Importance of Eating Breakfast

Day 11 - Importance of Eating Breakfast

by Michael on 14/05/09 at 2:09 pm

I’m finding my groove this week and I think I owe it all to eating breakfast. I’ve never been a big breakfast eater, not as an adult anyway. As children, my brothers and I ate piles of Cocoa Puffs, Captain Crunch, and Booberry â€” remember how Booberry turned your milk blue and Frankenberry made it pink? God, no wonder I love sugar so much.

A couple of weeks ago, when I started this program, I gained two pounds at my first weigh in. And I have since decided that my two-pound weight gain was probably because I hadn’t been eating breakfast or drinking enough water. But when you’re not used to eating first thing in the morning, it’s difficult to get started. However, the importance of eating breakfast has become pretty clear to me.

I’ve made breakfast as simple as possible: a bowl of oatmeal with some blueberries. I use the Quick Quaker Oats that come in a couple-pound bag. It’s easy: I just plug in the kettle and pour some boiling water over my oatmeal, a couple of stirs and it’s ready. I don’t use the single-serving packages because they contain a lot of sugar, sweeteners, or preservatives that I just don’t need or want. And I keep a package of blueberries in the freezer and I add some of those to my oatmeal. (I just picked up some frozen raspberries and mangoes for variety.) The sweetness of the blueberries means that I don’t feel the need to add any brown sugar, which is something I used to do.

And I have to say that eating breakfast is really making a difference. I just realized yesterday that I feel more grounded where my food is concerned. All that stuff about the importance of anchoring your day with a good breakfast is right. I don’t seem to be getting these wild ups and downs with my eating. I wake up and jump in the shower, then I eat my oatmeal; two or three hours later I’m feeling a bit hungry, so I’ve been having two pieces of whole grain bread (Stonemill bread comes in smaller loaves so two pieces of bread are only 120 calories), an egg, and three pieces of turkey bacon. So it’s like eating a second breakfast, but I like it. An hour or so later I’ve been working out, and often, on my way home, I’ll grab grilled chicken on a multi-grain pita with tzatziki, tomato, cucumbers, and green olives. For my afternoon snack I’ll have a piece of fruit and a serving of pecans or almonds; then dinner, and finally, an evening snack, which is usually yogurt and a couple of teaspoons of granola.

I’m not eating perfectly. For instance last night I binged a little, but that was more in response to my a-ha moment about my Feeling in Control reason for losing weight. Yesterday was a heavy day, so I wasn’t surprised that by the end of it I was wanting to stuff my feelings a little bit. Still I didn’t binge on chocolate bars and chips, but just more food than I should have eaten. And I’m countering it this morning by getting right back on the horse rather than letting things slide into the weekend. I ate my oatmeal for breakfast and I’m writing my blog.

But I’m starting to figure out that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. It gets my metabolism fired up early, which burns more calories. It gets me started on the right track and that reduces the chance that I’ll binge or eat badly throughout the day. And I’m finding more blood sugar is in a better state of affairs. So, if you’re not eating breakfast, think about getting started.

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