Last week I wrapped up a 10-week exercise and weight loss challenge with a group of people at my local workout facility. Most of us were not exercising at all at the beginning of the challenge and by the end, we were working out an average of 5 times a week, doing a combination of cardio and strength training activities.
The participant who lost the most weight during the challenge (it was a man…of course…) shared about how he got over a plateau in his weight loss journey that happened about halfway through the challenge. It really struck me as something to take to heart, because he made a change that few people would expect to be the key to losing more weight: he started eating breakfast.
He was in a long standing habit of just having coffee for breakfast, and even though he knew what we have all heard time and time again, which is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, from his perspective, it was tough on his crunched morning schedule and since he was trying to lose weight, it was just more calories, so why bother? But our nutritionist encouraged him to give it a try so that his body wouldn’t think it was starving and needing to hold on to any fat already stored. And guess what? It worked!
Historically, I have always been a BIG fan of breakfast. In fact, for many years of my life I had to eat within 15 minutes of waking up or I would feel physically ill. I think my coffee habit has put a damper on my appetite first thing in the morning, and as a result, I haven’t been skipping breakfast, but it is not uncommon for me to be awake 2-3 hours before I eat breakfast. This is not good, friends! My body needs some water and some good nutrients right off the bat in order for it to not be out of whack and to assume that it isn’t getting fed and therefore needs to hold on to what I’ve already got.
A #BetterBreakfast Routine
Inspired by my workout buddy’s great success with a good breakfast, I headed over to Publix to pick up a winning combination: Cheerios and 100% Florida Orange Juice. They actually have a SWEET coupon in their Lucky Saving flyer right now(which you can find at the front entrance of your local store OR at the customer service desk). If you purchase both of these products, you can take $2 off the total bill. You can also find a Cheerios digital coupon for $1/2 boxes at ReadyPlanSave.com. Awesome! So why this particular combination? Well, Cheerios makes for a great choice because it is made from whole-grain oats and it does not have artificial flavors or colors. Those are two things I’m trying to eliminate as much as I can from our diets because they sort of freak me out. It is also a low fat and cholesterol-free choice. Finally, in case you haven’t noticed, boxed cereals can be absolutely loaded with sugar, but Cheerios has just one gram of sugar per serving. Nice!
Pairing cheerios with an 8 oz glass of 100% Florida orange juice will give you lots of vitamin C (100% of your daily need, in fact!) and vitamin C helps maintain a healthy immune system. Orange juice also contains potassium which is great for heart health. Also? It’s delicious! 🙂
I personally like my Cheerios best with sliced bananas. And for an extra special treat, try it with a small drizzle of honey!
Win it!: I want you to get to experience the super fast, super simple and super awesome breakfast pairing of Cheerios + OJ (and don’t forget that $2 off coupon!), so I’m hosting a giveaway for $15 PayPal so you be on your way to a #BetterBreakfast routine, my treat!
