The 13 Best Breakfast Habits to Lose 10 Pounds
Many of us were brought up with the notion that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And for good reason: It revs your metabolism after a nightlong fast, nourishes your body with essential macros, boosts your energy levels, and helps you shed weight. But if you start your day with a plate full of the wrong foods, you may actually be doing your body a disservice. That's why we've put together the best breakfast habits to drop 10 pounds.
Not only will you trim your muffin top and banish belly fat, you'll also set a healthy foundation for the rest of the day. Find out which breakfast habits you should be practicing, and for more healthy tips, check out our list of 21 Best Healthy Cooking Hacks of All Time.
Chug two glasses of water.
Before digging into your morning meal, don't forget to chug 16 ounces of water. When a British study put this into practice, participants lost an average of 2.87 pounds in 90 days—which translates to 11.5 pounds in a year! If you're bored of plain ol' H2O, try stirring up a batch of fruity detox water.
Not sure how much water to drink? Here's How to Make Sure You're Drinking Enough Water.
Swap granola for low-sugar cereal.
"This seemingly-innocent food is almost always loaded with added sugar. In fact, most companies use synonyms or alternative words for plain old 'sugar' to disguise it," says Lisa Hayim, a registered dietitian and founder of The WellNecessities. For example, if you pour milk into a cup of Kashi Indigo Morning Organic Corn Cereal instead of 3/4 cup of Kashi Organic Promise Cranberry, Spelt and Flax Granola, you'll save 160 calories! Do that every day, and you could lose 10 pounds in just about 7 months. Just make sure to avoid the most toxic cereal on grocery shelves!
Drink coffee black.
If you're an avid coffee drinker, it's about time you ditch the creamer. Splashing two tablespoons of heavy cream to your cup of joe adds 100 calories. If you have two cups of coffee a day, forgoing the creamy stuff can help you drop 10 pounds in just under six months—a total no-brainer! Here are 9 Tricks for the Best-Ever Cup of Coffee.
Make an open-faced breakfast sandwich.
Instead of sandwiching an over-easy egg, avocado, and tomatoes between two pieces of toast, ditch the top slice. Doing so daily will save you about 100 calories, which totals up to a 10-pound weight loss in a year.
Looking for some meal inspiration? Check out these 100+ healthy breakfast ideas that help you lose weight and stay slim.
Add veggies to your omelet.
Rather than tossing a fistful of cheddar into your eggs, swap the dairy for a half cup of broccoli. One ounce of cheddar packs in about 110 calories while a half cup of steamed broccoli boasts 15 calories in addition to flab-fighting fiber and 65 percent of your daily recommended value of vitamin C. Make this morning switch and save your waistline 10 pounds in a year. Here's the Single Best Way To Make an Omelet.
Forget the frapp.
Fatty lattes and fancy blended beverages (hello, Starbucks' Frappuccino!) can rack up the calories quickly. If you guzzle down black coffee instead of a Grande Mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream just twice a week, you'll save 810 calories per week, which amounts to 10 pounds lost in just under 10 months. Not too shabby. Instead, why not make one of these 12 Tastiest Homemade Coffee Drinks From a Nutritionist.
Stop adding sugar.
Can't quit spooning sugar into your morning cup of caffeine? Maybe this will convince you: If you toss two tablespoons of sugar into your java or tea and drink two cups a day, cutting out the sweet stuff will help you drop 10 pounds in less than six months!
Have protein bars on hand.
"Sometimes (or maybe all the time), all you need is that five extra minutes of sleep and breakfast no longer fit into your morning routine," says Amy Shapiro MS, RD, CDN of RealNutritionNYC. She suggests keeping a portable snack, like a protein bar, on hand so you can quickly grab it and go.
Swap flavored yogurt for plain.
Waking up to an indulgent parfait layered with Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and antioxidant-rich berries is a great way to start your day, but not if you're choosing the wrong probiotic base. Choosing a plain cup of Chobani over a fruity tub will save you about 50 calories each time. Here are The 20 Best and Worst Greek Yogurts, According to Nutritionists.
Don't scarf it all down.
Experts estimate that leaving just one bite behind at every meal could cut about 75 calories daily. Don't think that adds up to significant weight loss? Doing so can help you lose 8 pounds in one year!
Drink black tea.
"Oolong, or 'black dragon,' is a kind of Chinese tea that's packed with catechins, nutrients that help promote weight loss by boosting your body's ability to metabolize fat. A study in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine found that participants who regularly sipped oolong tea lost a pound a week, without doing anything else to change their diet or exercise habits," says Kelly Choi, author of The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse. Here's What Happens to Your Body If You Drink Tea Every Day.
Grab a grapefruit.
"There are many foods that aid weight loss, but one that I often recommend to my clients and eat myself is grapefruit," says Patricia Bannan, MS, RDN, author of Eat Right When Time is Tight. "Researchers at Scripps Clinic in San Diego found that when obese people ate half a grapefruit before each meal, they dropped an average of 3.5 pounds over 12 weeks. Apparently, the tangy fruit can lower insulin, a fat-storage hormone, and that can lead to weight loss. Plus, since it's at least 90 percent water, it can fill you up so you eat less. However, if you are on certain medications you should not have grapefruit or grapefruit juice, so check the label on all your prescriptions, or ask your pharmacist or doctor."
Take a seat.
Although sitting down to eat is the most common way to enjoy your food, research shows that people who stand while eating consume 30 percent more during their next meal than those who take a seat. How so? Scientists think that if we stand while eating, we don't consider it a real meal and therefore resort to eating more later in the day. So if you ate a 450 calorie breakfast on your feet, you could potentially reduce that morning meal to just 360 by taking a seat. That translates to 9 pounds lost over the course of a year.
Don't know what to make for breakfast? Get started with our list of 91+ Best Healthy Breakfast Recipes.
