After a week of eating big breakfasts, I purposely did not eat a big breakfast today.  I ended up eating more calories and had worse food choices today than I did last week (which was very stressful compared to today)....so tomorrow I'm starting in again with the big breakfast.

Big Breakfast Version 1 was just 2 packets of New Directions reconstituted to a pudding texture-400 calories and 52 grams of protien.  That created some bathroom issues though, so I'm trying big breakfast version 2 which will be 2 scoops of matrix in some fage yogurt.  That's going to be about 300 calories and 40 something grams of protein.  I'm hoping to get the same texture, same appetite supressing result, with no BIG BM's.  (there is a lot of fiber in the new direction mix)

Part of the issue was with 400 calories there was no latte calories to be had, so I was drinking strong black coffee.......and that may have added to the bm situation.

Today I just had a short latte (from home) and by 1:00 I was ready to gnaw off my arm....and it went pretty much downhill after that.  But, it convinced me there is some truth to the big breakfast rumor, so I will try version 2 tomorrow and see how that does.  If I still have eating woes, I guess I'll go back to version 1 with the bonus size BM's......

Isn't it just wonderful how we SHARE on this forum?  But I really couldn't share the good without the bad. 

 

It's hard to type when I'm laughing so hard! You know, I believe the big breakfast is more than a myth ... I think it's been studied. I'll try to see if I can find where I read about it. 

I'm telling ya, that New Directions food/meal replacements had me hot footin' it to the bathroom when I was a few weeks out post-op. It was almost as bad as the day before my colonoscopy. ; )

Deb, here it is:

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

 

 

That is so cool.  I could tell a huge difference in my preoccupation with food yesterday, and it was a busy day so it wasn't like I was bored.

Deb, where do you get the fage yogurt??

At the Health Food Store on 74 and Penn.  He's been keeping it all the time now-I used to special order it-and if for some reason I want more than 6 at a time, I still do.  Be sure and get the low fat or no fat-the full fat version is like a wonderful piece of creme-but it has the calories to boot.  I'm not a big fan of no fat, but that's what he's been ordering and it works fine-when I special order, I like the 2 percent. 

It's the texture that puts me over the moon-and during the holidays I keep it around all the time so I don't miss the other stuff.  Honestly, a shot of sugar free chocolate syrup in a tub of fage will do the trick.  Mix some pumpkin, pumpkin pie spices into the fage and I like it better than pumpkin pie (but I don't like crust either).

It's kind of like tofu-doesn't really taste like anything, so you can make it taste like everything....only, unlike tofu, it doesn't give you gas.

Thanks!  I knew I had not been able to find it and you read about people using it on the other boards all the time.  I will stop and pick up some.  I don't like to eat breakfast before I leave for work at 6:00a.m. but I try to.  I know that I have been in a stall for a couple of weeks and last week I was more conscious about how much protein I was eating, added more veggies and fruits and have had a 3 pound loss as of this morning.  I was getting in a horrible rut with my eating...boring if you will!  Boring had become easier for me but I'm going to make an effort to change it up more.  Thanks for all your insite and advice!  I always read and appreciate it.

Thanks for being our own personal guinea pig!  I'm sure your findings are correct.  But I still hate breakfast!  

OK, I'm giving this a go ... modified for a VSG. Simply, a *big* breakfast doesn't actually fit in my stomach anymore. So, my breakfast will be a little sequenced.

This morning I had a small serving of eggbeaters with an added 1/2 wedge of Laughing Cow Swiss cheese. I had a side of a few grape tomatoes. After exercising, I will have my favorite Chike with skim milk. That should do.

Actually, this is a little reminiscent of Dr. Oz's suggestions to eat frequent, healthy, small meals. He suggests NEVER getting hungry, but keeping your furnace fueled with small healthy portions and choices. It goes along with the dietician's recommendations, too, so I won't be feeling guilty.

I'm all for anything that keeps cravings and head hunger at bay... and increases weight loss, to boot! ; )

Version 2 worked ok-I had room for latte calories with no hunger.  Actually I think it worked better-sometimes the 400 calorie drink would make me queasy-that's a lot to hit a system with first thing in the morning.

But, as your article suggested, I think it's the high protein dose that comes from a double scoop of something....my soymilk also contains protien and then lunch was a couple slices of swiss cheese with some bacon bits rolled up in them....again, carbs/protien.....but after the initial stoking of the fires, you don't need another big jolt it seems, just steady intake...and the carb cravings aren't there either.