Quick Healthy Breakfast for Weight Loss

Why you shouldn't Skip Breakfast: Eating a Healthy Breakfast is essential if you're trying to Lose Weight.

Eating breakfast revs up your metabolism and helps prevent you from overeating throughout the day. Remember that you're going without eating for 7 to 9 hours while you sleep, so your body requires nutrients at breakfast.

Breakfast Made Easy: Breakfast bars and Good Breakfast Options!

With everyone being so busy, breakfast bars are becoming more and more popular and they can be a good breakfast option- as long as you get the right one!

To make sure you're getting a breakfast bar of good quality, look for one that contains higher levels of fiber and protein, with lower levels of fat and sugar.

Since most good breakfasts include some type of a carbohydrate source, best choices will include whole grains of some sort. These will help you feel fuller longer because they take longer to digest than refined carbs.

Long-term studies have shown that women who choose whole grains over processed, refined products gain less weight as they age. In fact, one long-term study showed that women with the highest intake of fiber (from foods such as oatmeal and whole grain breakfast cereals) were half as likely to become obese later in life than those who eat lower amounts of fiber.

With this in mind, some good breakfast options would be:

* 1 cup of oatmeal with 1 tablespoon of raisins and 1 cup of skim milk
* 2 pieces of whole-grain toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut or almond butter
* 1 cup of bran cereal with 1 cup skim milk and 1/2 cup blueberries
* 1 cup of fat-free cottage cheese or yogurt with a fat-free bran muffin.

Cinnamon Meringues

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon


• ¼ tsp cream of tartar


• 2 egg whites


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• ½ tsp almond extract


• ½ tsp salt


• ½ packet Splenda


• ½ tsp salt

Preparation:

• Mix egg whites with cream of tartar and salt in a bowl, beat until soft peaks form.


• Fold in cinnamon, vanilla and almond extracts, place by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.


• Bake at 300 F for 30 minutes.


• Yummy!!

Weight Loss Recipes Amount Per Serving: 1.4 carbohydrate

What it means to me: Eating Guideline #1 Eat when hungry

When I first read Geneen Roth's Women Food and God last July, I was very excited. It was all I could talk about. I was about three fourths of the way through the book when I read about the Eating Guidelines.

I couldn't wait to read the "Eating Guidelines". So I skipped ahead to page 111, eagerly reading what I just knew would change my life.

Guideline #1 - Eat when hungry.

What the hell? I was angry. Furious at this Geneen Roth woman. She must be a freaking idiot to write such nonsense. Eat when hungry? Seriously? Excuse me lady, but that's what got me up to 240 pounds. If I had kept eating when I was hungry, in a few years I would weigh five hundred pounds. I'd become a bed person and they'd have to cut down the walls to get me out of my house. Eating when hungry? Who would think of such foolishness?

I felt like I'd been scammed. Cheated. I was hungry 24 x 7. I thought of food continually. If I really ate when I was hungry, I'd never put down my fork. So much for Geneen Roth. I was done with her.

Then there was the workshop. You have no idea how much I didn't want to go last weekend. I was dreading it. Thankfully Grace decided to go too. If it hadn't been for her I may have just not showed up, and then I would have missed one of the best learning experiences of my life.

Eat when hungry.

What does that mean? Sounds pretty obvious, if you're hungry, you eat. Not exactly rocket science. But wait. There's more. When are you hungry? Do you even know? I didn't. I thought I was always hungry. I thought I had some type of mental or physical disease. Most people don't obsess about food like me. It's like there was something wired wrong in my brain, something that made me think I always needed to eat.

After the workshop I started to really analyze my feelings of hunger. Was I really hungry? Or was it something else?

Maybe I was hurt because my husband said something insensitive, or he left for work without a goodbye kiss, just a "bye, see you later!" as he ran out the door.

Maybe it was worry about my job and that stupid NY Times article about if you're unemployed now at age 55 you'll probably never work again.

Maybe it's rejection, lack of love, fear of being homeless...maybe it's none of those things, maybe I'm just thirsty or bored.

I remember once I told a coworker that I was starving to death. I was being super strict with my diet (Weight Watchers), and I was really hungry. His comment was "well, eat something!". My response, "I can't do that! I might gain weight!".

Stupid, stupid girl. I really was hungry. Why didn't I just eat? Because I was afraid of gaining weight. It's been my lifelong theme.

I'm coming to terms with the idea of eating when I'm actually hungry. What's harder is coming to terms when it's something else and that something isn't thirsty or bored. What about rejection? Or the feeling of not being loved and cherished? Loneliness. Sadness. Past hurts. Current hurts. Fear. Feeling those emotions isn't fun. It would be easier to push them down with food. It's easier to just not think about the bad stuff.

The thing I'm most amazed about is that this isn't the hardest guideline for me, although it's somewhat difficult facing all those emotions I use to smash down with food. I was sure it was going to be impossible. I was sure I'd want to go on a full out binge. Surprisingly I really have no desire to eat like a crazed, food obsessed mad woman.

For the first time in 42 years, I think I know what it's like to eat like a normal person. Normal has always been my goal. I just want to feel normal about food, and I want to be a normal weight.

I'm still early into this process, and I have a lot to learn about myself. It's only been five days and I'm sure there will be bumps in the road. I only know that in a short time I've made huge advances in how I feel about food, about myself. I feel more comfortable with my decisions of what I'm eating, more relaxed. Calm.

Eat when hungry. Apparently it is possible for me.

Vacation

I'll be out of town until the beginning of November, so I won't be responding to comments or e-mails for a while. I'm going to set up a post or two to publish while I'm gone.

As an administrative note, I get a number of e-mails from blog readers each day. I apologize that I can't respond to all of them, as it would require more time than I currently have to spare. The more concise your message, the more likely I'll read it and respond. Thanks for your understanding.

Work over for the week!

Thank god! I hate work - might have mentioned that before!! LOL

Anyway, its over until Monday.

Between then and now I have loads of stuff to do. Its my Mum and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday and my brother is being a pain in the ass. Nevermind, I couldn't be bothered with his procrastinating bollox any more and booked a champagne cream tea at the Brighton Pavillion. Then I booked an Italian restaurant around the corner and ordered a cake to be made. Sorted. Its like Wednesday for goodness sake! We need to get a move on!

Anyway, all he has to do is pick them up, and get them to the ball on time!! We are going to be installed at the pavillion tea rooms before hand - and deliver the cake to the restaurant ahead of our arrival - and then it will be a nice surprise. Mum thinks we are at a ballroom dancing competition with DS!! haha

So I am really looking forward to that. I might have to fogo the diet for one day, but I might just try and keep to plan a little bit. I am not envisaging it being that hard - I know how many cals are in a scone and cream at the end of the day and if I stay away from lasagna or heavy creamy dishes, all should be great. Salad!!!!!! oh yes.

Right, I am off to have my dinner - Nasi Goreng followed by a crunchie and a daim bar!!!! I am still 600 cals under my allowance for the day! GO ME!

Why I avoid fast food like the plague.

I've spent posts explaining the horrific nature of fast food and why it's not helpful in our weight loss efforts.  Yes, we live in a busy time and there are meals where we have to partake.  But it should be infrequently, very infrequently.  When I hear of families hopping from one FF joint to the other  because they are too busy to cook for dinner, I cringe.

My dear friend, Angela, brought this to my attention today.  I've heard of a Twinkie lasting for years unchanged, but I've never seen it.  There is something about a photograph of food that bacteria won't even touch that speaks volumes.  If it's not decomposing naturally by the umpteen gazillion bacteria that exist everywhere on the planet, what the heck is it doing to your body?  What does your body have to do to break it down? Poor, poor body.

Click HERE for the article.

Splenda Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 12 packets Splenda


• 2 8-ounce packages of Neufchatel cheese


• 2 egg whites


• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

• Mix cheese, Splenda and vanilla well.


• Add egg white at a time.


• Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.


• Leave to cool for at least three hours before serve.

Weight Loss Recipes Amount Per Serving: 22.5 Calories, 4 fat, 5 g carbohydrate, 11 protein