Breakfast is the most important meal of the day among the three meals. The reason is very simple: every night, the body consumes energy. At this time, the body has to use its stored energy. Therefore, after waking up in the morning, it naturally needs a breakfast rich in carbohydrates to replenish its energy reserves. Without breakfast, you cannot gain new vitality to work. Many people think that losing weight is very difficult because it is hard to endure eating less or not eating at all. In fact, if you choose the right method, you can lose weight while eating and drinking.
How to eat breakfast to lose weight?
People with good figures generally have the habit of eating breakfast carefully. Eating a good breakfast can effectively suppress the amount of food for the remaining two meals of the day, symbolizing determination and a healthy lifestyle. Obesity, in simple terms, means “absorbing more calories than burning,” and these excess calories are converted into fat deposits in the body. When fat cells in the body proliferate or increase in size, the weight naturally exceeds the standard. Some Western weight loss products have significant side effects, especially causing considerable damage to the digestive and metabolic systems. Therefore, to lose weight, “eating less is the key.” Although it’s about eating less, it must be healthy. So, how should breakfast be eaten to be both slimming and “beautiful”?
1. Eat a low-fat breakfast
Women’s breakfasts are increasingly inclined to choose foods low in fat. They prefer grain-based foods. From a nutritional standpoint, this trend should be encouraged. For example, a small loaf of bread spread with butter, jam, and cheese, along with an egg, contains about 7 times more fat than a breakfast with whole milk, fruit, and grains.
2. Favor grain-based breakfast
A good breakfast should include these three things: grain products (such as unrefined flour bread, mixed grain porridge, black rice bread, steamed buns, fennel buns, etc.), fruits, and dairy products. It’s best to drink low-fat milk. Whoever eats this kind of breakfast can hit three birds with one stone: rich in carbohydrates, low in fat, rich in vitamins and minerals.
3. Pay attention to intake of vitamins, folic acid, and iron
Breakfast for women aged 25-40 should meet at least 50% of their daily vitamin and folic acid needs, especially the need for vitamin C and iron. Nowadays, most women do not get enough iron and folic acid from food. If possible, these can be supplemented at lunch and dinner. Meat, organs, millet, and fennel can meet the daily requirement of 10 to 18 milligrams of iron. Vitamin B can be obtained from lean meat, fish, liver, whole wheat bread, potatoes, peanuts, and other foods. Women should adhere to the “Four Nos” principle in their diet.
4. Avoid excessive fat intake
Generally, women should control their total calorie intake, reduce their fat intake, eat less fried foods to prevent overweight and obesity. The recommended fat intake should be 20% to 25% of the total energy, but currently, many women exceed 30%. If the fat intake is too high, it can easily lead to an increase in lipid peroxides, reduce physical endurance, and affect work efficiency.
Four exquisite and easy-to-make weight-loss breakfasts
Although weight loss requires “control of the mouth,” it does not mean “not eating.” On the contrary, if you want to lose weight, you should never skip breakfast. Because by lunchtime, to compensate for the missed breakfast, you are bound to overeat, affecting the weight loss effect. Some girls skip breakfast to lose weight, but this doesn’t actually help with weight loss; instead, it is detrimental to the body. Eating breakfast is beneficial for metabolism and digestion, and today Lan Mami will introduce four exquisite and easy-to-make weight-loss breakfasts, allowing you to start slimming from the morning!
Lily Job’s Tear Congee
Lily Job’s Tear Congee is mainly made from job’s tears with lily as a supplementary ingredient boiled together, with a slightly fragrant and silky taste; not only sweet in flavor but also appealing to the eye, giving off an appetite. Drinking water boiled with job’s tears and lily can have a beautifying effect, especially in the southern region where people use it particularly to nourish and avoid heatstroke.
Lily has the effect of clearing the heart, moistening the lungs, and nourishing the stomach. Job’s tears have the effects of detoxification, nourishing beauty, and whitening the skin. Both have poor water solubility and a slightly astringent taste, so honey, rock sugar (never add white sugar), and milk can be added for seasoning. Adding milk can enhance the whitening and moisturizing effect of this congee (both job’s tears and milk are good whitening foods, and when combined, they can be made into a mask), making the flavor more enjoyable!
Ingredients: dried lily, Job’s tears, glutinous rice
Method: soak the Job’s tears in water for twenty minutes, lily for fifteen minutes, and glutinous rice for twenty minutes. Pour the Job’s tears, lily, and glutinous rice into a pressure cooker. Add about half a pot of water, press the porridge cooking mode, and when it’s cooked, serve and enjoy.
Tips: Job’s tears are a traditional food for beauty and a common medicinal remedy. Despite its appearance being beneficial, it can be fatally harmful to pregnant women because consuming Job’s tears can cause uterine contraction, leading to miscarriage.
Fruit Oat Yogurt
Oats, as a high-fiber, high-protein nutritional food, are the best choice for breakfast. Among the various cereals, oats have top-notch nutritional value. Oats are a coarse grain rich in fiber, with a strong satiating effect. Due to increasing intake of refined foods in modern society, many are advocating eating coarse grains. Oat flakes are a good choice. High fiber and high protein are characteristic of oat products, which have a good effect on improving digestion and achieving weight loss. Oat flakes serve as a “natural intestinal scrubber.” The dietary fiber in oats softens stool, helping relieve constipation. Oats also contain saponins not found in other cereal grains, which can bind with plant fibers, absorb bile acids, convert liver cholesterol into bile acids, flush them out with stool, indirectly reducing serum cholesterol. Hence, oats are known as health foods. Eating oats can prevent and fight cancer. Research has found that regular oat consumption can reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer. The rich β-glucan in oats can improve the immune system effectively combating viruses, bacteria, and parasites, thereby enhancing the body’s immunity.
Oats paired with yogurt and various seasonal fruits. At first bite, the taste buds are awakened by the sudden acidity, caught off guard by the thickness and milkiness, and after the yoghurt overwhelms the mouth, only a refreshing freshness remains, like a meadow under a clear sky. Homemade yogurt is not only healthier and more trustworthy but also allows you to choose any flavor you desire, providing new taste surprises with slight variations.
Ingredients: apple, pear, grape, 200ml yogurt, 150g oats
Method: cut the fruits into small pieces and place them in a dish (use seasonal fruits), then add a layer of yogurt, a layer of oats or fruits, another layer of yogurt, and alternate layers with yogurt. Now, you can enjoy!
Egg Roll Pancake
Recently, I often hear friends say they have abandoned staple foods in order to lose weight. However, the root cause of obesity is not carbohydrates but an excess of energy. Long-term low carbohydrate intake can lower blood sugar levels, leading to fatigue, loss of energy, and health decline. Therefore, to lose weight, it’s crucial to stay healthy; we can reasonably balance carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and other nutrients in our daily diet. This egg-roll pancake contains meat, vegetables, and eggs, combining carbohydrates, protein, high-quality fatty acids, vitamins, and other essential nutrients, making it nutritious and delicious. If you can frequently consume similar healthy staple foods, you will eat lighter and fitter.
Ingredients: eggs, tomato sauce, lettuce, bacon, garlic, tomato sauce, salt
Method: crack the eggs into a bowl, add a small spoonful of salt, beat until the egg mixture is fluffy, and cut the garlic into garlic morsels. Heat oil in a pan, spread the egg mixture evenly in the pan, fry until set, flip to fry the other side, and when both sides are golden brown, remove from the pan. Pour oil into the pan, add the bacon, fry until one side changes color, flip and fry the other side, once the bacon is cooked, sauté the garlic until fragrant, then add a little salt for seasoning, then you can serve. Lay out the cooked egg skin, top with bacon, lettuce, roll it up, then cut into pieces, and finally pour tomato sauce for flavoring.
Donggua Sweet Corn Porridge
Corn is a health product among coarse grains, and eating more corn is very beneficial to health. Cornmeal is rich in dietary fiber, can promote bowel movements, shorten the time food stays in the digestive tract, reduce the absorption of toxic substances, and reduce the stimulation of carcinogens to the colon, thereby reducing the occurrence of colon cancer. Cornmeal’s calorie, protein, carbohydrate, and fiber content is high, with vitamin A and carotene content, suitable for consumption during weight loss.
Donggua, unlike other melons and fruits, contains no fat and very little sodium, advantageous for diuresis and edema elimination. Donggua has high nutritional value. Every 100 grams of Donggua flesh contains 0.4 grams of protein, 2.4 grams of carbohydrates, 20 milligrams of calcium, 12 milligrams of phosphorus, 0.3 milligrams of iron, along with various vitamins, especially with a high vitamin C content of 16 milligrams per 100 grams. Besides, because it contains propanedioic acid, it has an essential role in preventing obesity, promoting beauty, and health. Eating more Donggua in summer not only relieves thirst, heat, and diuresis but also prevents chilblains. Due to its diuretic effect and very low sodium content, it is an excellent food for edema in chronic nephritis, nutritional edema, and pregnancy edema. It contains various vitamins and essential trace elements for the body, regulating metabolic balance. Donggua is cold in nature, nourishing stomach yin, clearing stomach fire, reducing appetite, promoting starch and sugar conversion into heat energy rather than fat. Therefore, Donggua is an ideal vegetable for obese individuals.
Ingredients: 200g cornmeal, 80g Donggua chunks, 30g peanuts, 40g lean meat chunks, 30g sweet potato chunks, eggs, spring onions as needed
Method: pour the cornmeal into cold water, stir until smooth. Pour into a pot of boiling water, add Donggua chunks, crushed peanuts (cut whole peanuts into pieces), lean meat chunks, sweet potato chunks, sprinkle with salt, simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Beat an egg or scramble it into egg flowers and add to the pot, sprinkle with spring onions before serving
