How Eating a Big Breakfast Can Help You Shed Pounds
Does this sound like you? You’re in a rush to head out to work or class, so instead of making yourself breakfast, you grab a granola bar or an apple or even consider your morning coffee breakfast? Lunch rolls around and you have a sandwich or salad at your desk, maybe a small bag of chips for a snack? Finally, it’s dinner time - your favorite time of the day – and by this time you’re starving. You enjoy a large supper which ends up being your biggest meal of the day. Although focusing on what you eat matters, let’s shift the focus and talk about why it matters when you eat.
A recent study done with over 50,000 adults showed that eating a large breakfast, followed by a medium sized lunch and a small dinner is the key to decreasing your overall BMI and losing weight. Another fascinating study gave two groups of overweight women the exact same foods throughout the day but had half of them eat more calories earlier in the day and the other half eat more calories later in the day. The group who front loaded their calories and ate a big breakfast lost more weight and inches than the other group despite consuming the exact same calories and foods. An additional study looked at people who considered themselves to be “late-eaters” which is considered 3:00 PM or later. This study found that people who ate lunch late lost less weight overall and lost weight more slowly than the group that ate earlier. Late eaters were also found to eat less nutritious breakfasts or to skip breakfast altogether compared to those who ate earlier.
The timing of your meals affects your health due to its impact on your body’s internal clock. Eating breakfast daily can lower your risk of high cholesterol and blood pressure as well as obesity. It has also been shown that consuming a larger number of calories in the morning helps you feel more satiated throughout the day, which will make snacking a little less likely.
Need some big breakfast ideas? Try these out:
One bowl chocolate chip banana baked oatmeal
Five-ingredient green smoothie
Healthy breakfast pancakes
Avocado toast with an egg, feta cheese and tomato on top
Breakfast burrito bowl
If you’re looking to shed some pounds, remember this saying “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” Try to eat a majority of your overall daily calories for breakfast and lunch and a small meal for dinner.
Need some help deciding what to eat? Contact us today and book a nutrition consultation!
