Eat Breakfast, Weigh Less!

It’s been pounded into our brains: Eat fewer calories if you want to lose weight. Not rocket science – right?

Then why is skipping breakfast (and potentially saving 300-400 calories each day) being associated with weight gain?

According to a recent article in the International Business Times, American teens who skipped breakfast ended up weighing 5 pounds heavier than teens who started their day with a morning meal.

Diet surveys were given to 2,216 middle and high school students from Minnesota from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2003 and 2004.

Like toast, an interesting finding popped up: “Girls were initially more likely than boys to skip breakfast. During the five years, the researchers found an almost 17 percent decrease in the number of boys who ate breakfast. At the end of the study, 18.9 percent of the boys missed the meal versus 13.8 percent of the girls.”

I’m not convinced by this study that the teenage boys or girls skip that morning meal in an effort to reduce calories and lose weight.

What I think is a more common problem is that teenagers, like many adults, are rushed in the morning. Many eat extra calories in the evening, from dinnertime and onward and as a consequence, they awaken without a morning appetite.

And in the five years of this study, we’ve certainly seen a rise in the availability of snack foods along with a rise in the stress level of many teens. Facts that may be interrelated.

Teens are also not getting enough sleep. Getting more zzzz’s is probably higher on their to-do list, than waking earlier so they can eat a healthy breakfast.

Skipping breakfast can easily set people up for starting their day feeling sluggish; this doesn’t encourage individuals to take the stairs instead of the elevator or park their car farther away in an effort to burn more calories. It also makes people more vulnerable to food temptations at work and at home.

An important take-home message here is this: when you consume your calories is as important as the type and number of calories you gobble.

Also, how you start your day can set you up for either failure or success.

Source: www.diet.com