Eating a healthy breakfast can help you lose weight, and if you’re serious, it’s not something you can just ignore. It’s not only important for keeping hunger at bay throughout the morning, but also for ensuring your body has the right nutrients available to it to encourage it to enter ‘fat-burning mode’ as soon as possible after you wake up.
So, what is the best breakfast for weight loss? Turns out, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. There are a variety of choices available to you when you’re cutting out the calories at breakfast time.
What really matters is the quality of the ingredients included in the meals you choose to eat to start your day. Certain foods are the best to eat for breakfast and are good for weight loss.
And it’s not all about calories either. Getting the right balance of micronutrients is just as important as macronutrients. Here we present some healthy breakfast ideas, beginning with a list of the best ingredients to use when creating your breakfast, along with some hints of what you can make with them.
What makes a good healthy breakfast ingredient?
A good healthy breakfast ingredient ticks several boxes. It should be:
- Full of fiber – Important for keeping you feeling full until lunchtime.
- Filled with macronutrients – Essential for keeping your body well nourished and able to switch to ‘weight loss mode’.
- Helps to keep insulin and blood sugar levels stable – Important for maintaining control over your hunger.
- Natural – Avoiding any artificial colorings, flavorings or preservatives is always important for your general health and wellbeing.
So, here you have it, 5 healthy breakfast ingredients (and ideas for how to use them) for weight loss:
1. Oatmeal
Oatmeal seems like such an obvious healthy breakfast choice, but it’s such a good option, we simply couldn’t omit it from our list. There’s a good reason why people seem to have been eating oatmeal for breakfast since the dawn of time. Not only is it extremely filling, but it’s also brilliant for your health too.
Containing heaps of whole grain fiber, plus a good amount of protein, it’s an excellent way to fill yourself up on relatively few calories – and it doesn’t have to be a boring meal either.
1 cup of oatmeal, cooked with water, contains:
- 166 calories
- 4g fiber
- 5.9g protein
- 28g carbs
- 3.6g fat
In addition, in its natural form, oatmeal is:
- Sugar-free
- Cholesterol free
- Low in sodium
- Packed with ‘slow release’ carbohydrates – (great for keeping you fuller for longer)
The slow release carbohydrates in oatmeal offer the added bonus of helping to keep your blood sugar and insulin levels stable – essential if you want to ensure your body is burning fat at the maximum rate throughout the day.
Stuck for healthy oatmeal recipe ideas? Don’t be. Check out these tasty options:
2. Eggs
Who doesn’t love eggs? Ok, some people don’t, but the truth is, they’re so versatile, you’d be hard pushed to not be able to find a way to make them tasty to you. From scrambling, poaching, boiling and even frying, eggs can turn any dish into a high-protein feast quickly and simply.
So, what’s so good about eating eggs for breakfast? Well, to begin with, the most obvious reason is the fact that they’re so filling. Chances are, if you’re on the lookout for high protein breakfast recipes for weight loss, most of the recipes you’ll find are going to either be based around eggs, or at least contain them. The high protein content in eggs is brilliant for weight loss due to the fact that it keeps you fuller for longer.
And that’s not the only good thing about eggs. They’re very low in calories (around 70 per egg), low in fat, and absolutely jam-packed full of vitamins and minerals, iron, and carotenoids.
Read: health benefits of eggs
Eggs are a brilliant way to start your day, and some of the best breakfasts for weight loss contain them. Check out these recipes:
3. Yogurt
Protein-packed yogurt is great for your health at any time, but especially when you’re trying to lose weight.
Scientists have recently discovered that the calcium contained within yogurt actually acts as a fat-boosting weight loss aid when eaten 3 times per day. During their study, women who ate the white stuff this frequently lost more fat than their non-yogurt eating counterparts – even when they ate more calories than them!
The American Dietetic Association believes the reason for this may be due to the fact that ensuring women are receiving an adequate amount of calcium in their diet is a key factor in them having the natural ability to maintain a lower BMI and normal body fat levels.
Regardless of the health benefits, we think that yogurt is one of the most delicious ingredients you can include in any healthy breakfast!
If weight loss is your goal, stick with the fat-free natural variety. You can add various ingredients such as oatmeal or fruits to it to make things more interesting, or if you prefer it plain, that’s fine too of course!
In need of some healthy yogurt breakfast ideas for weight loss? Look no further:
4. Bananas
It seems like quite a random food to add here, doesn’t it? But the humble banana does much more for weight loss than many realize – and it’s not too shabby as a healthy breakfast option either!
Not many people know that just one single banana contains 3% of your recommended daily protein intake. Not only that, they’re filling, contain a reasonable amount of calories on their own for an on-the-go breakfast (around 110), and they’re fat-free. Plus they’re packed with potassium (important for heart, bone and muscle health), and fiber.
Including bananas as part of your breakfast can be as simple as just popping some in with your yogurt or oatmeal, but if you want to make something more original, try these recipes out:
- Healthy banana bread
- Four ingredient no bake banana bread blondies
- Oven baked cinnamon-pecan almond butter banana boats
5. Berries
Most people know that berries contain heaps of antioxidants – but their super-powers don’t just end there.
1 single cup of berries can contain more than 8g of fiber – and that’s certainly helpful for filling us up and maintaining good gut health.
Not only this, but scientists have also discovered that berries can actually help to improve your blood sugar and insulin levels. A study conducted in 2013 found that people who ate 150g of pureed berries alongside bread saw a 24-26% reduction in insulin levels compared to those who consumed bread alone. Of course, maintaining low insulin levels is essential in controlling hunger, and better-controlled hunger leads to easier weight loss. For this reason, berries make an excellent breakfast choice.
Stuck for what to do with berries for breakfast? Some of the best breakfast smoothies for weight loss are jam-packed with berries. Try these out for size:
Bonus tip: Try breakfast smoothies for weight loss
There’s something about 4 of these ingredients which you may or may not have realized yet. Yogurt, Oatmeal, berries and bananas are all capable of being whipped up into one mean smoothie which can give you a super-charged, health-boosting breakfast without any cooking or chopping.
There’s no end to the various combinations you can make out of these ingredients, and hey, there’s no harm in adding some extra healthy options! Even honey, dark chocolate chips, apple, seeds and all-natural peanut butter can be added to improve the flavor.
Armed with a food blender and the right ingredients, it’s hard to make a bad smoothie, but if you want some more structured healthy breakfast ideas for weight loss which center around smoothies, here’s a few to get you started:
- Banana oat smoothie
- Raspberry vanilla smoothie
- Banana, oat and blueberry breakfast smoothie
- ‘The best’ breakfast smoothie!
Not enough for you? Take a look at this video for even more berry breakfast smoothie inspiration:
Some final recipe ideas
Are none of these recipes tickling your fancy? Do you prefer something a little more unusual for your breakfast, but still incorporating lots of healthy, nutrient-rich ingredients? Take a look at these 5 healthy breakfast ideas for weight loss or why not try one of our Meal Replacement Shakes.
I think you’ll agree, there are some amazing ideas within that video. Armed with this, and the recipes we’ve included above, you really have no reason not to enjoy a different healthy breakfast every single day this month! So what are you waiting for? Getting shopping!
Check Also: Strength Training Nutrition Guide
