Eat Breakfast and Lose Weight

When you wake up, your metabolism is a bit slow. The best thing you can do to rev up your metabolism is to eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking.

For those of you that are afraid to eat because you are trying to lose weight,you need to consider a couple of things.

POINT #1 – If you don’t have breakfast soon after waking, your metabolism slows even further and goes into what is commonly referred to as “starvation mode.” When this alarm signal has been triggered, your body decides that it may not be fed well today and shifts from a calorie-burning mode to a calorie-storing mode. Put simply, skipping breakfast is the perfect way to set your body up to “store” calories all day long as opposed to burning them. This is hardly the goal if you are interested in losing weight.

POINT #2 – After a night’s slumber, your blood-sugar is low. In order to have the energy and focus to tackle the day, you need to raise your blood-sugar levels or you risk getting hypoglycemic. When your blood-glucose levels drop too low, your body will seek out simple sugars to get it back up quickly (the human body is a terrific survivor.) Unfortunately, your body knows that the best way to raise those levels is to grab the nearest snickers bar or can of soda. I have personally experienced this, and it is very hard to stop eating when you get to this point. Skipping breakfast not only causes you to make bad food choices, but almost guarantees that you will overeat at some point.

POINT #3 – Your muscles are vitally important in keeping your metabolism high. After 6, 7, or 8 hours of rest, you need to feed your muscles or your body will feed on them. Really? Yes. Without giving your body energy from food, it will seek to get it from somewhere else. It will literally break down your muscle tissue (catabolism), and use the amino acids for energy. This is wonderful for survival purposes, but terrible for your metabolism and your appearance. Maintaining muscle is not only super important to your metabolism, it gives your body the shape and firmness we desire.

POINT #4 – Research confirms that breakfast eaters are more likely to not only lose weight, but keep it off forever! Recent research also clearly concludes that people who eat breakfast, actually eat fewer calories during the day.

One final point for those that are truly not hungry in the morning. First of all, this is a sign that your metabolism is slow from years of unhealthy habits. I hate to use the word “force”, but I urge you to have something soon after you get up. It could be as simple as a yogurt, or a banana with some all-natural peanut butter. Get your body to believe that it won’t be starved and it will be more willing to give up or “burn” energy all day long. Also, have your cup of “joe” with your breakfast or after, but not before. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant, and will temporarily take away your desire to eat.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

For more helpful weight loss information, please visit www.HealthyHabitsNY.com or call (917) 648-8312

Finally, I’m through with the introduction of my weight loss series. (You’re probably relieved as well as I am because I hate talking about myself.)  Now I’m going to focus on explaining some positive benefits of various superfoods and hopefully encouraging you to keep on track each week.

*To view previous weight loss topics click here.

Recent research statistics have shown that those who ate beans weighed an average of  6.6 pounds less than those who didn’t eat beans EVEN though the bean consumers ate around 200 extra calories daily than the non bean-eaters.  That’s a pretty good reason to eat beans right?

The reason for the positive results above are mainly due to the fact that beans are high in fiber, and fiber increase is associated with weight loss.  Since beans are low cost and quite affordable, there’s really no excuse not to hunt down some tasty recipes that will allow you to include more beans in your diet.

Here’s some more positive points to ponder about beans:

*plant-based source of important vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients

*protects cell walls from oxidation which protects your overall health & keeps metabolism in balance.

*excellent mix of complex “good” carbs & protein warding off hunger; makes you feel full and satisfied.

*takes long to digest providing an excellent source of long-lasting energy.

*low in fat and calories

Weekly Motivational Pep Talk:

Find some extra activities that you enjoy doing that require physical moving around.  Doing a little of “something” is better than doing absolutely nothing!  Our modern conveniences have given us a much cushioned environment that allows our metabolism to become sluggish.  We must make extra efforts to exercise our bodies.  If you absolutely hate exercise, make a goal that you’ll get up and move around to do something that requires activity at least 3 times each day.  For example, in the morning, run up and down your steps 5-10 times…ANYTHING that will get your heart pumping a little.  Go…go…go!!!!

(Go ahead and comment below to update us on your goals and accomplishments!  I would love to hear from you!)

Healthy Recipe of the Week:

Basic Lentil Soup (my favorite lentil recipe; I usually double it)

Combine in kettle:

1/2 lb. lentils
6 cups water
Cook 30 minutes or until tender.

Add:

2 carrots, chopped or sliced
1/2 c. sliced green onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 & 1/2 cup of tomato juice
1/2 c. minced parsley
1 T butter
1 & 1/2 tsp. salt
dash pepper
1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender.

Options:
Add some cubed turkey ham
Double the recipe and freeze half.

Recipe Source:

More-With-Less Cookbook : Suggestions By Mennonites on How to Eat Better and Consume Less of the World’s Limited Food Resources

*Another recipe to consider ~ Red Lentil Soup with Garlic
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For further individual study:

Research statistics & nutritional excerpts on the superfoods that promote
weight loss have been taken from:
The Superfoods Rx Diet: Lose Weight with the Power of SuperNutrients
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