If you’ve hit a weight loss plateau, you may be tempted to try the latest fad diet promising quick weight loss. Fad diets may produce short-term results, but they eventually backfire. If you want to lose weight for good, then you need to understand the energy balance equation: energy intake equals energy expenditure.
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March is National Nutrition Month!
Spring is right around the corner, so it’s a great time of year to learn new habits to get in shape and stay healthy. And today marks the start of Daylight Saving Time, so you should have reset your clocks this weekend to “spring forward.” It’s wonderful to have an extra hour of daylight to spend outside at the end of the day.
Did you know that we have internal clocks that regulate our metabolism? Our master clock is the central clock located in the hypothalamus, and it’s set by light. We also have clocks in our organs, including muscles, fat and liver, that are synchronized by the master clock based on when we eat our meals. When our central and peripheral clocks are out of sync, we increase our risk for diseases linked to human metabolism such as type 2 diabetes, PCOS and heart disease.
Studies show that when people are divided into two groups eating the same number of calories per day, but one group eats more calories at breakfast than at dinner, they experience less insulin resistance than the group that has a light breakfast and eats a large dinner. Studies also show that breakfast skippers have higher blood sugar levels after lunch.
To synchronize your central and peripheral clocks to optimize your metabolism, you should eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, ideally with the sunrise. For optimal sleep quality, it’s important to align your sleep schedule with the sun to increase exposure to natural sunlight by going outside first thing in the morning, and to decrease exposure to artificial light after the sun sets. If you want to lose weight, it’s important to sleep at least 7 hours per night and avoid eating late at night, especially if you have insulin resistance.
One way to boost your metabolism is to increase your muscle mass. Research shows that eating at least 20 grams of protein at each of three meals per day can help increase muscle mass by 25% when compared to eating a low-protein breakfast of only 10 grams, even when protein intake is increased at dinner.
Do you skip breakfast because you’re following an intermittent fasting diet?
An intermittent fasting schedule that forces you to skip breakfast may result in a missed opportunity to build and maintain muscle, which boosts your metabolism and helps you lose weight. You can still experience some of the health benefits (e.g. reduced blood sugar and weight loss) of intermittent fasting when you eat breakfast if you stop eating after dinner and late at night. If you take insulin or you’re at risk for hypoglycemia, fasting is not recommended.
But, many people can tolerate 12 hours of fasting overnight, for example, from 8 PM until 8 AM. You do not need to adopt an extreme protocol of fasting for 16 hours and cramming all of your daily calories into 8 hours. Studies comparing intermittent fasting diets with a reasonable 25% calorie-deficit diet showed no difference in health outcomes or weight loss after one year.
In summary: stop eating after dinner, sleep well, rise with the sun, and eat a healthy breakfast with protein to look and feel your best!
What makes some snack choices healthier than others? The secret is to combine foods in a balanced way to boost your energy between meals. Pair a “good” carbohydrate food (e.g. fruit, vegetable, whole grain) with a food that contains protein or fat (e.g. hummus, tahini, nuts). Try some of the healthy snack combinations listed below.
Use the same snack formula to create your own healthy food combinations that provide longer-lasting energy and more nutrition than a bag of potato chips.
The perfect time to snack is when more than four hours have passed since your last meal and your next meal is hours away. Also, be sure to eat a mostly carbohydrate snack of 100 – 200 calories before a workout for more energy.
These strategic combinations of whole foods will keep you energized throughout the day:
10 whole-grain crackers + ¼ cup hummus or 1 oz. plant-based cheese wedge
1 red bell pepper, sliced and carrot sticks + ¼ cup hummus
1 apple or banana, sliced + 2 T. almond butter
1 slice Ezekiel raisin bread or ½ English muffin, toasted + 2 T. almond butter
1 slice sprouted whole-grain bread, toasted + ½ avocado slices + arugula
1 cup fresh berries + 5.3 oz. plain almond or coconut milk yogurt
¼ cup low-fat, low-sugar granola + 5.3 oz. plain almond or coconut milk yogurt
1 pear, sliced + ¼ cup toasted pecans
Celery sticks + Kite Hill almond milk cream cheese-style spread with chives
1 peach, sliced + ¼ cup Kite Hill ricotta-style almond milk cheese
1 cup coconut milk + ½ cup fresh berries + ¼ cup chia seeds
½ cup mango slices + ¼ cup raw almonds
1 cup watermelon cubes + 1 oz. almond milk cheese slices
Roasted cauliflower, broccoli or asparagus + ¼ cup tahini and lemon dressing
1 cup red grapes + ¼ cup walnuts
1 whole-grain corn tortilla, sliced into 8 “chips”, baked + salsa + guacamole
Roasted chickpeas seasoned with cumin and chile powder + tzatziki sauce
Dark chocolate squares + 1 cup fresh berries
Orgain Vegan All-in-One Protein Shakes
Artisana Organic Almond Butter (single serving squeeze packs)
LARABAR (fruit + nut bars)
Sunsweet “Amaz!n” prunes fruit packs
Yogurt (low-sugar, almond or coconut milk)
Granola (Bear Naked Fit, Purely Elizabeth, Bob’s Red Mill)
Homemade trail mix with raw cashews, sunflower seeds and raisins
Welcome to my blog, where I share evidence-based nutrition resources with women who want to look and feel their best. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, get healthier or fuel your workouts, you need to eat nutritious foods to achieve your goals.
Be sure to subscribe today to my email nutrition newsletter and receive a FREE 5-Day, Simple Plant-Based Meal Plan featuring breakfast, lunch and snacks, and a healthy grocery list.
Like many people, your schedule is full with work, family and community activities. You want to plan healthy meals to fuel your workday, but more often than not, you find yourself running on empty and lacking energy to meet the demands of life.
Does this routine sound familiar? You wake up in the morning, rush to get ready for work, skip breakfast, drink coffee all morning, and grab a not-so-healthy lunch to eat at your desk while working. By the time you arrive home for dinner, you’re starving and wondering what to eat as you stare at your empty refrigerator. You dream of hiring a personal chef.
The good news is that you can learn how to plan healthy meals and enjoy nutritious and delicious foods throughout your workday—even when pressed for time. Here are some ideas for healthy foods to eat, plus a few tips to take the stress out of prepping and packing your meals. Read more