Weight Loss: Top 10 Breakfast Mistakes You Need To Stop Making Today!

It's a well-known fact that breakfast in the most important meal of the day and skipping it can have harmful impacts on our overall health. Not having a proper breakfast is a cardinal sin, especially if you are looking to lose weight and/or maintain weight loss. But, it's not just about achieving and maintaining an ideal body weight - breakfast is important for supplying your body with adequate energy to keep you going through the busiest parts of the day. It's often advised to consume enough healthy foods and nutrients, minerals and vitamins in your breakfast meal to give your body a good jumpstart for the day. However, these things aren't very obvious to many people, who often skip breakfast and end up derailing their weight loss journey, instead of boosting it.

But, merely eating something for breakfast isn't going to help you. Your healthy breakfast meal must contain foods that supply your body with energy, to tide over the energy drain of high-stress work mornings. A lot of tend to eat greasy foods or drink sugary beverages for breakfast or consume highly caffeinated drinks. All of these may be counter-productive when it comes to weight loss. It's very important to get your breakfast meals just right. There are some common mistakes that all of us have made or are possibly still continue to make, which are extremely destructive when it comes to weight loss.Also Read: 6 Scrumptious Breakfast Ideas for Busy Mornings

Here Are Some Common Breakfast Mistakes That May Lead To Weight Gain:

1. Eating oily or greasy foods: A lot of our traditional breakfast foods are rich in oil and grease. While these breakfast foods are tasty and filling, it's not a very good idea to start your day with them. Greasy foods may cause digestive troubles, distracting you from your work or studies. Moreover, these foods are often devoid of nutrition and may make you feel sluggish in the morning.

2. Eating sugary drinks or foods: A lot of our packaged breakfast cereals or fruit juices contain hidden sugars. These are low on nutrition and high in calories, and hence, should be avoided. Same goes for energy drinks or fizzy drinks with artificial sweeteners, as these are packing in a lot of calories that can derail your diet.

3. Juicing your fruits and veggies: Fruits and vegetables are high in fibre and natural sugars, which are both great for giving your body a natural energy boost in the morning. Fruit or vegetable juices on the other hand eliminate the fibre, making your fruit/veggie portion less filling. Eating a whole fruit for breakfast, instead of juicing it, is healthier.Also Read: Looking To Lose Weight? 6 foods You Must Avoid For Breakfast

4. Loading up on caffeine: A significantly large number of people around the world prefer to have a caffeinated drink with their morning meal. Tea and coffee are two of the most common and most popular ones and while one-odd cup of either drink may help boost metabolism and mood, over-consumption of the same isn't healthy.
 

5. Not eating enough: We're often in, too much of a hurry in the morning to care about having a good breakfast. So, we end up having a small and incomplete breakfast meal. Your breakfast should be filling, otherwise you end up feeling hungry soon after. This makes you want to crave unhealthy snacks, which are no friends of your waistline.

6. Not prepping for breakfast: Meal preps are important for anyone wanting to lose weight and ignoring it just won't do. But, while lunch and dinner preps are common, we often forget prepping for breakfast and grabbing anything we see in front of us in the morning. Your breakfast prep may just include stocking up on healthy options like poha, oats, milk, whole wheat bread and eggs, etc. for the next morning.

Also Read: 5 Best Breakfast Ideas to Kick Start Your Morning

7. Eating breakfast outside: A lot of restaurants and cafes nowadays offer all-day breakfast menus and buffets, but these should be indulged in only occasionally. Try and make it a habit to have breakfast at home, so that you are mindful of how many calories and how much nutrition is going into your body. So, no more making coffee stops at that Starbucks for your daily cuppa on your way to work - carry your own homemade coffee instead.

8. Ignoring the fat: A fear of fat has been bred into our psyche and it's making us throw out a lot of nutritious food. Good quality of monounsaturated fatty acids are good for the body, especially when consumed with breakfast, as they promote satiety and keep your skin healthy. So, stop throwing out the yolk of your morning eggs and go ahead and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on your breakfast toast.
 

9. Eating leftovers for breakfast: The prospect of eating leftover pizza, burger, fried rice, etc. for breakfast is very tempting. But unfortunately, it's not a very good practice. Leftover or re-heated foods have low nutritional value and no matter how well they were stored or refrigerated, leftovers are unhealthy. They may upset your digestive system, which may again, wreak havoc on your weight loss plans.Also Read: Start Your Morning Right With These 6 High Protein Breakfast Ideas10. Eating breakfast in bed: Don't start eating right after waking up in the morning. It's always healthier to first drink a glass of warm water, first thing in the morning, to boost your digestive system. Starting your day with a glass of warm water has a number of health benefits, including aiding weight loss. So, pass off on the opportunity of 'breakfast in bed' and instead wait for at least half an hour after you wake up to eat breakfast.

These breakfast practices may not guarantee a dramatic weight loss for you, but if incorporated into your daily routine, these will definitely lead to an overall improvement in your health.