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A well-balanced routine in all aspects of your life is an integral part of successful weight loss, and that starts first thing in the morning. The habits that you begin the day with have the capacity to influence the coming hours and even have an impact on your ability to see visible weight loss results, so it’s important to make sure that you’re creating a morning which supports your wellness goals to start you off on the right foot.
There are numerous bad habits that could infiltrate your morning, such as opting for sugary breakfast cereals, drinking calorie dense coffees, or skimping on hydration, but there’s one mistake above all that health experts agree could be standing in the way of the results you’re working towards.
Skipping Breakfast
While it has been debunked that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, starting off your morning with adequate nutrition is vital for seeing success in your weight loss journey. A functioning metabolism is dependent on eating the proper nutrients to fuel your body, and skipping breakfast can actually make it more difficult for you to burn fat as you’re lacking the energy stores to pull from. “Having breakfast after you wake up will help your body get the energy it needs to function at optimal levels, but also establish normal glucose levels. Avoiding breakfast often means messing up your metabolism and slowing down the fat burning process,” explains Kristina Hendija, MD.
In order to keep your metabolism running, your body needs food to burn once you begin exerting energy in your day. Skimping on breakfast deprives your body of that fuel, making it more difficult to achieve the lean frame you may be working towards. “Your body will start to pull from it's most nutritious source of cells for energy for your morning tasks, the muscle,” explains Nick Salinas, PT, DPT.
“By starving yourself, the body has no other choice than to use what is available. Muscle is used first as an energy source, not body fat.” This can make it more difficult to lose weight when you do eventually eat your first meal of the day, as your cravings will be heightened and you may be more apt to choose a heavier meal to satiate your appetite.
“When we finally do eat, the result is typically a larger (and possibly carb filled) meal. The body will receive a huge sugar spike from not having calories available since the night before and as a result, a crash is inevitable,” warns Salinas. With a crash, you may notice you’re struggling with less energy throughout the day, in which case you may find yourself snacking in an effort to give yourself a boost. However, this can make it more difficult to create a calorie deficit for weight loss, and even throw off the remainder of your meals for the day. “If you tend to eat a later lunch, this also pushes dinner back even further in the evening, thus throwing our natural metabolism off even more,” says Salinas.
If you typically don’t eat breakfast in the morning because you aren’t hungry, Salinas recommends having a small meal to provide your body with a little more energy and sustenance instead of going straight for the coffee to start your day. This will help to stabilize your metabolism and make it easier for you to burn through fat while also keeping cravings at bay throughout the rest of the day in order to follow a regulated eating plan.
Starting off your morning with a small meal can help to ease both your digestion and improve your metabolism so soon you can enjoy effortless weight loss without depriving yourself. It may seem contradictory, but eating enough is more important for weight loss than restriction, even if you are working towards a calorie deficit in the end.
