Big, Well-Balanced Breakfast Aids Weight Loss

An interesting article from the Washington Post. I didn't think a big, carb-heavy breakfast was scale-friendly.... I don't usually eat breakfast and if I do, it's normally just a little packet of instant oatmeal. I get up at 5AM and start work at 6:30AM. There's no time to eat before I leave for work. Looks like I should starting taking a more substantial breakfast to work with me.

Big, Well-Balanced Breakfast Aids Weight Loss

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Thursday, June 19, 2008; 12:00 AM

THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Starting your day with a large meal packed with both carbohydrates and lean protein, and even a small piece of chocolate, can help lessen cravings and hunger the rest of the day, which can lead to significant weight loss, new research suggests.

Presented at this week's Endocrine Society annual meeting, in San Francisco, the new research found that sedentary, obese women lost almost five times as much weight on the "big breakfast" diet as did women following a traditional, restrictive low-carbohydrate diet.

"We treat obese people by telling them to eat less and exercise more, but that does not take into account feelings of carb cravings and hunger. We have to change our approach and find a diet that can control cravings and hunger," said the study's lead author, Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a clinical professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and an endocrinologist at the Hospital de Clinicas Caracas in Venezuela.

Jakubowicz explained that when you wake in the morning, your body is primed to look for food. Your metabolism is revved up, and levels of cortisol and adrenaline are at their highest. Your brain needs energy right away, and if you don't eat or you eat too little, the brain needs to find another fuel source. To do this, it activates an emergency system that pulls energy from muscle, destroying muscle tissue in the process. Then when you eat later, the body and brain are still in high-alert mode, so the body saves energy from the food as fat, she said.

Compounding the problem, your levels of the brain chemical serotonin are highest in the morning, which means your craving levels are at the lowest when you first wake up, and you may not feel much like eating, Jakubowicz said. But, as the day wears on, serotonin levels dip, and you get cravings for chocolate or cookies, and the like. If you eat these foods, your serotonin levels rise, and your body begins to associate good feelings with them, creating an addictive cycle, she said.

To combat both the addiction cycle and the hunger that inevitably seems to come with calorie reduction, Jakubowicz and her colleagues designed the "big breakfast" diet. In this eating plan, your breakfast accounts for roughly half of your daily calories, and breakfast includes milk, 3 ounces of lean meat, two slices of cheese, two whole grain servings, one fat serving and one ounce of milk chocolate or candy.

The high protein, carbohydrate mix gives the body the initial energy boost it needs in the morning. Throughout the rest of the day, the meals are made up of protein and complex carbohydrates, like vegetables. Because protein is digested slowly, Jakubowicz said, you won't feel hungry.

And, she said, by having a small piece of chocolate or candy when serotonin levels are high, it won't taste as good, and the brain won't feel the same serotonin boost, which will eventually help cut down on cravings.

In the study of 94 obese, sedentary women with metabolic syndrome, half were told to eat the big breakfast diet containing about 1,240 calories, while the other half ate a 1,085 calorie high-protein, low carbohydrate diet for eight months.

At the end of the eight months, those on the more restrictive low-carb diet lost an average of almost 9 pounds. But those on the big breakfast diet lost nearly40pounds. That translated to an average body mass loss of 4.5 percent for those on the low-carb diet and a 21.3 percent average loss for those on the big breakfast plan.

Additionally, those on the big breakfast plan reported feeling less hungry and had fewer carbohydrate cravings.

Nutritionist Geri Brewster, a wellness consultant at Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said she already recommends a large, well-balanced breakfast to all of her clients, because it helps to keep blood sugar levels stable.

She said if you eat a traditional breakfast, something like cereal or a doughnut, your blood sugar and insulin levels spike. Once that blood sugar is used up, you'll still have excess insulin circulating, which makes you hungry and makes you crave carbohydrates.

A second study presented at the meeting reinforced the idea that biological changes occur when you carry excess weight, Brewster said. This study found that women who are overweight don't experience a drop in leptin levels after exercise like lean women do.

Leptin is a hormone that plays a role in appetite regulation and metabolism. Brewster said she wasn't surprised by these findings, because once the body is overweight, it tries to maintain that size. "Fat cells become mini-endocrine systems themselves to maintain obesity," she said, and keeping leptin levels elevated is likely one way the body does that.

More information

Learn more about weight loss from the U.S. National Women's Health Information Center.

SOURCES: Daniela Jakubowicz, M.D., clinical professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, and endocrinologist, Hospital de Clinicas Caracas, Venezuela; Geri Brewster, R.D., M.P.H., nutritionist and wellness consultant, Northern Westchester Hospital Center, Mount Kisco, N.Y.; June 17, 2008, presentations, The Endocrine Society annual meeting, San Francisco

Ruffles Potato Chips & Ketchup...

...are delicious together!!! Don't knock it 'til you try it. It tastes just like french fries!

I need a vacation...

...and during that vacation, all I'd do is sleep. I'm so tired and haven't been sleeping very well. I've been averaging about 4 hours of sleep per night. It's not good. I'm sure sleep deprivation must be shortening my life span. :P My older brother also has trouble sleeping sometimes. I wonder if it's genetic?

More Ghetto Dinners....

Last night, I had some frozen Stouffer's Meatloaf and a hot dog bun. The meatloaf was delish, especially since I made sure to slather on some Del Monte ketchup. Dior, I'm glad I opted for the 1 hour in the oven versus 18 minutes in the microwave.

I'm trying to cut back on the white rice. I'm a starch fiend and white rice with Kikkoman shoyu (a.k.a. "soy sauce") on it is like crack around here. So, instead of rice, I ended up with the hot dog bun. Is that any better? Hmm.... Anywho, since I didn't eat rice, I had a little more meatloaf than usual. Was it a wash? Maybe.

Tonight, I'm craving me some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. If I wasn't trying to stay away from the rice, I'd probably have a bowl of rice with a can of Vienna Sausage, an island staple.

Son of a Bee-otch!

So I'm sitting at my desk today, happily typing an e-mail, when I saw something moving in the corner of my eye. I thought it might be a fly. Nope. It was a honeybee! I work in an air conditioned building so I wasn't expecting to see that! The bee hit my computer screen, ricocheted off towards ME, flew away, only to return to my desk a few minutes later! Very weird. I've never been stung before (knock on wood), so I'm not even sure if I'd be allergic to a bee sting.

New License Plates

Yay! I got the license plates for my new car today! Not bad, they arrived in just 2 weeks. I was wondering what my number would be (silly, but this is my 1st new car so I was all giddy about it). I knew we were in the "P"s, so I was definitely hoping it wouldn't be something like "PRV" or "PUS"...thankfully, it turned out to be neither.

Ghetto Dinner & Ketchup

Brian unexpectedly had to work last night so I just couldn't get motivated to cook a decent dinner. So, what did I end up eating? I found a 1/2 empty bag of tater tots (leftover from sometime last year, I believe) and had a craving for creamed corn. So, yep, dinner consisted of a tray of tater tots, ketchup, and a can of creamed corn.

On another note, ketchup is my absolute most favorite condiment. I joke to Brian that I could probably cut out a lot of calories if he just let me eat ketchup right out of the bottle--forget the french fries. They are merely a vehicle for me to eat ketchup. Disgusting, huh? What can I say. :) Oh, and for economic reasons, I only buy Del Monte, but I also like Hunt's. I refuse to buy Heinz for political reasons. :P

In Memory of Grandma Nakanishi

We just got back from the hospital a little while ago. Brian's Grandma, Chieko (Furubayashi) Nakanishi passed away at 7PM tonight. Although this is a sad time, the mood at the hospital was quite light-hearted. I think we all knew Grandma was in pain and it was just her time. She was 94 years old! She's in a much better place and looked so peaceful. Here are some photos of her from our wedding, which I'm so thankful she was able to attend.




Oh yeah, and I changed the color of the blog background this afternoon. While dark blue is my favorite color, it was a bit too melancholy and was totally bringing me down today. So, it's a little brighter now. :)

My New Favorite Blog

Here's my new fave blog that I plan to check daily: "Dispatches from the Island"
It's by Jorge Garcia a.k.a. Hurley "Hugo" Reyes from LOST. It's cool to read about his life with some insight into island life, in particular.

I wish I had random, yet cool, things to blog about everyday. My life is, seemingly, mundane. Either that, or...I can't believe I'm going to say this...I need to get me a nifty little point-and-shoot to make picture-taking & photo processing much quicker. I think I see some random interesting things from time-to-time, but I don't have the Rebel with me or the situation wouldn't warrant me bringing it out.

Rabbit Photos