakfast is the key to long-term weight loss success.
Breakfast Defined
The word, “breakfast” means “break the fast”.
When we sleep, we fast for a period of at least 5 to 8 hours. Once we wake, we must provide our bodies with the necessary fuel they need to restart our metabolisms.
Think of it in comparison to a car. It won’t run without gas, right? Our bodies are designed in the same way. We need to feed our metabolisms and by so doing, we can kick start the weight loss process. Another important point in relation to weight loss is that individuals who eat breakfast, consistently, are much less likely to overeat throughout the day, eat late at night or snack on unhealthy foods.
What Is A Nutritious Breakfast?
- Remember the 1-2-3 Rule of Nutrition: Our bodies require one serving of protein, two servings of fruit, and three servings of grain.
Healthy breakfast protein options include:
- Eggs
- Low fat milk
- Cottage cheese
- Greek yogurt
- Kefir cheese (Labne)
- Soy milk (unsweetened)
Eating fruit at breakfast ensures that we start the day with the fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and carbohydrates we need for optimal health.
Healthy, low glycemic fruit include:
- Grapefruit (GI 25)
- Peaches (GI 28)
- Apples (GI 34)
- Pears (GI 41)
- Oranges (GI 40)
- Strawberries (GI 40)
Oatmeal is also a healthy, excellent breakfast food. Oatmeal is a high carbohydrate, low-glycemic food that releases its carbohydrates into the bloodstream, gradually, thereby making it possible for a person to feel fuller, longer.
Fiber is also an important weight loss tool and should be made an important part of a healthy breakfast. It keeps the digestive system running smoothly and that’s just one of the 12 interesting facts about fiber.
Americans as a whole love their breakfast cereals ranging from raisin bran and frosted wheats to chocolate covered bits and more. On the whole, we tend to eat cereals high in sugar and calories because they taste great and avoid those that are healthy for us but taste like cardboard. We’ve compiled a list of the top high fiber cereals that are not only high in fiber (as the name suggests) but also taste great and are light on the wallet.
5-Day Healthy Breakfast Menu Ideas: 400-Calorie Breakfasts
I love eggs! Therefore, you’ll notice that most of these breakfast recommendations feature eggs. Whole eggs, as well as egg whites, are an excellent source of lean protein. However, if you are not a fan of eggs please feel free to substitute another form of protein. Be sure to follow the golden rule of nutrition: The 1-2-3 rule.
P.S. I mostly drink soy milk because I am lactose intolerant. Feel free to substitute skim milk or unsweetened almond milk in place of soy milk if you prefer.
Monday: Mondays are busy days for most of us. So, it’s very important that we eat a balanced breakfast that is also fast and easy to prepare. When I have this breakfast, I like to mix the fruit in with my cereal and top my scrambled eggs with cottage cheese. Cottage cheese and scrambled egg-whites make a yummy combination!
- 1/2 cup Fiber One cereal (60 calories)
- 1 cup Soy Milk (Unsweetened) (80 calories)
- 1 fruit of your choice (apple, pear, peach, or 1/2 cup strawberries) (80 calories +/-)
- 4 egg-whites, scrambled (120 calories)
- 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese (50 calories)
Tuesday: Now, that you’re back into your weekday schedule it is time to prepare a slightly more complex breakfast burrito. You can cook the sweet potato and prepare the salsa ahead of time in order to save time. When I have this breakfast, I mash the sweet potato and spread it on the Tortilla before building the burrito.
- Salsa: tomato, Jalapeno, onion, salt, and lime juice (It’s best not to buy Salsa since most brands contain preservatives and high fructose corn syrup)
- 4 egg-whites, scrambled (120 calories)
- 1/2 small sweet potato, baked in skin, mashed (100 calories)
- 1 small whole wheat Tortilla (100 calories)
- 1/2 cup orange juice (60 calories)
Wednesday: This is my vegetarian breakfast day. This Quinoa recipe is my favorite high protein, vegetarian breakfast. You can prepare all the ingredients ahead of time and if you end up with left-overs you can take them to work and eat them for lunch or an afternoon snack.
- 1 cup Soy Milk (Unsweetened) (80 calories)
- 1 cup strawberries (50 calories)
- 1 cup Quinoa (220 calories)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp honey (50 calories) (GI 55)
Preparation: Cook 1 cup Quinoa in 1 cup water. Once all liquid has evaporated stir in strawberries and cinnamon. Transfer to a bowl, drizzle with honey and enjoy!
Thursday: Thursday is a long day for me. So, I like to make this egg and sweet potato Frittata. Of course, I must make this breakfast the night before since it takes a bit of preparation. However, the good thing is that I often have left-overs for lunch, which saves me money and helps me avoid the take-out temptation. Serving size is 2 @ 315 calories per serving which also leaves you room for a cup of soy milk or a piece of fruit.
You will need:
- 1 small, mild onion
- 1 medium sweet potato (150 calories)
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 calories)
- 12 egg whites (360 calories)
Preparation:
- Cook the sweet potato in boiling water, peel, cut into cubes and set aside
- Chop onion and bell pepper and sautee in olive oil till tender
- Stir in cooked sweet potato
- Spray an omelet pan with Pam
- Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper
- Mix ingredients together and pour into omelet pan
- Cover omelet pan and cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat to set eggs
- Uncover pan and place under hot broiler till Frittata is firm
Friday: By Friday I am too lazy to cook. So, I make myself an easy breakfast.
- 1/2 cup of oatmeal made with water (150 calories)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 banana (50 calories)
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (150 calories)
- 1/4 cup cottage cheese (50 calories)…Mixed into the Greek yogurt…with 2 or 3 diced strawberries
