5 breakfast mistakes that can hamper your weight loss journey

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day without any doubt.

While having a well-balanced meal first thing in the morning can provide you with the right start to the day and certainly fill you up.

There are some mistakes which, when done with your breakfast can not just compromise nutrition but cost you badly, if you are watching what you eat and trying to lose weight.

Despite many believing that skipping breakfast is the key to faster weight loss, having a fulfilling quality breakfast is very important.

Not only can the right breakfast get you closer to achieving satiety first thing in the morning, but it can also power your workouts and balance blood sugar levels as well. Research also has also suggested that eating a regular breakfast may help banish excess weight and may help maintain weight loss in the long run.

Besides carefully picking and adding nutrients to your morning meal, if you are focused on losing off those kilos, do not make these mistakes which could cost you on your journey to losing weight:

While often considered to be low-calorie meals or a way to add fruits and veggies to your meal, a green juice or having a coffee alone doesn’t make for the balanced nutritional meal you need to kickstart your mornings. Although coffee and detox juices (such as fruit and veggie juices) do contain some antioxidants, they can make you feel devoid of other nutrients, and even make you feel hungry in a short while. They are best to be had in the form of shorter meals, and not on their own.

A lot of our favourite breakfast meals are believe it not, laden with sugar. Be it pancakes, ready-to-eat cereals, waffles, smoothies, loading up on sugar is something that doesn’t benefit weight loss. Instead, it can make you gain weight if you are not too careful. Having high sugar levels in the mornings can also throw your blood sugar levels off balance, disrupt hormones and not to forget, put you at the risk of many lifestyle diseases. .

Here’s another mistake, worse than skipping breakfast you might be unknowingly making that can make it difficult for you to see the results you want, or worst, make you put on more weight than you probably want. With many working from home, untimely, late meals can be a big contributor to an increase in weight. Having breakfast too late can make you overeat and ruin your eating schedules throughout the day. The best would be to have it within 1-1.5 hours post waking up. For the best start to the day, try having a glass of warm water, nuts and seeds soon after waking up, and then having a healthy breakfast.

When you are on a weight loss journey, fats and proteins should be your friends and it’s crucial you choose quality sources to add to most of your meals. A meal should have an ideal balance of good carbs, fats as well as proteins. While carbs and fats give you the energy to carry through the day, proteins ensure that you stay fuller for longer and build muscle mass. Focus on including monounsaturated fat sources, good carbs and high proteins in your plate. Eggs, nuts and seeds, healthy flours can be tried.

If you are accustomed to having instant, on-the-go meals during busy morning hours, it’s time to change that! Simply said, no amount of processed food (no matter how ‘healthy’ the label reads) can really help you in losing weight. Processed and packaged food are often laden with chemicals and preservatives which increase their shelf life but are not really healthy for you. If you find yourself running short of time, instead of using packed meals for breakfast, try your hand at meal prepping and find easy, nutritious breakfast recipes which you could make!