The health and fitness industry is king for conflicting information, and it can leave you feeling confused and frustrated.
Weight loss breakfast options being one of those topics that people love to give their opinion about.
You’ve heard “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” most of your life, but now people are saying you should be fasting to optimize your weight loss.
So what gives?!
You will learn the truth about the concept of weight loss breakfast, along with helpful tips, tricks, and recipes to set yourself up for an amazing day!
Let’s break down some of the questions and topics we will be discussing:
In order to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit, and you achieve this by your body burning more calories than it consumes on a given day. There are countless ways to achieve a calorie deficit, and some people do it by eating breakfast, and others choose not to.
The choice is entirely up to you and what makes you feel the best.
Let’s take a simple example showing you how two people could eat two different ways and still lose weight.
In this example, these two people has a maintenance calorie mark at 2000 calories. This means that if they eat 2000 calories, their weight will stay the exact same. (This is a made up number and everyone has a different calorie maintenance mark).
In order to be in a calorie deficit, both decide to eat 1500 calories, which means they will be consuming less calories than their body needs (2000), and they will lose weight.
As you can see, person A (on the left) eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 500 calories each. Person B (on the right) skips breakfast and eats 750 calories at lunch and dinner. Their total daily calories are the same and they would both lose weight!
Now that we got that last portion out of the way and you’re still with me, that means you are someone that wants to eat breakfast!
Good for you, because I don’t know how people don’t. It’s delicious!
For a great weight loss breakfast, there are 5 building blocks that you want to build your plates around:
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- A protein source
- Fruits and/or vegetables
- Fiber
- Whole grains
- An optional fat source
The goal of a good weight loss breakfast is to fill you up and keep you full to prevent snacking and consuming extra calories that could potentially take you out of your deficit.
The best way to do that is through protein and fiber. Out of the 3 macronutrients (proteins, carbs, and fats), protein is the one that will keep you the most full.
If you can build your weight loss breakfast around protein and add in one or more of the other building blocks, you are starting your day off on the right foot!
This probably won’t come as a shock, but you want to avoid the sugary, refined carbs that we have grown up to love.
Avoid sugary cereals, muffins, donuts, pancakes, and sweet coffees. These will only be adding calories that will make you tired and not full for long.
Take one of my former clients, Kassandra.
Guess what one of the things she did was for her awesome transformation?
She swapped out sugary cereal and Starbucks sweet treats for a protein shake or eggs.
She did some other things as well (including getting strong in the gym!) but just by swapping out her breakfast was enough to get her into a calorie deficit and for the weight to start coming off.
Let’s not overcomplicate things here.
Water, tea, or coffee (be conscious of how much cream/sugar you put in) are all acceptable things to drink in the morning. You’ll start running into trouble when your mornings consist of high calorie juices or coffee drinks.
One other thing to remember before we move on...
If someone is trying to sell you a detox drink that is "the best weight loss breakfast you can have", ignore them and move on. There’s no such thing as a detox drink so don’t waste your money.
Stick to zero / minimal calorie drinks for breakfast and save those calories for actual food!
Eating eggs for breakfast is a great way to increase your protein consumption, help keep you full between meals, and they are full of vitamins and minerals (especially the yolks!).
I'm sure you've heard the "eggs are high in cholesterol" saying.
Well, here's the good news!
After tons of research, eggs have shown to have a very small effect on your LDL levels (bad cholesterol) and have shown to increase your HDL levels (good cholesterol). Read more about the studies here.
So go get in that kitchen and start whipping up eggs.
I just did myself! Here's my delicious post workout breakfast consisting of eggs, spinach, avocado, potatoes, and frozen berries.
It’s totally dependent on your preferences and how many calories you have for the day, but generally speaking, most weight loss breakfast meals that are around 300 - 500 calories and provide adequate protein will keep you full for the next few hours.
Adjust this as needed for you, but when you build your meals around the 5 pillars, your calories will go a long way and you’ll notice you can have a big breakfast for minimal calories!
Want to learn how to find how many calories you should be eating daily? Check out the guide Macros For Weight Loss.
Now for what you’ve been waiting for. Here are some of my favorite breakfast meals that have helped my clients on their weight loss journey.
- Greek yogurt parfait - 1 cup plain greek yogurt, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/8 cup slivered almonds, drizzle of honey.
- On the go breakfast - 3 hardboiled eggs, 3 turkey/chicken sausage links (roughly 10 -15 grams of protein), apple.
- Breakfast scramble - 3 eggs + 2 egg whites, spinach, chopped onion and mushrooms, 1 serving shredded cheese, 1 slice whole grain bread.
- Avocado toast - 1 slice whole grain bread, 1/4 avocado, 1 - 2 over easy eggs.
- Protein shake & banana - the ultimate "on the go" breakfast.
- Blended protein smoothie - 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup frozen berries, 1 handful spinach.
- Oatmeal with cinnamon & blueberries (or any berry of your liking).
- Cottage cheese with berries and a drizzle of honey.
- Egg white vegetarian omelette - 5 - 6 egg whites with your favorite vegetables packed in.
Many of these meals will fit perfectly in the sample meal plans I provide in these articles:
