After months stuck at about 136 lbs. and working like mad, I am finally losing weight. In a few weeks I am down to 133. The secret for me was switching from a high carb/low fat diet to a lot of lean protein. I have been eating greek yogurt or egg white sandwiches for breakfast, veggie dogs for lunch, and usually chicken and vegetables for dinner. I have been snacking on fruit. The best part about this is I don't get the panicked hunger feeling I used to get from carb breakfasts. Even whole grains seems to burn away in about an hour, leaving me feeling half starved. I think this is something I can easily stick with! During the school year I eat breakfast at 5 am, and don't have another chance to eat until 12:30. I have some anxiety issues, and when the hunger hits it feeds into my anxiety and I convince myself I will pass out if I can't eat. A few times I had to let the kids out to recess early because I was having a panic attack! Now I feel like I can have the protein-filled breakfast and make it through my morning. I hope this is a way to kill two birds with one stone!
Just a little bit of protein (I eat a couple eggs) in the morning was the difference for me and made it so much easier for me to hold to my calorie allowance for the day.
A [skinny, fit] friend of mine has been telling me this for years: "If you want to lose weight, eat protein for breakfast."
Two [skinny, super-fit] women in my neighborhood tell me: "Eat protein at every meal and snack."
Sigh. I heart carbs.
I love breakfast cereal, but like you said, Kwinkle, it leaves me hungry by mid-morning. I used to eat HUGE bowls of cereal and still be starving by lunch. Then, when I had some blood-sugar issues during pregnancy, I cut back to small bowls of cereal and found no difference. Those darn carbs! You can load up on them and you'll still be starving an hour or two later. I think that's where Chinese food gets the reputation for leaving you hungry an hour later -- all that white rice.
Now I have cut back my cereal to just a couple days a week -- and like Augustine said, those are the hardest days to stick to my cals.
Anyone have some high-protein breakfast combos to share?
A hypoglycemic episode can feel like a panic attack. Do some reading on-line about dietary influences on anxiety. It's very enlightening!
I don't have much time but I'm post a link if I find something quickly.
I googled "food for anxiety and depression" and got some impressive links.
My breakfast this week? 3 eggs and 3 slices of bacon.
Last edited by srmb60; 07-23-2010 at 04:27 PM.
Reason: to add more on and on and on ...
Hey I have a question a lot of people talk about having egg whites for breakfast is it healthier to take out the egg yokes? When I make eggs for breakfast I just scramble them
Hey I have a question a lot of people talk about having egg whites for breakfast is it healthier to take out the egg yokes? When I make eggs for breakfast I just scramble them
Almost all the protein of the egg is in the white, and all the vitamins/minerals and fat and cholesterol is in the yolks. So I will scramble one whole egg with several whites to make sure I'm getting the vitamins/minerals. Plus I think the whites alone just look kind of sad and taste very plain.
Wow, SusanB, I am really excited to see that there is a link between the anxious feeling and the lack of protein. honestly...this could improve things for me 100 fold! Last school year I used to eat a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast when I got up on time, but most days I would get this terrible breakfast: a starbucks hot chocolate, a sugary pastry, and sometimes if I was really stressed I would wash it down with a can of soda...all of this happening before 6 am. It is no wonder I felt myself shutting down in a scary way at about 11:00! I would scarf my lunch, which was usually reasonalby healthy, and then hit the vending machine for some chocolate and another soda. I would drink 4 per day just to keep going--between the stress and the constant sugar crashes. It is also no wonder I gained 15 lbs in a school year, and lucky it was not more! I have always been a carb-a-holic, but now that I am eating the protein, I eat so much less, I am full all the time and sugar tastes ungodly sweet (though I let myself have one soda a day to not feel deprived). What an eye-opener.
Protein for breakfast
