Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

I apologize in advance for how long winded this is.

It seems I am consistently gaining and losing the same 5 lbs over and over again and I can't seem to get back to my pre-wedding weight. I've tried WW, low calories, high calories, varied calories, everything! I'm at a serious plateau and I'm ready to give my "diet" an overhaul.

I eat usually between 1200-1500 calories a day with more on days that I exercise. (Usually a 3-5 mile run or a long run on the weekends)

I am constantly starving!

I've tried eating between 1700-1800 calories but was never able to lose any weight and I just looked bloated and felt gross.

I've tried the cabbage soup diet and was able to lose a bunch of weight, but then put it right back when I went back to regular eating.

I eat healthy. I'm a pescatarian and eat 90% gluten free (sensitivity). I do however eat a lot of low fat/ low sugar foods which may be part of the problem.

Soooooo, I've decided to look at how I feel day to day. The main thing I noticed is that I'm starving throughout the day, which means my body is going to hold on to whatever I feed it.

For years, I've always had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast and would be ravenous by 10am and would just snack throughout the day. (healthy foods, but still).

That might be the problem.

I'm going to experiment by eating a LARGE healthy breakfast to start my day and eat a small lunch and small dinner. Maintaining the same calorie intake as before. I am also going to try to eat more "real" food. Healthy fats instead of artificial junk.

I've started by eating eggs, gluten free toast, real butter!, orange juice, and vegetarian sausage. This adds up to about 600 calories. Over the past week, I've noticed I'm not starving! I will go from 7am to 1pm and not snack at all! A light lunch of either a salad or homemade soup and a greek yogurt will carry me through till dinner. At that point I'll have a single serving and not be fighting for seconds! I have NO desire to snack on WW ice creams or halloween candy at night. I feel like I have so much energy!

I'm seriously hoping to see a difference on the scale over the next few weeks!



If you've gotten this far, any ideas for large healthy breakfasts? Eggs every day is NOT good for my cholesterol.

I'm thinking some parfaits made with fresh fruit, greek yogurt, and gluten free granola? Maybe gluten free pancakes mixed with protein powder and fresh fruit? Any other suggestions?

Message edited 11/13/2012 12:42:44 PM.

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

I'm always hungry and the only thing that works for me is drinking a liter of water after my runs to rfirst makesure that i am not thirsty and then my first meal of the day is dinner at breakfast. my meals get smaller throughout the day. I always include a high percentage of protein in my meals. ( eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, tofu, Greek yogurt) at dinner time I eat lighter breakfast items. Works for me though I still do struggle at times since I run so much. As a snack I will eat a broth or vegetable based soup.

For breakfast today I had chicken with mushrooms and broccoli rabe. Yesterday was plain vegetarian lentil soup. The other day was a breast of BBQ chicken and an egg omelette (one yolk, two whites). My dinner is often a greek yogurt with fruit, cereal or nuts. I eat backwards more often than not or i feel lethargic throughout day and look to eat all day long. Works for me though some people can't stomach food like that so early on.

Message edited 11/13/2012 1:08:21 PM.

Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

I can't eat gluten OR eggs so here are my ideas:

1) Tofu scramble - mix tofu with veggies, some cheese on top, some GF bread on the side.

2) I do GF pancakes A LOT. I don't really consider this healthy though...

3) a GF waffle with fruit on top (one of homemade, two if from the freezer).

I also do a lot with corncakes. One sweet corn cake with a side of cheese and a piece of fruit holds me for ages.

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

you can alternate by eating egg whites instead of the whole egg everyday. i make egg white muffins in a muffin tin ahead of time and then just pop them in the microwave in the am.

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

I don't eat eggs I do eat gluten. My breakfast is broken up into 2 meals. I try to stay away from bread most days. If home on weekends I will make homemade oatmeal and eat 2 pieces of bacon. Or, pancakes w/o eggs.

Most days it's:

7:30 Coffee with lowfat milk and Whole grain cereal with high fiber/protein (so for you pick a gluten free cereal) with soy or skim milk at home.

at 9 or 10:00 Any of the following at work:
nonfat greek yogurt with or w/o granola
instant low sugar oatmeal
fruit
almonds
almond butter

Then, I'm hungry again by noon!

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

Thank you for posting this, I'm struggling with the same, let us know how you feel after doing this for a bit! I don't have time in the mornings to eat a big breakfast but I can eat 2 small breakfasts - greek yogurt and oatmeal, or eggs and bacon and then greek yogurt. My issue is that I like to save calories for snacking but I think that is purely psychological for me. I drank a ton of seltzer and green tea today and was only really hungry when it came to mealtimes - I had to force myself to have a snack after dinner so I didn't eat less than 1200 cals.

I have also found that I cannot add any salt at ALL to the meals I cook, I bloat very very easily, so I am going to experiment with adding acids/vinegars to boost flavor instead.

I wish I had more breakfast meal ideas, sorry! Can you use eggbeaters instead to cut down on cholesterol?

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

One of the hardest things I think, is learning how to eat and what's right for you, what works. Because you can learn about food but once you put it into practice, it takes time to see if it's working for you. I feel your pain.

I shifted my mindset... snacking and eating constantly is not a bad thing. Waiting until I feel hunger IS a bad thing. I do feel like I'm eating all the time. So what? If I'm not eating crap, it's good for me and my metabolism. A typical day for me:

Coffee with half and half
2 packs of raisin oatmeal, 4 sliced strawberries with 1/2 tablespoon of honey, a handful of blueberries
Snack - Almonds with cranberry and/or goji berry, tea
Mon/Wed/Fri lunch - salad with kale, baby spinach, shredded parmesan, grape tomato, croutons, diced chicken baked in lemon juice
Tue/Thu lunch - Baked chicken with vegetables
Snack - Gala apple with almond butter, tea
Dinner - Amy's pizza or mac & cheese with tuna or egg omelette with toast
Dessert - Edy's fruit bar or WW ice cream or nothing

I usually reserve dessert for days I work out. One day a week I indulge in 3 "bad" meals but keep my portions under control. I know some of those things on my list seem bad, but I'm still losing about a pound a week so it's working for me.

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

I feel so much better when I eat breakfast.

I will have a GF wrap with egg whites, low fat swiss cheese and 1-2oz of turkey breast.

Plain oatmeal with either brown sugar or agave nectar, craisins and diced walnuts (I measure out 1/4 cup of dried oatmeal and I use water instead of milk).

Cinnamon raisen ezekial english muffins with peanut butter or plain ezekial english muffins with peanut butter and sliced banana.

As far as coffee I use almond milk and 1tsp. of sugar or I sometimes use FF hazelnut creamer .

I really try not to have to much gluten.

Re: Breakfast and weight loss (An experiment)

I have a friend who is never hungry during the day before we eat lunch -- he told me he eats, for breakfast: three or four egg whites with a banana. That's it. He said the amount of protein and vitamins in that will keep him full, energized, and happy until 12:30/1pm when we eat lunch. He also said it kicks his metabolism's ass lol and that it burns everything else better. I hate bananas so I've never tried this but he looks great and is a huge fitness guy so I figure he knows what he's doing lol.