3 TASTY, HIGH PROTEIN BREAKFASTS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

One of the most effective ways to lose weight is to decrease your carbohydrate consumption and increase your protein. We generally recommend eating 20-30g of protein for each meal, adding up to 75-100% of your body weight per day in grams of protein. One of the more difficult areas to do this in your diet is at breakfast. The concept of breakfast is usually cereal, or some other high carbohydrate meal like pancakes or waffles. Here are some 3 suggestions for breakfast that will keep your protein levels high and help you lose weight.

1. Protein shake.

Get a good quality shake that has 20-30g of protein per serving, and a very low concentration of carbohydrates (like 2-10g). You can put it in the blender with some greens and maybe a banana, almond butter. There are some shakes that come with carbohydrates already added. In this case, I would try not to add anything else, otherwise the carbohydrate load will be too high.

2. Egg white scramble or omelet with veggies. One egg white is 20 calories and 4 grams of protein. You can use 1 full egg (6 grams of protein) and add ½ cup of egg whites (16 g of protein) and any vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers or onions. Saute veggies first, then add eggs. This is a good way to get some extra vegetables in at breakfast and keep the protein level high. I also like to add some cut up fruit on the side.

3. Greek yogurt. Make sure that you get the unsweetened kind. Greek yogurt generally supplies 20-25g of protein for 100-200 calories. It has very high protein content. You can add your own fruit (1/2c of berries) and some seeds like chia or flax (1Tbsp) to balance out the meal with some fat which will help keep you satisfied. If you need more sweetener, stevia works and tastes great. No calories but you get the sweetness.

In order to lose weight, increase your protein content and breakfast is a great place to start. Protein takes more energy to break down in the body causing the body to consume more calories to break it down. Also, it is more difficult to convert to fat unlike carbohydrates and helps build muscles. Habits are made with repetition. Have some options so you don't get bored with your breakfast meal. Eat more protein!