Are You Preoccupied With Thoughts Of Food?

Do you find yourself craving something sweet or a coffee? After all, this is not a quick fix. It can be hard to resist. Or what about the evening? I am going to stop snacking. When you finally sit down in the evening, your arm just reaches out for crisps or toast, or maybe that tin of cookies. It’s all very well to decide to stop doing it, but how easy is that? Best is to start with simple steps that will begin to change what’s happening in your body. Eating the right breakfast can start to bring your body into balance. Alternatively, your breakfast choices can make you want to eat more, or even crave food, later. Some people skip breakfast, as they are practicing a method of intermittent fasting. If you skip breakfast and regulate your eating later in the day, that’s fine. But if you crave food, overeat later in the day or snack in the evening, it may help to have breakfast. She also hoped to lose seven or eight pounds. Often bringing home work, she found the evenings particularly difficult.

Careless Memories

After an hour or so, with paperwork still stretching ahead of her, Emma would feel she deserved a treat. It caused her blood sugar levels to spike, then crash, which triggered the desire for something sweet. For protein, she had a little side dish of raw sunflower seeds. At this stage, we weren’t focusing on her evening snacking. But Emma discovered that she wasn’t wanting biscuits in the same way in the evening. And she started to feel they were resistible. Also, her breakfast gave her more energy throughout the morning. She noticed that this energy low was happening later and later and wasn’t as bad. This was really encouraging. And the change in how she felt was definitely motivating! It also assists your body biochemically. One of the reasons why getting breakfast right can make it easier to lose weight and to eat healthily has to do with your blood sugar levels. Let’s say you get up in the morning and, like Emma, have white toast with jam and a coffee.

Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad

So you’ve got white carbs, sugar and caffeine. These all push your blood sugar up quickly, causing you to release more insulin. So already, at the start of the day, you are giving your body the message to store fat. Trying to get your blood sugar levels back up, your body releases stress hormones. Plus, signaling to Store fat around your belly. This is why it’s so important to have a breakfast that stabilises your blood sugar levels. What might you have? Let’s look at some general guidelines. Protein helps stabilise your blood sugar levels. It also helps you feel fuller for longer. A number of hormones control your hunger. Are you preoccupied with thoughts of food? Have an egg or add a handful of nuts or seeds to your cereal. If you eat meat and dairy, just have small amounts, as the fats they contain can be inflammatory and inflammation is linked to weight gain.

As You Lean Into The Light

Your body breaks carbohydrates down into sugars. But unrefined carbs still have their fibre, which slows this process. Thus, they affect your blood sugar levels less. For now, we are just going to consider a couple of examples of how typical breakfast foods can help rebalance your body. If you have completed it, you will know which imbalances you have in your body. This may also be true if you are perimenopausal. One of my favourite breakfasts to help with this is oats with fruit, nuts, seeds and coconut milk. Oats and seeds contain phytoestrogens, which help balance female hormones. You could also sprinkle cinnamon on your breakfast. Not only is cinnamon good for female hormone balance, but it also regulates blood sugar. I particularly like coconut milk, but other plant milks are just as good. With high blood sugar levels, you release more insulin. Vitamin D is only found in a small number of foods which include eggs. If you don’t eat oily fish, you may be low in omega 3 fats, which have all sorts of benefits for your health and weight loss, from reducing your appetite to boosting your metabolism. Chia seed and flaxseed also contain omega 3 fats, so you could sprinkle ground flax or ground chia on your cereal or porridge. If your gut bacteria are out of balance, you might gain weight. In general, slim people have more of the good bacteria than people who carry more weight. Yogurt is a fermented food, so it helps your good gut bacteria. Hopefully, you are starting to see how you can tailor what you eat to help bring your body into balance. Making changes to the way you eat can sometimes feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. If your breakfast doesn’t contain protein, add a handful of nuts or seeds. If you currently eat white bread, swap to whole grain or rye. Or try substituting. If it has to be jam, try a 100 percent fruit spread, or make your own chia jam by mixing berries with chia seed. Then take a muffin or pancake out of the freezer the night before to carry with you for breakfast. Or make some fruit, nut and oat bars, sweetened with dates or other dried fruit instead of sugar. The main thing here is to find what will work for you, that fits into your life. Feel free to adapt these suggestions. If they don’t work for you, what would? This helps stabilise your blood sugar levels so you are not giving your body the message to store fat. It also helps reduce cravings. If you skip breakfast due to intermittent fasting and that works for you, fine. If you overeat or crave food later in the day, try starting the day with a healthy breakfast. Avoid or reduce foods that destabilise your blood sugar levels, such as refined cereals, refined sugar, white bread and jam.