Healthy eating boils down to so much more than the first meal of your day, but that’s not to say a balanced breakfast isn’t a key piece in promoting sustainable weight loss with ease. Kickstarting your morning with a meal that will not only keep you full but also fuel your muscles and boost your metabolism will allow for significant changes to develop in your body over time.
A good breakfast will set the stage for the day with a balanced meal that will improve the ease of which you following healthy habits moving forward in the coming hours, allowing you to lose weight without making a major overhaul to your lifestyle. Not sure exactly which meal is the best for starting off your morning on the right foot? Dietitians agree that there’s one food above all that will benefit your body the most as you work towards healthy weight loss.
Oatmeal
The best breakfast to support your goals is one which can reduce overeating while providing your body with ample fuel to thrive throughout your day. Oatmeal excels in both categories, eliminating unnecessary snacking that can lead to an influx of calories, and effectively promoting smooth and effortless weight loss.
Oatmeal is unique in that not only is it a great complex carb to provide lasting energy through your morning, but it’s also packed with fiber which will help to eliminate excess hunger as it is difficult for the body to digest and therefore stays in the system for longer. “[Oatmeal] ranks high on the satiety index, meaning you are likely to feel full and satisfied after eating it,” explains registered dietitian Tiana Glover. “Choose whatever form you personally enjoy, whether that is instant, rolled oats, or steel cut oats.”
Now, when we discuss instant oatmeal, it’s important to tread lightly. Many packages of instant oats are overloaded with added artificial sugar which hikes up the calories and significantly reduces the health benefits of this otherwise wonderful meal. If you do decide to opt for the instant variety, it’s best to choose the original unsweetened flavor and dress up your bowl with ingredients of your choice so you know exactly what’s going into your breakfast.
“I recommend pairing it with a good source of fat and protein to maximize satiety,” suggests Glover. “A good example breakfast would be oatmeal with berries, peanut butter and a boiled egg.”
Balancing your meal with a combination of the primary macronutrients of protein, carbs, and healthy fat is one of the best ways to ensure you will stay full and satisfied after eating. Especially to start off your morning, having a breakfast that offers each nutrient will be most effective path to helping you to lose weight.
The goal is the create a sustainable calorie deficit without ever feeling deprived, and a bowl of oats is a great way to build a healthy and filling meal that can be sweetened and dressed up to your liking for a customizable breakfast that allows you to lose weight and keep it off. If your mind automatically goes to boring, uninspired dishes when you think of what it will take to feel good in your body, starting your day with oatmeal topped with berries and flavored with honey or peanut butter should be enough to prove that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring.
