The foods that you opt to eat for breakfast are the ones which will give you your energy for the morning and set the tone for the rest of the day. While it’s long been debunked that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day” it is certainly vital for providing your body with adequate nutrients, particularly if you’re working towards weight loss. If you’re torn on whether or not your breakfast of choice is benefitting your healthy lifestyle or if it’s stalling real progress, we check in with registered dietitian Trista Best to determine the processed food you should likely eliminate or reduce within your diet to see the best results.
Breakfast Cereal
If you were raised on cereal there’s no denying the ease it adds to your morning with no prep time so you can run out the door. However, you’ve also likely noticed that breakfast cereals, even the “healthy” variations, often fail to keep you full, leaving more room for mindless snacking throughout the day. “The calorie density of this food combined with the refined carbohydrates make cereal a recipe for stalled weight,” explains Best. “This is because they will fill you up initially, but the body will burn the calories quickly and leave you hungry again soon after. This places you on a cycle of consuming high calories foods that don't fill you very well.”’
Not only will cereal often fail to keep you full, but it is generally packed with preservatives, calories, and other sugars that can stall your results without even providing any real benefit to the body other than delicious taste. “The processed nature of breakfast cereal makes them high in calories, carbohydrates, and lacking in nutrients that would benefit weight loss efforts,” says Best. But just because cereal is not your best option doesn’t mean you need to settle for a subpar tasting breakfast that takes hours to prepare. Instead, if you’re looking for a quick and easy meal to throw together in the morning, Best suggests turning to oatmeal for a similar fix.
While pre-packaged oatmeal is rife with sugar and just as detrimental to your weight loss journey as cereal, making a bowl of rolled oats from scratch and heating in the microwave or on the stovetop will allow you the freedom to control the added sweeteners. This will ultimately be a much better breakfast option than highly processed cereal. “If prepared ahead of time, oatmeal can be just as convenient as cold cereal without the refined carbs and sugar,” notes Best. “Oatmeal provides you with fiber from a whole grain source as well, which will help to keep you feeling full for longer and prevent overeating.”
Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean carving out an hour each morning to prepare a full meal with extensive prep and cleanup time. Rather, the best way to craft a diet that will allow you to reach your weight loss goals is to find meals that can come together quickly and nourish your body without feeling like a burden. Oatmeal is a great example of this, replacing cereal with more nutrients to improve your overall wellness. “When you are full off a nutrient dense meal you are less likely to overeat on calories and are fueling your body with nutrients that help with weight loss,” says Best. In the new year, finding foods you love that are packed with fiber, protein, and healthy carbs will ultimately propel you towards sustainable weight loss without inundating your body with unnecessary sugars or preservatives.
