At the beginning…
Breakfast. Is it your biggest meal? Are you eating within 30 minutes of getting out of bed? Does it include a protein source that will help you feel fuller longer or include a high count of added sugars?
At 120lbs, my BMR (basal metabolic rate: rate I burn calories at rest) = 1695. Which means 25-35% should come first thing in the morning, meaning to start my day off right, I need to be eating 400-600 calories.
I know, I know…but Courtney, I am not hungry in the morning. Well…
Skip breakfast, count your coffee as a meal, or grab a 100 calorie protein bar? Always eat your lunch on the go? You. Will. Be. Starving. by mid-afternoon. So what do we do at dinner? Stuff our faces, eating somewhere between 700-1,000.
And what do we do 2-3 hours after dinner? Go to bed. I wouldn’t be hungry in the morning either.
On the flip side, if we eat our biggest meal in the morning, a slightly smaller lunch, add some snacks and eat a small dinner (because you’re SO full from eating all day), you will set yourself up for success.
IRON MAN MAGAZINE writes:
Don’t skip breakfast! Breakfast is exactly what the name suggests — ‘break fast’. It’s breaking the fast your body had while you were asleep for 8 hours.
A study once found that although skipping breakfast may seem a good way to eliminate calories, breakfast skippers tend to be fatter than breakfast eaters. And when people eat a larger-than-normal breakfast, they end up eating almost 100 fewer calories by the end of the day, an amount that can help your summer fat loss campaign.
Skipping breakfast in order to lose weight is a big and common mistake and is counterproductive because it actually slows your metabolism and can lead to over eating. Always include protein foods in your breakfast as they takes longer to digest and will provide sustained energy and keep you feeling full longer.
A good mantra that you have probably heard is to ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.’
This means the majority of your calories are consumed in the early part of the day, giving you the chance to burn them off via your daily tasks. This also means that you don’t go to bed on too much food which may otherwise be converted to your fat stores.
People who eat a healthy breakfast have fewer weight and health issues than those who don’t.
Got breakfast covered?
Great! Through the many, many books on nutrition, I have found Bob Harper’s Skinny Rules an amazing foundation to proper nutrition.
Pick 1-3 rules in those areas you feel you struggle the most, try to improve in the next 30-60 days. You will not regret it.
