If you’re a regular reader, you know I love my morning protein smoothies. I’m an advocate for them and believe they help you lose weight, despite the critics who say they’re too high in calories. But now I have proof! Within 2 days I ran into 2 different sources that said if you want to lose weight, eat a big meal in the morning (meaning the most calories), a smaller lunch and an even smaller dinner.
The Metro published, “Don’t skip breakfast” this past Tuesday, and cited 3 different research studies all concluding that this eating pattern helps you lose weight. The alternative does the exact opposite, that is, skipping breakfast or gradually increasing your caloric intake during the day and into the night helps you gain weight.
The second source is an article, “4 Simple Breakfast Rules for Shedding Pounds” from Oprah’s favourite docs, Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen, on their Real Age website. Both articles clearly explain the multi-faceted benefits of breakfast, which increases brain power and your mood while helping you control food cravings and lose weight!
Mom always said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. She was right! The dietician, Grace Wong, in the Metro article says that breakfast jump starts the metabolism as it literally breaks the fast we endure on a nightly basis.
Besides the timing aspect, another interesting tidbit that both articles mentioned was that balance is key for every meal of the day. From the Metro:
“A healthy breakfast includes three out of the four food groups listed in Canada’s Food Guide, according to Wong. The groups are: 1) vegetables and fruit; 2) grains; 3) milk and milk alternatives; 4) meat and meat alternatives.”
Some tips from both articles:
- Eat breakfast daily, even when you don’t have an appetite. A glass of milk is better than nothing, they say.
- Eat within an hour of waking.
- Choose complex carbs with lots of fiber, like oatmeal, toast & PB or blueberry & pecan pancakes… mmm… yummy.
- Make protein one of the food groups in every meal, it slows down metabolism and keeps you full longer.
Do you have any suggestions for healthy breakfast meals, taking the above into consideration? Let us know in the comments below!
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March 11th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
March 12th, 2009 at 9:57 am
I totally agree with you…under healthy circumstances. Unfortunately, with today’s packed schedules, it’s inconvenient to listen to nature (if we can even hear it over our stress).
So, until we can simplify our lives, I think it’s best to make the time to at least eat healthy and big in the morning. If you don’t, then your hunger will peak at the most inopportune times, and may likely lead to grabbing unhealthy snacks for convenience.
Do you have any ideas in how we can solve this problem?
March 12th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
If you rate your hunger level from 0 – 5, you should be eating around a 3, but more so around a 4. Waiting till you are a 5 will cause you to just grab whatever is in sight.
So if you are a person who does not get hungry immediately upon rising and find yourself hungry when at work or running errands, have bags of food prepared and with you, so that you can eat a sensible meal when hungry.
I hope this helps.
I love your green blender drinks. I have been making them for the past few days. They are fabulous.
March 13th, 2009 at 9:53 am
And I’m so happy to hear you love the blender drinks. Have you tried juicing them? I’m curious to see if they’re just as good.
March 14th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
March 15th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
April 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
April 15th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
But then I have to wonder if instead of forcing ourselves to eat, we nibble on something healthy in the morning? Then, take Neda’s advice and prepare something for when we’re hungrier?
April 20th, 2009 at 11:18 am
April 21st, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Since starting this blog, my healthy decisions are practically unconscious now – I’m healthier and lovin life!