What Time Should I Eat Breakfast To Lose Weight? It’s common knowledge that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It kick starts our metabolism for the day and sets us up for success. You cannot simply ignore breakfast. It is one of the most important meals of your day. It can give you time for a workout and it helps you a lot for losing weight. But what time should we actually be eating breakfast to optimize our weight loss results? I’ll explain and give tips on healthy breakfast options you shouldn’t miss out on!
When to Eat Breakfast to Lose Weight, Say Experts
Your morning meal time is far more important than you may have thought.
Far too many people these days swear by the practice of eating nothing in the morning. News flash: If that sounds like you, you’re not doing your body any favors.
According to a massive study published in The Journal of Nutrition, a team of researchers tracked the eating habits and BMIs of more than 50,000 adults over the course of seven years and made a compelling case for making a hearty breakfast the cornerstone of a healthy diet. All told, people who started their days with scrambled eggs, a bowl of yogurt and fruit, and other healthy meals actually “experienced a decreased BMI compared to breakfast skippers,” the researchers concluded.
According to another study conducted by the Cornell University Food & Brand lab, nearly 100 percent of 147 slim individuals surveyed (well, 97 percent of them, to be exact) confessed to being regular breakfast eaters. (For some ideas of what to make, check out these 21 Best Healthy Cooking Hacks of All Time.)
“One important takeaway from this study is that a very high rate of slim people actually eat breakfast instead of skipping, which is consistent with previous research on the importance of breakfast,” wrote the study’s lead author, Anna-Leena Vuorinen, of VTT Technical Research Centre Of Finland and visiting scholar at Cornell.
But get this: When you eat your breakfast can be as important as what you’re eating. According to many experts, it’s fairly quickly after you rise and shine. In fact, according to Matt Tenneberg, CSCS, of Arcadia Health and Wellness, in Phoenix, it should be exactly within thirty minutes of waking up.
“This will replenish your body from the night’s sleep and allow it to function properly throughout the day,” he says. “When you are hungry, your body stops burning calories. That means that your metabolism will dramatically slow down. You need to constantly be replenishing your body’s stores to allow it to burn normally.”
So what should you be eating in the AM? By now you probably know that you shouldn’t be eating tons of refined carbs, saturated fats, and breakfast foods that are ultra-high in sugar. You should be eating whole foods that are high in protein, low in unhealthy fats, rich in fiber, and ultimately lower in calories. (For a complete menu of healthy breakfasts, simply see here.)
It’s worth noting that what you’re drinking matters, as well. If you’re looking to drop a few pounds, it’s crucial that you guzzle some good-old H2O in the morning alongside your breakfast—and perhaps even earlier. After all, you lose water all day, every day—through sweating, going to the bathroom, etc.—and you need to rehydrate after waking up from a long rest. According to a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, after drinking approximately 17 ounces of water (about two tall glasses) in the morning, participants’ metabolic rates increased by 30 percent.
Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day?
Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day (mostly). Breakfast eaters generally have healthier diets, consuming more fruits, vegetables, milk, and whole grains than non-breakfast eaters.
Breakfast has a distinct effect on you than any other meal because the time between night and the next morning’s meal is the longest your body goes without nourishment. Eating within two hours of waking can affect how you metabolize glucose throughout the day.
Breakfast is a vital meal if you want to maintain your active lifestyle. Simply make sure you obtain your morning calories from a well-balanced meal. Making time to eat something nutritious at the start of your day can have a significant impact on your overall well-being.
Eating a healthy breakfast is beneficial to your long-term health. It can help reduce obesity, high blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and diabetes.
What is the best breakfast to eat if I want to lose weight?
Your weight loss depends on the total calories you consume throughout the day, including your breakfast.
- Eating more protein for breakfast can result in a significant improvement in your weight loss efforts.
- Including 30 grams of protein in your morning meal has been demonstrated in studies to keep you full and less hungry throughout the day.
- The reason this is beneficial to your weight reduction goals is that foods heavy in protein take longer to digest than standard breakfast items that are high in carbohydrates.
Dieters may benefit from high protein breakfasts in a variety of ways, including:
- Hunger control
- Helps maintain blood glucose levels
The key is to select meals that contribute to a high-protein breakfast, such as:
- Eggs
- Yogurt
- Milk
- Cheese
- Fish
- Chicken
Getting all your protein from a single item is not good and is unlikely to be appealing. It is not a good idea to eat four eggs every day or eat nothing but high sodium ham or bacon. According to the studies, eating lean meat for breakfast may be a more efficient approach to increase protein intake.
When to Eat for Weight Loss
What does all of this really mean for weight loss when it comes to scheduling meals? From a professional standpoint, it suggests there’s a lot more to learn about weight loss. But I also think that tweaking a few meal times and eating habits could have a pretty substantial impact on weight-loss pursuits and overall health. So if you’re not sure where to start, here are a few ideas to try.
1.) Eat breakfast, but not necessarily in the morning. “Breakfast” technically refers to when you break your fast from the previous day, and there is no specific time that should occur as explained in above in the breakfast discussion. What’s important is that when you break your fast, you fuel your body for the day with nutrient-rich foods (we love oatmeal or avocado toast with an egg.)
2.) Prioritize eating the first half of the day. Aim to consume the majority of your calories and nutrients by mid-afternoon. Also, remember there is no right or wrong way to do this. For one person, this may mean eating breakfast, lunch and two snacks. For another, it may mean eating a large brunch meal and one snack.
3.) Make dinner early and light. You may even consider eating as early as 4 or 5 p.m. ideal. If this isn’t possible, then try to eat dinner at least three or more hours before bed.
4.) Go 12 hours between dinner and your next meal to reap benefits that facilitate weight loss, fat burning, metabolism and management of appetite and cravings. An easy way to achieve this is to push dinner a little earlier or skip the late-night snacks. Healthy individuals may consider going longer (13 to 16 hours) to reap even greater benefits in terms of fat-burning.
While often beneficial to the health of all individuals, those with a chronic health condition such as diabetes should consult with their health care provider, particularly if this is significantly different from their current eating times.
The 5 Best Breakfast Foods to Help You Lose Weight
1. Raspberries
A cup of raspberries delivers a whopping 8 grams of fiber (that’s more than double what’s in a cup of strawberries and about the same amount in one cup of some types of beans). What’s so great about all that fiber? Recent research in the Journal of Nutrition suggests eating more fiber as a way to prevent weight gain or even encourage weight loss. Over the course of the two-year study, the researchers found that boosting fiber by 8 grams for every 1,000 calories resulted in about 4 ½ pounds of weight lost.
2. Oatmeal
Does oatmeal help you lose weight? It certainly can! Oatmeal can help you lose weight in two ways. First, it’s packed with fiber and it keeps you feeling fuller longer. Second, a 2016 study reported that eating a breakfast made with “slow-release” carbohydrates such as oatmeal or bran cereal three hours before you exercise may help you burn more fat. How? Eating “slow-release” carbohydrates doesn’t spike blood sugar as high as eating refined carbohydrates (think: white toast). In turn, insulin levels don’t spike as high. Because insulin plays a role in signaling your body to store fat, having lower blood sugar levels may help you burn fat.
3. Yogurt
A recent report published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed which foods are correlated with weight change, including the top five foods that promote weight loss. Yogurt was one of them! Another reason to eat yogurt: the protein in it may give you an extra edge if you’re looking to get leaner.
Protein is naturally filling and takes longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. When people drank a whey protein drink, they lost about 4 pounds more and about an inch more from their waists over 6 months and felt less hungry than those given a carbohydrate shake. Protein, including whey protein found naturally in yogurt and other dairy products, is filling and takes longer to digest than simple carbohydrates.
Save calories and added sugar by choosing plain yogurt. Add fresh fruit for sweetness.
4. Peanut Butter
Nuts are also packed with protein and fiber to help you stay full for longer and promote weight loss. That’s probably because peanut butter and all nuts and nut butters deliver a good dose of healthy fats, fiber and protein—all satisfying nutrients. Nuts used to get a “bad” reputation for being high in calories and fat. And while nuts and nut butters are calorie-dense, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter has just under 200 calories, 7 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber—they’re also nutrient-dense and help you build a satisfying breakfast.
Try spreading a tablespoon or two of peanut butter onto whole-wheat toast (another “slow-release” carbohydrate) or adding nuts or nut butter to your oatmeal (another “slow-release” carb) for a balanced meal.
5. Eggs
One large egg has 6 grams of protein and 72 calories. Compared to carbohydrates and fat, protein keeps you satisfied longer. One study found that people who ate eggs for breakfast felt fuller longer and lost more than twice as much weight as those who got the same amount of calories from a bagel for breakfast.
And while just eating egg whites will help you save calories, you’ll also lose half the protein (about 3 grams is in the yolk), which helps make eggs a powerhouse choice for breakfast. Plus, the yolk is rich in healthy nutrients, like calcium and eye-protecting antioxidants-lutein and zeaxanthin.
Yolks are a significant source of dietary cholesterol. But more recent science suggests that dietary cholesterol isn’t inherently bad for heart health and researchers think that eating one whole egg every day is fine for most people.