Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Break The Fast To Shed The Pounds

Some people skip breakfast in an effort to lose weight, but the practice is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss. Skipping breakfast is strongly linked to the development of obesity. Studies show that overweight and obese children, adolescents, and adults are less likely to break the fast each morning than their thinner counterparts.



According to research, skipping meals, especially breakfast, can actually make weight control more difficult. Breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal or nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger. Several studies suggest that people tend to accumulate more body fat when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals. To teens, especially teenage girls, skipping breakfast may seem like a perfectly logical way to cut down on calories and lose weight so it's important for Moms to educate their kids about the importance of the morning meal and the role it plays in maintaining good health and preventing obesity.



Fact or Fiction: Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day 

Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day, and for good reason. There are a few reasons people don't eat breakfast in the morning such as not feeling hungry or to try and limit calories. However, skipping breakfast can lead to a number of problems when it comes to trying to lose weight and keep it off. If you are trying to achieve or maintain a healthy weight, consider the following reasons to eat breakfast each and every morning.



It Revs up Your Metabolism

Eating breakfast is a great way to get your metabolism working well for the day. When your body receives food in the morning, it tells your brain that you're going to need to start working to digest it. This wakes up the system and warms up the metabolism so it's ready to work throughout the day. When you don't eat breakfast in the morning, your body thinks that it needs to conserve the energy it has because it isn't getting any more through nutrition. This actually slows your metabolism down, which results in a decrease in the amount of calories you burn all day long.



It Keeps You from Binging

Not eating breakfast in the morning may save you calories for the time being, but it sets you up for failure throughout the rest of the day. This is because after not feeding your body for several hours overnight, a lack of food in the morning will leave you grumpy and hungry very early in the day. When lunch time rolls around, you're more likely to choose something high in fat and calories to satisfy your food craving, because you feel so ravenous and chances are you will feel an overwhelming urge to snack all night long, which can really pack on the calories.



It Keeps You in a Good Mood

Feeding yourself in the morning will keep your spirits up throughout the day for a number of reasons. First and foremost, since your body won't think that it's starving after a nutritious meal in the morning, it's easier to get in a good mood and stay that way. It also provides plenty of needed energy to help you get through the regular tasks of your day, which can help keep your mood bright and optimistic. A healthy meal in the morning can also help to regulate your blood sugar levels through lunch time, which plays a vital role in your mood.



Overall, eating something for breakfast is better than eating nothing at all. The more balanced your meal is, the better off you will be. Instead of a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast that will leave you feeling heavy and sluggish within just a few minutes, consider having Shakeology® or a bowl of oatmeal topped with fresh berries and a side of cottage cheese which will give you the protein your body needs after fasting all night, and give you the energy needed to get through the morning.

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