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Eat Breakfast, Lose Weight, NO Excuses!

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So, I try to eat breakfast out with my husband on Sunday.  It is a nice treat.  However, I don’t like eating out and getting fattened up.  So, when we go out, I make appropriate choices.  I usually get an omelette, and substitute fruit and tomatoes for toast and potatoes.  I limit the fruit and the omelette and bring home half of it.  The portions are really big.  Now, I have a meal for tomorrow too.  Eating appropriately helps you look better and save money too!

Basically, if you want to lose weight or even maintain your weight, you must have breakfast.

Research has shown that people who skip breakfast may not be as successful with weight management as those people who eat breakfast regularly. Why? Eating breakfast may help you reduce snacking and avoid overeating.

Eating breakfast is like filling up a gas tank. When you wake up in the morning, your body is low on fuel, like a car running on empty.

A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that breakfast eaters fall prey to impulse snacking less often than non-breakfast eaters.

Don’t fall prey to stupid excuses not to eat breakfast.

Excuse 1:  “I don’t have time”:

NOT EATING BREAKFAST EXCUSES

Excuse: I don’t have time to make myself breakfast. The only things available to me at work are doughnuts and cookies from the vending machine.
When time is of the essence, have things that are easy to throw in your car or prepare the night before.

  1. Try a hard-boiled egg,
  2. string cheese and a piece of fruit.
  3. And for those real crunch times, high-fiber, high protein and low carb protein bars.

Excuse: I just can’t eat before 1:00 p.m.
You don’t have to eat the second you are up, but it is a wise idea to eat within several hours of waking up. Try the string cheese or the hard-boiled egg. After a few days, your body might naturally look forward to this a.m. fuel-up and you can try more substantial meals.

Excuse: I’d like to eat breakfast but I’m afraid it will set my hunger into overdrive.
Many people experience less erratic eating patterns (like mid-afternoon and after-dinner munchies) when they eat several small snacks and meals throughout the day.

 

And on Sunday, you do not have to pig out and eat the pancakes, toast and so forth because you gave yourself the excuse that it is the weekend.  It should be exciting enough to go out and be served and get a nice protein-based meal and coffee.  The reason you gained weight is because you gave yourself eating excuses.  Excuses=No Progress!

 

excuses

 

And don’t let people sabotage your efforts, even when they give you a hard time and make you feel bad about eating well.  This is your body, not theirs.  Tell them to eat their food and leave you alone.

Want to Lose Weight? Eat Breakfast!

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breakfast

If we skip breakfast, we’ll make unhealthy choices at lunch. People who skip breakfast eat more during the day.  Your breakfast can set off a cycle of cravings and blood sugar spikes that dooms for weight control. Better to start the day with stable blood sugar and ultimately fewer calories with breakfast.

I, personally, never leave the house without first having my coffee and eggs, or omelette or hard-boiled egg with either some bacon or turkey sausage. Otherwise, it makes me cranky and want to scarf my next meal and ruin my diet.

Breakfast Calories: What to Eat

You may have to find your perfect breakfast food through a trial and error process.  It’s fine if you prefer a small turkey sandwich or a hard-boiled egg to traditional breakfast foods.

Consider whole grains. Whole grains are a good choice because they keep you feeling full, according to a dietary study that compared feelings of satisfaction between people who ate a hot whole-grain cereal for breakfast and those who ate refined wheat bread. Those who ate the whole-grain breakfast reported feeling less hungry over the following eight hours than the comparison group. I have discovered a delicious bread and I only have a slice once or twice a week.  It is organic and healthy, with high fiber and protein.  It is Dave’s Killer Bread.  I buy the 60-calorie per slice version.  It is low net carb.  A slice is not bad, but when you start having sandwiches with more than one slice, you don’t realize how many carbs are in a sandwich and you are sabotaging your diet.  Plus, we can get most of our fiber and nutrients from proteins, vegetables, nuts and seeds and fruits.  We don’t need whole grains to be healthy.  Plus, gluten does nothing as a nutrient and it causes inflammation in people’s guts and or brains.  So, I prefer to stay away from it and gluten-free breads are not that good.  However, I have had gluten-free pizza (half of a small with some salad) and it is delicious.

The issue with whole grains and oatmeal is that it has a lot of carbs. You have to read the label and determine how much to serve yourself to keep yourself in the realm of 50 to 100 grams of carbs per day, to lose weight. Less than a cup of oatmeal or having a slice of whole grain bread, only three times a week is an option.

Opt for eggs. A study of people between the ages of 25 and 60 who were trying to lose weight found that those who ate two eggs for breakfast lost 65 percent more weight than those who ate bagels, and they also reported having higher energy levels throughout the day.  Ask your doctor about egg-white alternatives.

Avoid high-sugar choices. Eating doughnuts, breakfast pastries, and sugary cereals may begin that cycle of cravings and blood sugar lows that can undermine your efforts. And there are too many carbs in them to be considered a good choice for weight control.

breakfast-important

First thing in the AM

When you first wake up in the morning, if you are not a breakfast person, but you can eat two hours later, that’s fine. Have a little yogurt, a little bit of peanut butter on some gluten-free bread (look at carbs), or a low-carb protein bar.  Your choices don’t have to be traditional fattening breakfast foods, like cereal or pancakes.  Please don’t eat Toaster Strudels, Pop Tarts or Frozen Waffles.  Too many carbs, nothing nutritional about them and full of sodium and other chemicals.  Stay away from these type of processed foods.

But, remember to eat or you are going to be too hungry and ruin your diet at lunch or dinner, not to mention slowing your metabolism down because your body goes into starvation mode.  And you can’t operate well without food in the morning.  Try running a car on gas fumes!  It doesn’t work for long.  Even your kids will have attention or memory issues at school without a decent nutritious (that doesn’t mean sugar) breakfast.

Planning

Once you find the breakfast options that suit your diet and your taste buds, plan ahead so that these foods are on hand when you want them — and you can get and keep a healthy habit that will last a lifetime.  Stop running out of the house without food.  If you are a last-minute person in the morning, then plan the night before with nuts, seeds, cheese, peanut butter on that one slice of Dave’s Killer Bread or Ezekiel bread– and protein bars as options to take with you in the car.

EAT LOW-CARB NUTRITIOUS FOOD FOR BREAKFAST!

Breakfast is VERY Important for Any Proper Diet

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breakfast

If we skip breakfast, we’ll make unhealthy choices at lunch. People who skip breakfast eat more during the day.  Your breakfast can set off a cycle of cravings and blood sugar spikes that dooms for weight control. Better to start the day with stable blood sugar and ultimately fewer calories with breakfast.

I, personally, never leave the house without first having my coffee and eggs, or omelette or hard-boiled egg with either some bacon or turkey sausage. Otherwise, it makes me cranky and want to scarf my next meal and ruin my diet.

Breakfast Calories: What to Eat

You may have to find your perfect breakfast food through a trial and error process.  It’s fine if you prefer a small turkey sandwich or a hard-boiled egg to traditional breakfast foods.

Consider whole grains. Whole grains are a good choice because they keep you feeling full, according to a dietary study that compared feelings of satisfaction between people who ate a hot whole-grain cereal for breakfast and those who ate refined wheat bread. Those who ate the whole-grain breakfast reported feeling less hungry over the following eight hours than the comparison group.

However, the issue with whole grains and oatmeal is that it has a lot of carbs. You have to read the label and determine how much to serve yourself to keep yourself in the realm of 50 to 100 grams of carbs per day, to lose weight. Less than a cup of oatmeal or having a slice of whole grain bread, only three times a week is an option.

Opt for eggs. A study of people between the ages of 25 and 60 who were trying to lose weight found that those who ate two eggs for breakfast lost 65 percent more weight than those who ate bagels, and they also reported having higher energy levels throughout the day.  Ask your doctor about egg-white alternatives.

Avoid high-sugar choices. Eating doughnuts, breakfast pastries, and sugary cereals may begin that cycle of cravings and blood sugar lows that can undermine your efforts. And there are too many carbs in them to be considered a good choice for weight control.

breakfast-important

First thing in the AM

When you first wake up in the morning, if you are not a breakfast person, but you can eat two hours later, that’s fine. Have a little yogurt, a little bit of peanut butter on some gluten-free bread (look at carbs), or a low-carb protein bar.  It doesn’t have to be traditional breakfast foods.

Planning

Once you find the breakfast options that suit your diet and your taste buds, plan ahead so that these foods are on hand when you want them — and you can get and keep a healthy habit that will last a lifetime.

10 Diet Mistakes

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There are many things that can lead to mistakes when dieting.

DIET MISTAKES

1.  No Exercise:  Dieting alone is not enough.  You need to start out slow if you are out of shape.  Take the dog for a walk after dinner.  Start walking with friends.  Start out with 15 minutes of any aerobic activity.  But move your body.  It is not normal to just eat a little bit of food and never move.  This is not how the cavemen would have done it.

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2.  Crash Diets:  You have to teach your body to lose and maintain weight on normal food and routines.  When you eat so few calories in a crash diet, you train your metabolism to slow down. Once the diet is over, you have a body that burns calories more slowly — and you usually regain the weight.

3.  Skipping Breakfast: Skipping breakfast seems like a simple way to cut calories, but the result can be insatiable hunger the rest of the day. Then, you are more likely to have unplanned snacking at the office and eating a super-size portion at lunch. Breakfasts that are high in protein and fiber can reduce hunger throughout the day. In fact, studies show people who eat breakfast every morning are more likely to maintain a healthy weight.

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4.  Snacking Without the Snacks as Part of Your 6 Meal a Day Plan: Mindless munching on carbs, which are not protein-based, could sabotage an otherwise well-planned diet. If you’re serious about counting calories, you may want to use a diet journal to keep track of every bite of food.

AND NOT HAVING PROTEIN-BASED SNACKS between meals and after dinner is also a big mistake.  Your body needs protein-based foods every 3-4 hours throughout the day in order to lose/maintain weight. Cars need a constant supply of gas to move and so does your body.

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5.  Eating Low Fat Food Without Looking at Carb Content:   Low-fat products can play an important role in your diet. Just remember that low-fat isn’t the same as low-calorie and it’s not a license to take second and third helpings. You may end up eating more calories than if you had a smaller slice of regular cake. The best way to know how much fat, sugar, and calories you’re getting is to check the nutritional label.

6.  Drinking Juice:  Juice is full of carbs and sugar and you are better off EATING fruit, not drinking it.  You can blow a diet, just by drinking juice.

7.  Speaking of Drinking:  Not Enough Water and Drinking Alcohol  You need water or no calorie drinks throughout the day to keep your metabolism going.  If you don’t drink enough fluid, you will not lose/maintain weight.  Sometimes, when you are thirsty, you feel hungry and you eat instead of drink.  So, hydrate.  Also, alcohol is not good for a diet because it slows down your metabolism on burning fat so your body can deal with processing the alcohol.  Many drinks are also very high in carbs.  Worse case scenario–a vodka or gin and water drink, if you must, is lowest in calories and carbs.

8.  Too Much Fatty Dairy: Full-fat milk, cheese, and ice cream are bad for diets, but ditching dairy foods may be counterproductive. Some research suggests the body burns more fat when it gets enough calcium and produces more fat when it’s calcium-deprived. Stick to non-fat or low-fat dairy options.  Low-fat Greek Yogurt, Low-Fat Cottage Cheese or Cheese (portion control!) and Breyers Carb Smart Ice Cream.

9.  Fast Food for Snacks:  Many bad options and who isn’t going to want fries as they order?  Only do it in a pinch for their salads or protein-style burgers only.  Try to prepare in advance with your own foods and if you can’t refrigerate, then low-carb protein bars, drinks or measured out nuts.

10.  Unrealistic goals:  You need to know that changing a way of life or eating takes time.  There will be areas where you get stuck and you need to exercise more, or cut back more to get your metabolism going.  Drink more water.  There are plateaus, and if you search on my page for a plateau diet, I have one.  But, you may never be stick thin, but that is unhealthy too.  Try to go for a healthy weight range.

 

Eating Eggs for Breakfast Makes It Easier to Lose Weight

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There is proof that eggs should be the first thing you eat every morning in order to be skinny.

There were a few studies on having eggs first thing in the morning. One study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition determined that an egg the first thing each morning could help with limiting calorie intake throughout the day. The study reported that leucine, an essential amino acid that is found in high quality protein such as eggs, can give a weight loss advantage when dieting by helping to decrease loss of lean tissue, increase loss of body fat, as well as stabilize blood glucose levels.

study story

Breakfast Skinny Rules

If you eat 6 low-carb, protein meals per day, as part of the Skinny Rules, you should start your day with eggs. Until you reach maintenance, and you are still losing, stick to one egg in the morning or two egg whites, scrambled, omelette, etc. I put spinach and mushrooms in mine. I also get hard-boiled eggs and always have them available to pop in my mouth, if I am running out the door, with no time to cook.

What kind of Eggs?

There are many different ways to prepare eggs. frittata, scrambled, over easy or hard, omelette, and even deviled eggs. Here is the recipe for low-carb, delish devils eggs, poached, etc. You can double the amount of egg if you use egg whites. These are also sold, ready to our from cartons.

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a Couple of Good Low-Carb Egg Recipes

I just found a recipe for low carb egg muffins. They look fantastic and I hope to make them soon. If anyone beats me to it, tell me what you think.
egg muffins

The deviled eggs:
deviled eggs

The 7 Habits of Fit People

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What do fit, strong people do as part of their lifestyle habits?

1.  They don’t “diet!”  They make their eating style their lifestyle.  I eat the same way daily and I mix up what I do eat. I eat every 3-4 hours.  I have some form of eggs for breakfast (scrambled, hard-boiled, omelette) and sometimes ham or bacon with it.  I have a healthy snack.  Then, lunch is some form of a healthy salad with a delish protein either in it or on the side.  I have fruit twice a day, veggies twice a day (sometimes with my lunch and dinner or I vary it).  I have another snack before dinner (can even be a low carb chocolate snake or protein bar), and dinner is similar to lunch, but I make it slightly different and tasty.  And my last snack could be anything, including low-carb ice cream or frozen yogurt.  I enjoy my food.  I pick tasty things, but I steer away from heavy carbs.  This is my life and I am skinny for two years now.

2.  Eat Breakfast.  See number one.  You set off your metabolism and your mood for the whole day with breakfast.  Start the day right.

3.  Enjoy your exercise.  I love going to my Pilates and yoga classes.  I enjoy the elliptical time I do because I use my IPAD and catch up on things.  Some people love meeting a friend and going for a hike or a bike ride.  Some people swim, play racquetball, Zumba, Salsa, belly dance, etc..  Find something you like to do and do it.

4.  Make  Fitness a Priority.  I make my plans every week in my planner on what times my classes are and what times I will go on the elliptical.  If you have a hectic schedule, you must find places in it for exercise.  If you don’t come first and you break down, then all of the things that you do won’t be done anymore because you are too sick to do it.  Trust me, I know what that is like and you don’t want it to happen to you.  Don’t take your health for granted.  You can break it down by NOT maintaining your machine (body).

5.  Don’t compare yourself or your body to others.  Everyone is different.  Look at the Williams’ sisters in tennis.  Their bodies are different from many other tennis players.  They are very strong and they are winners, but they are considered larger–but they are fit.  Everyone is different.  Just be the best  YOU that you can be.
best

6.  Find Support.  If your friends, peers, workmates or family try to sabotage your efforts, then find SOMEONE who can support your healthy eating habits and exercise.  Find a running buddy, a healthy lunch buddy, go to Overeaters Anonymous meetings, go to counseling–just don’t stick around people who are jealous of your efforts or just don’t get it!

offering cookies

7.  Learn to say NO!  It is ok to say no.  Someone knows you are on a diet or not, and offers you cookies that they made SPECIAL FOR YOU!  You say, “Thank you, so kind of you, but I am not eating cookies right now.  Please let me give them to someone.”  Your accepting cookies, which will call your name and make you want to eat them is not a good thing and you can’t be afraid to upset someone if it means you going off of your planned meal changes.  You should tell people up front that you can’t have sugar.  Sometimes it is easier to just blame your doctor.  You don’t have to tell people you are changing your diet.  You can just say, “Oh thank you.  My doctor told me that I can’t have sugar right now and it is doctor’s orders.”  It is hard to argue with your doctor.  If you say YOU want to diet, you have to be strong enough for people to argue and say, “One cookie won’t kill you,” “It is ok, you look fine, you can eat a cookie.”  ETC!  SO, sometimes it is easier to say your doctor said so and that is that.  Whatever you have to do, but do it.  Even my own mother used to try to shame me into splitting a desert with her and I would say, “NO!”  And she sulked, but who is being the child?  And interesting enough, she is the one who is pre-diabetic.  So, I have to be in control of my own destiny.  When I go out to restaurants and they want to bring bread to the table, I tell them up front NOT to bring the bread.  I have learned that it is no one’s business what I eat or why.  If someone wants to challenge me, I say, “This is my diet and that is the way it is and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”  Seriously, it is NO one’s business!

Breakfast Is The Most Important Meal of the Day For Concentration and Skinniness

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Eating a balanced breakfast sets you up to succeed in your healthy eating and your focus for the entire day. Studies support that you need to start your day off with a healthy breakfast because there are many benefits to eating it.

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The benefits of breakfast include:

IMPROVED MOOD:

Eating breakfast can lift your mood. People who don’t eat breakfast are more tired and irritable.

MORE ENERGY FOR THE DAY:

Before you eat in the morning, your body (like a car with little gas) is running on empty. You get energy from high-quality protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

BETTER CONCENTRATION:

Eating breakfast also improves your ability to problem solve. You will be more productive and better able to handle tasks that require memory. Going to work or sending your kids to school sets everyone up for a mismanaged workload and poorer performance than those who eat a healthy breakfast (pop tarts is not healthy!)

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT:

Studies show that if you eat breakfast, you’re more likely to be at a healthy weight than people who don’t eat breakfast.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS:

Having an egg or two, with some low fat cheese or turkey (I put vegetables and/or spinach in mine) and a piece of fruit will give you great protein, minerals and vitamins. If you are able to put in some flax, chi or other seeds into your eggs, then you are adding good carbs and fiber. For those who are able to fit in the carbs for the day count of 50 to 100, you can have a slice of whole grain bread or just a small measured portion of oatmeal (depending on the brand is oatmeal, a cup of oatmeal is about 30g of carbs), whole-grain cereal (not the high sugar Honey Nut Cheerios). Try a little almond butter instead of butter. 2 tablespoons of peanut or almond butter equals 6g of carbs. Another great breakfast option is Greek yogurt. Strawberries and blueberries are great in yogurt, cereal and oatmeal.

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Please pull out a measuring cup and become acquainted with how small a cup is vs. what you might thing a cup looks like in your mind.

Basics of a Quick and Balanced Breakfast

One of the most common excuses for not eating breakfast is being short on time to get to work or school. But breakfast doesn’t have to be fancy or time consuming. You can wake up just a little earlier to fit in a nutritious breakfast. The small investment in time in breakfast (and in you) pays off through the whole day.

If you really love cereal, then compromise and put a few for flavor and texture in your oatmeal or your yogurt.

Next time you’re racing against the clock, try these effortless and healthy breakfast ideas:

*You can make a quick smoothie with yogurt and fruit, with some ice cubes. Throw in some chi or flax seeds.
*Western Bagel and some low carb places sell low carb bagels. The Western Bagel Perfect 10 bagel is really good. Lots of fiber and protein and 10g net carbs. Get them at Westernbagel.com and refrigerate them.
*Have hard-boiled eggs available and ready to grab on the run. Places like some selected Costco and Trader Joes has them already hard-boiled and peeled, in bags, for those who really are super busy.
*Low carb shakes in a can (like Pure Protein) or low carb protein bars (like Power Crunch or Nature Valley Protein Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate).
*Low carb Greek yogurt in a small ready-to-go containers (like Dannon Greek Light and Fit)
**Come on, scrambled eggs don’t take that long.

Cut Cravings: Eat Protein Rich Breakfasts

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If you want to get and stay skinny, you have to get your brain to help you in the quest to feel full and not overeat.  As you have heard before, breakfast is THE most important meal of the day.  You will also have MORE energy to do things throughout the day.

There has been a study.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130326151127.htm

“The consumption of the high-protein breakfast led to increased fullness or “satiety” along with reductions in brain activity that is responsible for controlling food cravings. The high-protein breakfast also reduced evening snacking on high-fat and high-sugar foods compared to when breakfast was skipped or when a normal protein, ready-to-eat cereal breakfast was consumed,” according to Assistant Professor, Heather Leidy.

“Eating a protein-rich breakfast impacts the drive to eat later in the day, when people are more likely to consume high-fat or high-sugar snacks,” Leidy said. “These data suggest that eating a protein-rich breakfast is one potential strategy to prevent overeating and improve diet quality by replacing unhealthy snacks with high quality breakfast foods.

Examples of Protein Rich Breakfasts:

  • Poached organic eggs with smoked salmon, avocado and salad
  • Boiled organic eggs with cold cuts of meat and salad
  • Lightly scrambled eggs with organic bacon and salad
  • Leftover dinner
  • Meat and nuts
  • Protein smoothies (see the protein power example in this article)
  • Full fat organic yogurt with fruit and nuts
  • Canadian bacon, or any other bacon.
  • two tablespoons of a nut butter

Cereal and wheats/grains are NOT a protein rich breakfast, so you will be triggered to eat more later.  Lindora.com sells high protein pancakes, if you are so inclined once in awhile!

Egg Breakfast