It’s an undeniable truth that eggs are some of the best foods to add to your morning routine for healthy and sustained weight loss. Not only are they relatively low in calories, but they’re also loaded with lean protein which will increase satiety and reduce overeating, making it easier to create a calorie deficit for weight loss without sacrificing delicious meals.
However, as with most foods there are both healthy and significantly less healthy methods of preparing eggs, and certain cooking mistakes can make it much more difficult than necessary to see results on the scale and within your body. To optimize your egg breakfast to provide you with the best chance at a healthy weight loss, there’s one mistake that experts agree should be avoided when cooking your eggs each day.
Overusing Cheese & Butter
Healthy weight loss is all about moderation, and there is room in your diet for higher fat foods such as cheese and butter even as you work to shed fat. However, overloading your breakfast with cheese and butter each morning will dramatically decrease the benefits you may otherwise glean from your eggs, boosting your fat intake for the day as well as jacking up the calories of your meal.
“Adding cheese and butter to our eggs in the preparation process increases their saturated fat content, which ultimately increases the calories we are consuming,” explains nutritionist Lisa Richards. Creating a sustainable calorie deficit is one of the main pillars of visible weight loss results, and while cheese may be delicious, when being eaten in excess it can make it more difficult to upkeep that deficit. Butter too may be useful in prepping your meal, but swapping to an oil spray will save on calories while having the same effect.
In order to get the most out of your eggs each morning, there are several preparation hacks Richards suggests which will be just as satisfying without inundating your body with fat and excess calories first thing in the morning. “Consider poaching your eggs to avoid butter or cooking oils or use a calorie free spray to prevent sticking,” she says, adding, “Rather than mixing in cheese for flavor, throw in spinach and peppers to increase the nutrient density without the calories and fat.”
Another great trick for adding a cheesy flavor while boosting the protein content of your eggs is flavoring your breakfast with nutritional yeast. Known as a vegan alternative to cheese, the similar flavor will taste delicious in any scramble while adding 8 grams of protein per serving.
Having cheese or butter with your eggs every once in a while will ultimately not sabotage your weight loss goals, and if you’re measuring your portions and eating in moderation these ingredients can actually be useful in increasing your healthy fat intake throughout the day. That being said, making them an everyday fixture in your eggs may make it more difficult to create a sustainable calorie deficit so it’s important to stay aware of the nutritional value of any foods you’re adding to your breakfast as you work to improve your overall health.
There’s no reason to assume that one food in particular has the capacity to completely destroy your diet, and in fact, that’s an incredibly damaging way to look at eating. Therefore, staying cognizant of your cheese and butter intake are two small adjustments you can make to give your diet a boost for the better.
