Research shows that breakfast is a key part of weight management, so don’t skip it
Charlotte Pedersen
Contributor
Typical school day morning: your alarm goes off and you have just enough time to get yourself showered, ready, to the bus, and into class with five glorious minutes to spare. The problem is if your goal is to lose or maintain weight, you’re missing one crucial step: breakfast.
Yes it’s true, the (not-so) secret way to trimming off a few pounds can be found in eating more during breakfast. And for those of us who could eat breakfast for every meal, this is a warmly embraced approach to maintaining a healthy weight.
While you sleep, your metabolism slows down and your body goes into a fast mode. Your breakfast is that first big jolt of energy you will consume that is going to break this fast and fuel you throughout the day.
Nutritionists generally say to have breakfast no more than 90 minutes after you get up: waiting longer can throw your body off, thinking it’s in starvation mode which actually will store fat rather than burn it.
The key to breakfast isn’t just to eat, but to eat smart. Most of the breakfast cereals on the market are filled with sugar, which is not only unhealthy, but will have you hungry again quickly. Protein on the other hand is one of the most important aspects to a proper breakfast. Protein is a nutrient that should be incorporated into every meal because it fuels us and keeps our hunger satisfied for longer. This is especially true in breakfast.
While fruit is a popular snack for breakfast, it actually may be less effective for losing weight than adding peanut butter in the mix. While the peanut has a considerable amount of fat, the key difference between the good breakfast and the great breakfast is the protein found in the peanut butter.
Studies have shown that the more protein and fibre-filled the breakfast, the less you will actually
eat throughout the day. This is due to the fact that we receive a long-lasting energy boost in the morning, and so need to consume less throughout the day to satisfy our hunger.
“For me, eating breakfast in the morning creates my eating habits for the day,” says Stefanie Arcuri, a fourth-year York student. “If I don’t eat breakfast, my stomach gets angry with me and I’m forced to eat by 11 a.m.”
People think they are cutting calories by skipping breakfast, but by mid-morning their bodies are starved and they replace those calories with mindless snacking and binging later on in the day. By skipping breakfast, chances are you are setting yourself up for calorie failure.
Of course when you lead a busy life as a student, finding time to make breakfast in the mornings can sometimes be a chore. Stefanie realizes this struggle all too well.
“The hardest thing for me is managing my time,” she says. “Some mornings, I just prefer to sleep in.”
Luckily, managing time and creating healthy breakfast options aren’t impossible to coordinate. Some really quick and nutritious meals that will keep you fueled throughout the day include:
A banana with peanut butter
A small tortilla with a tablespoon of peanut butter and chopped strawberries.
A bowl of high-fibre, multigrain cereal, along with strawberries
or blueberries.
Hard-boiled eggs, which can be prepared the night before.
At York, we are lucky to have a wide variety of eateries that offer breakfast options as well. If you find you are crunched for time at home, eggs and bagels are also available on campus.
No longer must you starve yourself on an H2O-only diet to lose weight. Science is telling us to eat more to lose weight; why fight it? Rather than skipping breakfast and binge eating, have yourself some scrambled eggs and whole-wheat toast in the morning. Your waistline will thank you for it later.
