Is this you? We all pretty much have heard it said and understand that breakfast is “the most important meal” of the day. But……we also say things like: “I’m not hungry when I wake up.”, “I don’t have time to make myself breakfast.
I have to get the kids/husband/dog ready for the day first.”, “I don’t like to eat breakfast.”, “All I need is coffee (bagel/donut/frosted flakes) and I’m good to go until the afternoon.”
You have likely heard it said and understand that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Find out 3 reasons why breakfast is a total game changer!
What is the big deal with breakfast anyway?
There are a few reasons. First, let’s begin with Sleep. When we sleep at night our entire body is actually working really hard to
- Replenish,
- Rejuvenate
- Restore, and
- Rebuild
What? Yes, all our muscles, cells, tissues, organs are being restored, rebuilt, rejuvenated and replenished, getting ready for the next day of action and fun! Take a moment to visualize the timeline: Say you go to bed at 10 pm.
The last thing you ate was at 8 pm. Now its 6 am when you wake up. 10 hours have gone by without food or water! Your body is HUNGRY! So, when we wake up our bodies are ready to EAT even if we don’t “feel” hungry.
Actually, especially if we don’t feel hungry. When we wake up our bodies are assessing: “Are we in a famine? Is food plentiful? Will I get fed today? Do I need to store or use the resources that get fed to me?”
In the meantime, you are either hitting snooze or dragging yourself to the shower.
The Starvation Response
If you don’t feed your body within 30-45 minutes of waking up, guess what? Your little body literally thinks its starving. Because your body hasn’t been fed, it thinks the food is scarce!
And when this happens, it wants to store everything you eat for the future, like (you guessed it) FAT. No Bueno!
Metabolism Boost: The 30-30-30 Rule
So this means that the first thing we put our starving bellies needs to be nourishing and needs to get in there quick! So what do we do? Our secret weapon is something called the 30 30 30 Rule. Super simple! The rule goes like this:
Eating up to 30 g of protein, within 30 minutes of waking up, will boost your metabolism by 30% for the ENTIRE day!
You are going to eat eventually anyway, so why not begin with a breakfast balanced with protein, fiber, and complex carbs? We offer great ideas and options for a FAST, balanced, and YUMMY breakfast every day inside of NewStart.
Blood Sugar Control
Second, having a well-balanced, nutritious breakfast will keep your blood sugar at a nice even level all day long. We are NOT even kidding! The first thing you put in your mouth will set the tone for your blood sugar levels ALL DAY.
When we have a sugary and or carbohydrate-based breakfast, like cereal or coffee and toast, muffins, cheese danish, bagel, or even just a banana, we experience energy in the form of a sugar rush. But what goes up must come down.
And when our blood sugar goes back down it goes way down, and we often experience fatigue, hunger, irritability. For some, this is called “coffee break time!” Frequently, when we start to feel tired and lethargic, we feel like we need to put in more coffee and more sugar, or snacks like chips, or candy, or anything in the vending machine in the break room or cafeteria.
Most times the cravings just continue throughout the day, culminating in that 8 pm bowl of Moose Tracks. YIKES!!
Jump Back, Fat!
By the way, skipping breakfast altogether has the same effect as a high sugar, high carb breakfast. Blood sugar mood swings all day long! Even if you have that balanced protein, fiber, complex carb meal as your first meal…. just at 10 am or noon, it’s too late.
Your body is headlong into Starvation Response and will happily store that beautiful meal is, you guessed it, FAT. It’s been HOURS since you’ve eaten, and it may be HOURS again until that body gets fed.
It needs fuel, and it’s going to store everything as fat to make sure it has fuel for later.
Timing is Everything
So clearly, having that well-balanced breakfast within 30-60 minutes of waking up will boost your metabolism, control your blood sugar, and maintain your energy all day long. Total game changer! Comment below and let us know your breakfast routine!
Free Guide
We have a FREE Wellness Workbook that will help you not only get breakfast under control but map your entire day for maximum fuel and energy for the day, all day! Download it today!
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