Why You Should Eat Breakfast
22:01
Lately i've been feeling quite shocked at the amount of people who skip breakfast!
I have always loved breakfast and enjoy experimenting with different healthy options so the thought of skipping it hadn't even crossed my mind.
When I asked my friends and family why they skipped breakfast, the answers ranged from "I don't have time" to "I'm not hungry" to "So I can lose weight".
I'm sure you've heard the saying before that breakfast is to 'break the fast' because it is!
When we sleep, we are essentially fasting, so the idea of breakfast is to refuel with a healthy meal to energise you for the day ahead.
Basically, when we wake up our bodies are fuelled by nothing so we need to eat a breakfast full of vitamin, protein, iron and fibre to give us energy for the day. Without breakfast you will feel lethargic, experience brain fog, struggle with your exercise, snack up to lunch, eat a lot more at lunch, crave sugary foods, experience headaches and many more symptoms.
It may seem like an array of negatives but if you are on to skip breakfast and think about these symptoms, I guarantee you will experience a few off the list.
Research shows that those who skip breakfast are generally heavier than those who eat it as they have poorer eating habits (they regularly snack and crave sugar). Skipping breakfast also results in poor food choices throughout the day and reduces mental performance, which is not ideal as most of us work, go to school/uni, study, attend important meetings etc.
Breakfast also restores our glucose levels. Glucose is basically where our body gets energy from and overnight, without food, these levels become very low so your body begins breaking down fatty acids, which don't provide the same energy levels as carbohydrates. So restoring your glucose levels will increase your energy throughout the day and kickstart your metabolism.
Therefore, the idea of skipping breakfast to lose weight is actually not a very good one. Your metabolism will be running very slowly, you will lack energy and therefore skip workouts or resort to quick fixes for your meals and you will crave sugar and again, opt for the unhealthy sugar fuelled snack/meal.
If you aren't hungry in the morning, get into a consistent routine of waking up at the same time and eating breakfast at the same time, your body will start to get used to the idea of breakfast and you'll start to look forward to eating it.
If you think you don't have time, plan ahead. Make some sugar free granola on the weekend, whip up some chia seed puddings overnight, get a bircher muesli in the fridge the night before or set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and make the time to eat it.
Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day so get in the habit of eating it and you will notice a massive difference in your performance and energy levels. I personally love to start my day with oats (porridge is my favourite) as it kickstarts my digestive system and gets my body fuelled with energy. If you're not used to eating breakfast, start by munching on a piece of fruit, then begin making smoothies full of fruit (and a bit of veg-spinach, kale etc.) and eventually you will feel motivated to prepare more extravagant meals to start your day.
Just don't opt for store bought cereals and juices as these are packed with sugar and have little nutritional value. You want something mostly homemade and packed with fibre, protein, good carbohydrates and vitamins.
This is a little image to show you how fibre works and why its so important to include fibre in our diet.
This will also help you distinguish between good carbs and bad carbs.
Breakfast Ideas
Chia pudding topped with fresh fruit
Overnight bircher muesli with almond milk
Banana, berry and spinach smoothie
Homemade granola and almond milk topped with coconut yoghurt
Coconut yoghurt and fresh fruit
Buckwheat pancakes topped with banana
Porridge made with almond/rice/coconut milk topped with fresh fruit
Banana, cacao, almond milk and date smoothie bowl topped with fresh fruit and oats
It is also a good idea to start your day with a big glass of water. I drink about 500ml of water with my breakfast to get my body hydrated for the day so switch that glass of juice for a big serving of water in the morning.
Have fun with breakfast as there is such an array of options you can choose from that will get you ready to tackle your day.
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