BESLIM is an acronym used quite often by the health coaches in my industry – it is an acronym for the 6 Basic Habits for Weight Control
B – stands for breakfast. Raise your hand if you ate breakfast today!
Breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal, or nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger. According to studies, 80 percent of people who’ve maintained a 35-pound or greater weight loss make breakfast a part of their day… every day
Eating within 2 hours of waking can make a difference in the way you metabolize glucose, or blood sugar, all day. Your glucose level rises every time you eat, and your pancreas produces insulin to shuttle the glucose into your cells, where it’s used for energy. Research is finding that keeping glucose and insulin in the right balance has important effects on metabolism and health. If you don’t bother with breakfast, though, the prolonged fasting might lead to a bigger than normal boost in “hunger hormones” such as ghrelin, encouraging you to overeat at your next meal and leading to spikes and dips in glucose. Over time, if your pancreas is constantly producing insulin to compensate for high levels of glucose, it will burn out and you could develop diabetes.
Take the time to eat a healthy breakfast. Beware of too many carbs – especially high glycemic carbs with empty calories – and balance them out with some lean protein. Do that every day and you will have mastered one of the six basic habits of weight control!