Want to keep weight problems away? Then avoid skipping breakfast.
If your daily schedule is hectic and rushed, especially in the morning, skipping breakfast can seem like an easy and obvious way to cut a few extra calories out of your daily intake. Far from being hungry at that hour, many of us aren’t even thinking about food, and given the choice we’d rather hit the snooze bar a few more times than get up and make a mess in the kitchen. If you’re trying to lose weight, some breakfast skippers ask, why force yourself to eat when you don’t even want to?
Breakfast: A Healthy Way to Avoid Weight Problems
Here’s why: simply putting a few bites of food in your mouth in the morning can have a surprising impact on your weight loss goals. First, by the time noon rolls around, if you haven’t eaten a bite since the night before, your body is craving food on levels you may not directly feel. But even if you don’t feel like you’re starving, you’re likely to choose a much bigger and possibly unhealthier lunch than you otherwise would. Studies show that people who skip breakfast tend to have more weight problems, eat more throughout the day, and consume more calories after 5:00 p.m., when those calories are less likely to be burned off.
Breakfast Helps Regulate Blood Sugar
And that’s only half the issue. Our metabolism—the speed and mechanism by which we convert food into energy—is influenced by hormones that help our stomach and brain communicate. If we don’t eat in the morning, our empty stomach tells the brain to slow our metabolism down and take a more conservative approach to energy resources. If we then pile on the calories at noon, our blood sugar fluctuates wildly. The body was prepared for conservation, and now it needs to respond to a sudden spike in glucose, which can lead to sugar rushes, sleepiness, and weight problems. Instead of no food all morning followed by large meals in the afternoon and evening, try smaller meals spaced evenly throughout the day. Start when you wake up.
What Makes a Great Breakfast?
When you reach for a quick breakfast, choose whole grain carbs like oatmeal or whole wheat toast. Add a little bit of protein like peanut butter with a spread of jam, or a handful of healthy fruits [3] like blueberries, strawberries, or bananas. You don’t need much—just enough to tell your body that the day has begun.
What healthy foods [4] do you choose when you wake up? Share your breakfast preferences and let us know how you make time to eat in the morning.