We’ve all heard the saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. But is there any truth behind it? If you’re looking to fuel your body, boost productivity and lose weight, then yes, yes there is. Eating a high quality breakfast ensures you have enough energy to thrive during the day, not to mention, it will keep you from mindlessly snacking and eating unhealthy foods before lunch. If your goal is to lose weight, keep in mind that eating breakfasts under 300 calories will allow you to achieve your weight loss goals while giving you all the other health benefits as well. Take a look at our favourite breakfasts to kick start your day, as well as why eating breakfast is so important.
4 Benefits of Eating Breakfast
1. Boosts Your Concentration and Memory
Healthy carbs are key to proper brain function, and when you eat a breakfast rich in healthy carbs, you can improve your memory and concentration levels. If you’ve ever skipped breakfast, you may realize that it’s hard to concentrate during the day. This is because you’re depriving yourself of a high quality breakfast that will help you perform tasks at your highest level.
2. Helps You Lose Weight by Decreasing Your Hunger and Cravings
When you eat breakfast in the morning, you decrease your hunger and cravings throughout the day. Your appetite will also decrease, making you less likely to overeat and snack mindlessly. Some people skip breakfast to avoid eating extra calories, but the truth is, eating a high-fibre breakfast filled with nutrients will help you lose weight as it makes you less hungry as you go about your day.
3. Increases Your Energy Levels
Having adequate energy throughout the day is so important to ensure your body and brain are functioning properly. Your breakfast should be balanced with a good dose of lean protein, fruits, whole grains and vegetables. This combination will provide you with a good amount of energy as well as dietary benefits.
4. Controlled Eating At Lunch
When you eat a healthy, balanced breakfast, you’re more likely to stay satisfied until lunch. Especially if you suffer from cravings and hunger pains, it’s going to be hard to last until lunch without eating breakfast. In many cases, people end up reaching for empty calories from foods like muffins and other pastries that fill them up for a short amount of time but don’t do anything for their health or waistline. Eating well at lunch ensures you continue on with improved productivity and focus during the second half of the day, so you don’t experience the 3 pm crash.
4 Ways to Reduce Your Daily Calorie Intake
1. Reduce Your Intake of Refined Carbs and Sugars
Refined carbs such as white bread and pasta, breakfast cereals and processed foods are one of the main culprits of weight gain. Filling your body with healthy, fibre-rich carbs like oats, bananas and kidney beans will keep you satisfied and help you lose weight. You can also consider a low-carb diet, as cutting back on carbs has shown to reduce your appetite and make you eat fewer calories.
2. Eat More Protein
Protein is known to fill you up faster and leave you feeling satisfied. Eating more protein can reduce your appetite, cut cravings and increase the amount of calories you burn. Protein increases your metabolic rate and is by far the most filling nutrient. You can easily reduce your daily calorie intake just by increasing protein.
3. Avoid Sugary Drinks
Sugary drinks include everything from sodas to fruit juices to your favourite indulgent Starbucks drinks. Avoid these at all costs. They add so much unnecessary sugar and calories to your daily intake, and are one of the most fattening parts of the Western diet. Your brain doesn’t register liquid calories in the same way as solid calories, so drinking a sugary drink doesn’t make your brain compensate by having you eat less of other things instead. Stick to drinks like water, tea and coffee with healthy additions such as cinnamon and oat milk.
4. Drink More Water
When you feel yourself getting hungry in between mealtimes, try drinking more water instead of reaching for a snack. Water helps fill you up and most of us don’t drink nearly enough of it throughout the day. Drinking more water is a simple and effective trick to speed up weight loss, increasing the amount of calories you burn for up to 90 minutes. Drinking 8 glasses of water per day can make you burn around 96 more calories.
