The Easiest Thing You Can Do for Weight Loss and Longevity

I had a patient not too long ago who struggled to lose weight. A quick look at her food journal revealed why. To save calories, she skipped breakfast and simply sipped on coffee or one of those "skinny lattes" that actually contain a good bit of sugar.

She's not alone. "I hate breakfast," many patients candidly reply. That's unfortunate, since studies show breakfast can reduce hunger and cravings, improve cognition, and reduce your risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Eating upon waking brings your blood sugar levels back to normal, kick starts your metabolism, and sets you up to be on an even metabolic keel for the rest of the day. So break your fast every morning. It will make you healthier, give you more energy through the day, and help you lose weight.

Want to Gain Weight? Skip Breakfast

The old proverb "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pauper" now has some scientific muscle behind it. Many of us think that if we skip breakfast we will reduce our overall calorie intake for the day and lose weight.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Not eating breakfast means you will eat more the rest of the day. One study among healthy lean women found skipping breakfast impairs insulin sensitivity and leads to weight gain.

If you want further proof, look at sumo wrestlers, who never eat breakfast. They wake up, and the first thing they do is start exercising vigorously. This combination of skipping breakfast and then training really hard for five hours means that by the time they get to eat, they are starving. As a consequence, they overeat.

Something very similar happens when you skip breakfast, work through lunch, and finally return home in the evening: You eat everything in sight. You feel stuffed, sick, guilty, and regret ever entering the kitchen in the first place. I see a definite pattern among patients who skip breakfast and then experience evening hunger and cravings.

A recent study found that almost 3,000 people who lost an average of 70 pounds and kept it off for six years ate breakfast regularly. Only 4 percent of people who never ate breakfast kept the weight off.

The only difference between the two groups was that the group who lost weight ate breakfast and the other group did not. They both consumed the same number of calories and the same types of food. It turns out that it's not only the type of calories you consume that determines losing weight and maintaining weight loss, but the time of day you eat as well.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike/Shinrin-Yoku Experience
This afternoon I spent some time hiking about 7 miles on the J-Ville Forest Park trails....of course, with breaks to experience Shinrin-Yoku at its finest.

~Feelin' Alive!~