Your mom was right you need to eat your breakfast. It may not be THE most important meal of the day, but it is absolutely essential to a healthy diet, a healthy body, and a healthy weight. In this article, I discuss the importance of breakfast and provide you with healthy breakfast ideas, even if you have to eat on the go.
Make time for breakfast. Youve
heard this one for a long time and its truebreakfast is very important to a
healthy diet. It breaks the fast youve had overnight and gets your metabolism
fired up.You actually burn more calories when you eat breakfast its like adding wood
to a fire. When your body goes all night and then all morning without food, it
assumes that you must be facing a famine and potential starvation, so it slows
your metabolism down the rate at which you burn calories in order to help you
survive as long as possible. Also, studies have shown that providing your brain
with fuel from breakfast allows you to think and perform better at school or
work.
As far as your weight is concerned, a healthy breakfast and lunch helps
prevent overeating later in the day. You dont save calories by skipping
breakfast because your body and mind will attempt to make up for it later in
the day.
One of the most common problems I have encountered with patients seeking weight
loss is that they skip breakfast andor lunch, eat a very large dinner and then
snack all evening until bedtime as their body attempts to make up for the lost
calories during the day. If you dont feel that you have time to eat breakfast
at home before work, then try to put a quick breakfast together before you go
to bed. Breakfast doesnt need to be a four course meal. You could put some
light cream cheese between two bagel halves and put it in a baggie, grab some
orange juice or skim milk and eat on the go. Or, grab a container of yogurt and
put some granola or Fiber One on top as you head out the door.
You also dont have to eat traditional breakfast food. Try a ham and cheese
sandwich on whole wheat bread with a banana and some milk or orange juice.
Another quick and easy breakfast is Jimmy Deans DLights breakfast sandwiches
found in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. Other healthy breakfast
options include readytoeat cereals with at least five grams of fiber per
serving e.g., Shredded Wheat, MiniWheats, Raisin Bran, bran flakes, Fiber
One, AllBran, and Kashi, oatmeal, whole grain bagels, English muffins,
toast with at least two grams of fiber per serving with lowsugar jelly or
light cream cheese, whole grain waffles or pancakes, fresh fruit, and skim
milk.
A highfiber breakfast helps you stay full until lunch without cravings for
snacks. Ive had the most success with cereals that have at least five grams of
fiber per serving. If you dont like any of the highfiber cereals, then try
mixing one of them with your favorite. This way, youll get to taste your
favorite cereal and get extra fiber at the same time. For example, mix about
12 cup of Fiber One with Honey Clusters with about 23 cup of Cinnamon Toast
Crunch.
Learning to eat healthier and lose weight so that you can maintain it in the
longrun is all about moderation and compromise. Speaking of compromise, one of
my favorite breakfast treats is biscuits and gravy and every now and then I
give into a craving. In order to save calories, I get the gravy on the side and
spoon just enough over the biscuit to taste it on every bite without drenching
it. Better yet, I make my own at home. Heres a lowerfat recipe for you to try
at home.
Youll Never Know Its ReducedFat, Biscuits and Gravy
- Take 13 of a roll of Jimmy Dean 50 less fat sausage and brown it in a skillet or brown the entire roll and put 23 of it in the freezer to use on a homemade pizza. Theres hardly any grease to make the gravy, so youll need to add 23 tablespoons of oil preferably canola or olive.
- Next, sprinkle 3 tablespoons of flour over the sausageoil mixture and whisk until absorbed.
- Add approximately 3 cups of skim milk and whisk until smooth.
- Season with a small pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer until thickened.
- Serve over biscuits made from ReducedFat Bisquick alongside some fresh fruit. Yum You can even serve this to your overnight guests and theyll never know its lower in fat.
BreakfastIt Does a Body Good. There are any BreakfastIt Does a Body Good in here.