Breakfast

I have finally started the breakfast routine. There are some important things to know and understand about breakfast. I'll try to explain, but the book explains it so much better.

If you are serious about losing weight, then you must eat breakfast every day. No exceptions whatsoever. You will never keep your weight off after losing it if you skip breakfast. Going into why this happens will take too much time. Go read about it and learn why it is so important. I eat breakfast every day....usually oatmeal. This is very healthy, but it's not very conducive to losing weight.

I will share just a few things I have learned. First, when you want to lose weight, your breakfast needs to consist of protein. I have eaten oatmeal for a very long time because I am very concerned about my heart. It's important that I take care of my heart because the disease I have can have adverse effects on it. Oatmeal is very filling and I never feel hungry after breakfast. I don't feel the need to snack. And because I feel full and don't snack needlessly, I have been able to maintain the same weight for over two years. The problem with that, is that I want to lose weight. Therefore, it's necessary for me to change my breakfast habits.

What difference does protein make? Well, one thing is that it keeps you feeling full and from eating needlessly until lunch. But the most important thing is that it keeps you from eating more later in the day. It has an effect ALL DAY LONG. How does that happen? Well, you are going to have to buy the book or just trust me. Another important thing to remember about protein is that it builds muscles and your body does not turn it into fat like carbs do.

This is not a low carb diet like Atkins. You just need to be wise and get your carbs from fruit and vegetables. Breakfast ideas that I like are omelets, protein shakes, cottage cheese with fruit and other stuff like that. Stay away from bread. You don't need it and it will just make you hungrier later on. If you don't have time for breakfast then you can drink a meal substitute like the Atkins drink or the Slimfast drink...but they have to be the LOW CARB ones. One thing that Dr. Aronne mentions is that one drink does not have enough calories in it to keep you satiated. You will have to drink another one later in the morning. About 2 or 3 hours later.

There is a lot of stuff to understand. Most of it is just common sense. 1. Eat Breakfast every day. 2. Make sure it consists mostly of protein, but you can add good carbs too like fruits and vegetables (DO NOT DRINK JUICE). Juice has too much sugar and even though it's the good kind of sugar it still tricks your body into thinking it's hungry. 3. Stay with this breakfast routine until you have lost the desired amount of weight.

Okay, that's basically it. I have learned a ton more, but making small changes is good. These changes will remain permanent until we are where we (I) want to be. In a week or so, I will talk about lunch and how I have made changes to that. These will be pretty drastic for me, so I am taking my time because I want the changes to last.