Breakfast has the long appointed reputation of being the most important meal of the day. It is the meal that starts up your metabolism, deters binge eating later on, and most importantly, it is delicious. If one meal offers so many benefits, then why do many people skip it? Hopefully, any non-breakfast-eaters who read this will be converted by the time they finish this post.
To start off, if you do not eat food for more than 4 hours, your body can shut down and want to store the food that you eventually do give it as fat. Your body is smart and it doesn’t want to starve, so if you are eating only sporadically, it will store the food you do consume rather than burning it as energy. You want your body to feel confident that it is getting food every few hours, so it will burn up what you ingest with no reservations. Your body really is a machine; train it to know it is going to be getting healthy food often.
After sleeping for a whole night you should eat right away to rev up that metabolism (preferably, within the first 20 minutes of waking up) so you can burn your maximum amount of calories throughout the day. Furthermore, people who eat breakfast are likely to consume less calories throughout the day then those who don’t. Starting your day out with breakfast will keep your hunger at bay and help cut out those annoying sugar cravings the creep up in the afternoon. And if you think that by skipping breakfast you are helping your diet by consuming fewer calories, think again. People who skip breakfast tend to be heavier compared to those who do not.
Now besides the positive effect that this meal has on your body, it also benefits your mind. Eating breakfast improves concentration and productivity, as well as improving mood.
Breakfast means ‘breaking the fast’ that your body goes through each night. Even though you may not feel hungry and only want a comforting cup of coffee, your body is actually craving nourishment when you wake, so eat a protein filled meal to get ready for the day ahead of you.
Kate: It’s hard for me to eat a lot first ting in the morning so I like to have something small & full of protein (like yogurt or egg whites) and then an hour or two later I’ll have something else to eat (like toast & cottage cheese or a protein bar).
EM: Since my POTS is usually worse first thing in the morning, I like to keep my breakfast easy and simple, meaning nothing I have to cook over a stove. I most likely will have some yogurt with a low sugar granola on top or a protein smoothie depending on what I’m in the mood for.
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