As the name implies, breakfast literally means to “break one’s fast,” following a good nights rest. According to the American Dietetic Association, the body uses breakfast to refuel its glucose stores and provide the brain and muscles with energy to function throughout the day. However, this doesn’t permit us to indulge in bottomless bowls of sugary cereal to meet our glucose requirement. Instead, look for breakfast options that are high in protein and fiber and low in calories, fat and sugar. Rest assured, following these guidelines doesn’t mean sacrificing taste!

Oatmeal: Top of the list for a reason, oatmeal is an excellent source of dietary fiber. Oats offer many benefits to the body, including improved heart health, bowel function and even a reduced risk of certain cancers and obesity. Instant oatmeal is just as nutritious as regular oatmeal and it’s easier and quicker to prepare!

Mix 1 sachet of instant oatmeal with 1/2 cup of low-fat milk, heat and drizzle with honey. Enjoy!

English muffin with peanut butter: A good source of dietary fiber and calcium, a whole-wheat English muffin is an excellent alternative to traditional bread. It’s low in calories, low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol. Opt for all-natural peanut butter that’s free of added ingredients and preservatives. Adding banana not only makes for a fantastic flavor combination but also adds 1 fruit serving.

Toast 1 light, whole-wheat English muffin and serve with 1 Tbsp of peanut butter and 1 small banana (sliced).

Granola and fruit parfait: When buying granola, pay attention to sugar content (5 grams or less) and look for a granola that contains nuts. Walnuts are high in omega-3s and taste great. For the most nutritious granola, consider making your own; the only way to completely avoid added sugars and preservatives.

Combine 1/2 cup of granola with 1 cup of plain, low-fat yogurt and 1/4 cup of fresh or frozen berries.

Egg and cheese burrito: Eggs are an amazing, natural source of protein. For the highest quality egg, buy organic, free-range.  Eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty acids are a product of hens feeding largely on kelp and flax seed and provide more nutritional benefit than regular eggs.

Fill one whole wheat, low-carb tortilla, with 1 scrambled egg, half a cup of low-fat shredded cheese and 1 Tbsp of salsa.

Fruit Smoothie: Possibly the easiest and most delicious way to meet your daily fruit recommendation, a fruit smoothie is a far healthier alternative to a shake. Using low-fat yogurt to thicken the smoothie and freshly-squeezed fruit juice as the liquid ingredient makes for a low-fat smoothie free of added sugar.

Combine approximately 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh fruit with 3/4 cup of low-fat yogurt, 1/2 cup of fruit juice and  a few cubes of ice.  Blend to desired thickness and enjoy!

• A short term fix: In an attempt to lose weight quickly we often drastically cut our calorie intake or restrict certain food groups. This normally only works for so long before we grow tired of a restrictive diet and subsequently abandon all efforts. Instead of setting a goal to lose weight in time for bikini season, it’s more beneficial long term to adopt a different lifestyle that involves a permanent commitment to healthy eating and exercise. Most importantly it must be a plan that’s easy to stick to!

• No support system: Too many people try to lose weight without a support system. Research shows that people who have the support of family and friends to keep them on track, are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off.

• Hormone imbalance: Hormones play an active role in weight loss. A hormone imbalance can cause dramatic weight gain and make it virtually impossible to lose weight. It was discovered about 10 years ago that most people who are chronically overweight are also leptin resistant. Leptin is a naturally occurring hormone in the body that controls hunger, cravings and how the body uses energy. When the brain is responding normally to leptin, it signals us to stop eating when we’ve had enough food to eat. However, in about 85% of the population that are overweight, the brain actually becomes resistant to its signals.

• A Dysfunctional Metabolism: Contrary to what you might think, many overweight people don’t take in any more calories than people of average weight. They also exercise and still continue to gain weight. These types of people suffer from a slow or dysfunctional metabolism. Some people suffer from hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid does not produce enough thyroid hormone, making it very hard to increase metabolism without medication. A simple thyroid test and proper treatment is essential to diagnose this problem. Supplementing your diet and exercise regime with Ignite Maxx™ will boost metabolism to help you burn up to 600 calories a day!

• Stress: Another precursor to slow or difficult weight loss is stress. The body’s response to chronic stress affects metabolism, blood sugar, hormonal function and appetite. Not surprisingly this can cause the body to hold on to its fat stores, increase hunger and cravings, as well as impair the body’s ability to burn calories.

Brush your teeth- Food just doesn’t taste good after a fresh spearmint brushing. You may not want to mess up your fresh breath.

Eat foods with fiber- Fiber will cause you to feel full. The majority of your fiber should come from fruits and vegetables, not grains, which are inflammatory. (Tip: I love asian pears. They’re one of the most fiber filled fruits in the world with a high water and fiber content.)

De-Stress- Many people will instinctively reach for ‘comfort foods’ when they are stressed. Take the time to identify and have in your arsenal a few instant de-stressors that work for you; a 3 minute iPod break, a minute of deep diaphragmatic breathing or a mini-meditation session perhaps.

Snack – Nuts and seeds can be a main staple of your snacking. Walnuts are a great snack with good fats and have a good n-3 to n-6 ratio. Grab 10-12 organic walnut halves, 6-8 organic almonds, or a handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Here are some healthy snack recipes.

Eat mindfully- Smell, taste and chew your food as if it was your last meal. Savor it. It’s much harder to do this with unhealthy food.

Eat protein- Try making it a rule to have one out of every four bites be protein (and the other 75% veggies). It’s filling, nutrient dense, energy promoting and life giving.

Stop, think and thank- Before your car is magnetically lured through the drive thru-stop. Think about how that will serve you (or not). Be thankful and respectful of how miraculous your body is and what it needs to perform. Should you tax and poison it or give it some fuel for rejuvenation and repair?

Walk it off- We’ve all eaten too much at one sitting before. Instead of lying on the couch, go for a quick brisk walk. You will most likely feel more like lying on the couch, so use the walk not only as a way to get your metabolism up but also as a self discipline mechanism.

Create a checks and balances system- If you really have a hard time controlling cravings, take the time to set some boundaries. If you adhere to them, reward yourself (but not with cake and ice cream). Create a “Victory Journal.” Every time you have a victory-write it down, no matter how small you think it is. If you choose fresh berries as dessert instead of that cake and ice cream-write it down. Watch, you’ll begin to get addicted to doing things that take you toward your goals. This is a great way to gain momentum, self confidence and finally conquer yo-yo dieting. On the other hand, if you do slip, as we all do, have a system set up where you do something like pay a dollar into a jar. When the jar is filled don’t reward yourself with that money. Make a commitment to put the money into your savings.

Look to hormones- Many cravings aren’t just a lack of will power but hormonal signals. Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells. One of it’s most powerful effects on the body is to regulate food intake by signalling the brain to stop eating. If you have what seem to be uncontrollable cravings, your body may not be responding properly. It’s known as leptin resistance. LepToThin ™  is a supplement that can help your body become more responsive to leptin’s satiety signaling.

Here’s the skinny…

Most overweight people want to lose weight to protect their health. Restricting calories and following a diet avoiding certain foods, is the most common weight loss method. Although eating healthy is important for losing weight and getting a healthy body, diets rarely provide long term success.

Most people lose weight on a diet, but they quickly gain it back once they stop dieting. Hence the term ‘yo-yo’ dieting.

This frustrating result usually leads to a new diet with the same process happening over and over again. Since most people’s weight goes up and down like a yo-yo, with all these repeated diets, this occurrence has actually been called the yo-yo diet syndrome.

Yo-yo dieting is not only frustrating and discouraging for the dieter, but it puts an additional strain on a body that is already dealing with imbalances and inflammation due to being overweight. It is important to realize that the yo-yo diet syndrome loss is a very common problem and that trying different diets are seldom the solution.

Current research shows that no matter how diligently you stick to a diet, it will only ever be a temporary fix until you address what is causing the weight gain—usually a hormonal imbalance.

Hormones work in the gut and the brain to signal the body when to eat and when to stop eating. They also control whether calories are used for energy or stored as fat, thereby regulating metabolism. In particular, the hormone, leptin, is important in the control of these functions, like the feeling of being full after eating.

Fructose is found in the majority of foods in the typical American diet, even in the seemingly healthy ones such as breads, cereals, pasta sauce, salad dressings, granola bars and ketchup that are a part of many diets.

Research shows that consuming too much fructose leads to an inability for leptin to get into the brain where it needs to work. It is as if you get to work and the door is locked and you have no key. You cannot possibly get your work done standing outside the door!

Similarly, leptin cannot produce signals to tell the body to stop eating or to quicken the metabolism. Dieting, then, only works for a while but is not a permanent fix, just like putting a bandage on a gunshot wound may stop blood from pouring out but does not help to heal it.

Essentially, what studies show is that you need to get your leptin back into the brain where it can work to help you lose weight and keeping it off long term. The supplement LepToThin™ with LeptiPro™ was designed specifically to deal with this problem.

References:

Shapiro A, Mu W, Roncal C, Cheng KY, Johnson RJ, Scarpace PJ. Fructose-induced leptin resistance exacerbates weight gain in response to subsequent high-fat feeding. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2008;295(5):R1370-5.

Wadden TA, Considine RV, Foster GD, Anderson DA, Sarwer DB, Caro JS. Short- and Long-Term Changes in Serum Leptin in Dieting Obese Women: Effects of Caloric

Restriction and Weight Loss. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1998;83(1):214-218.

Weigle DS, Duell PB, Connor WE, Steiner RA, Soules MR, Kuijper JL. Effect of Fasting, Refeeding, and Dietary Fat Restriction on Plasma Leptin Levels. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1997;82(2):561-565.