Ah yes, the year-end holidays; a time for fellowship, family gatherings, and a whole lot of feasting! You can immediately forget about the mere idea of dieting the moment you sit down at the dinner table with its generous spread of dishes. From richly-coated gravy meat to hearty carb-heavy recipes and sugary desserts; it’s only natural to pack on a kilogram or two after the festive season. Don’t be discouraged, however, because you can lose that post-holiday weight by simply making a few tweaks to your everyday meals. In this article, we’ll be focusing on healthy breakfast ideas to start your day on the right note.
5 Healthy Breakfast Swap Ideas That Will Help You Lose Your Post-Holiday Gains
Replace Your Cereal With Muesli
Cereals are actually filled with loads of preservatives. They’re highly processed with sugar and refined grains. These can increase and then decrease your blood sugar levels, prompting you to crave for more sugary types of food. As your body is now actively seeking for other high-carb meals or snacks, there might be a tendency to overeat as well.
In contrast, muesli is packed with fibre and whole grains, which will keep you full enough to prevent you from snacking before lunch. Furthermore, the raw oats in muesli contain plenty of resistant starch, meaning your meal will take a longer time to digest. Once the resistant starch breaks down, the digestive acids are then let go. This causes your metabolism to speed up, allowing you to burn more calories at a faster rate. Plus, when assembled with an assortment of nuts, dried fruit, seeds, and whole rolled oats, muesli makes for a healthy breakfast idea you shouldn’t skip out on.
Ditch One Slice Of Bread And Have An Open-Faced Sandwich
Sandwiches are an easy, healthy breakfast idea that anyone can make, but with the wrong ingredients, they can be a major culprit to your expanding waistline. So, rather than having a full, double-sided sandwich, opt for an open-faced one instead. This way, you’ll still be able to enjoy the flavours you love, but also cut back about 100 calories.
However, for more effective weight-loss results, it’s also important to pay attention to the toppings you fill your sandwich with. If you’re a meat-lover, try replacing any fatty cuts with leaner alternatives. Some good options include rotisserie chicken breast (85g and preferably skinless), lean roast beef (57g), or low-sodium turkey breast deli meat (57g). As for your vegetables, it’s best to increase your fibre intake with low-calorie selections that are also rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, such as baby spinach, bell peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, and onions.
Go For Plain Greek Yoghurt Instead Of Flavoured Yoghurt
Before you start reaching for your favourite flavoured fruit yoghurt, why not choose plain, unsweetened Greek yoghurt instead? While the former may be a convenient grab-and-go healthy breakfast idea for the time-poor, they usually have high amounts of sugar and are about 150 to 200 calories per serving. By swapping it with plain Greek yoghurt, you’re already reducing approximately 80 calories! If you’re still craving for a hint of sweetness, go the healthier route by adding fresh berries since they provide extra nutritional benefits.
Depending on your choice of brand, one serving can hold around 12 to 17.3 grams of protein, thus increasing your satiety hormones that are responsible for curbing those hunger pangs. Greek yoghurt is also a good source of iodine; a chemical element that your body can’t naturally produce. It’s essential for proper thyroid function and plays a huge role in your body’s metabolism.
Opt For Boiled/Poached Eggs
Eggs are an eggcelent choice for a warm and healthy breakfast idea. A full egg alone contains only 70 calories and five grams of fat! Additionally, it doesn’t have any sugars or carbohydrates, making eggs a killer weight-loss food option. They’re nutrient-dense and are incredibly high in protein. This will easily fill you up and lower your appetite, which will help you reduce your food intake for your next few meals.
Plus, by keeping you full for a longer period, you won’t feel the urge to snack in between eating times either. With that being said, how you prepare your eggs contributes greatly to your weight-loss progress as well. For healthier methods, opt for boiled or poached eggs instead of frying them. They require no added fat, butter, or oil during the cooking process, and maximise the nutrients through reduced oxidation by restricting the egg’s exposure to air.
Choose A Lettuce Breakfast Wrap Over A Tortilla Wrap
Reducing your carb intake is probably one of the most effective ways to lose weight. When you reduce carbs, you’re also reducing your blood insulin levels. This is a hormone that’s responsible for storing fat and transferring the glucose from carbs to the rest of your body’s cells. So, when your insulin levels are lowered, you’re more likely to lose weight. A healthy breakfast idea that allows you to decrease your carbs significantly is a lettuce breakfast wrap.
While tortillas may be considered a healthier bread option, that’s not always the case. Some common ingredients you’ll find in many types of tortillas are oil or lard. Both of which can immediately raise your calorie and fat content. To give you an idea, a 10-inch wrap already contains over 215 calories and five grams of fat. Conversely, a two-ounce (57 grams) serving of butterhead lettuce has only 10 calories and doesn’t hold a single gram of fat whatsoever.
Try Out These Healthy Breakfast Swap Ideas To Start The Day Right
We hope these healthy breakfast ideas were useful and have inspired you to lead a better lifestyle, as well as help you lose your post-holiday weight. Bear in mind that results don’t happen overnight, and you’ll have to be patient with the gradual process. Also, don’t be too hard on yourself for packing on the extra kilos. Everyone gains weight during the festive season, so you’re definitely not alone. For a local spin, check out our other article on healthy Malaysian breakfast foods.
