Weighty Wednesday -- Bueno for Breakfast

As I'm sitting at my computer, with a fresh cup of coffee, to write my Weighty Wednesday post, the house is quiet, but thunder is booming outside and I'm thankful my hubby mowed the lawn last night because it will soon become a mucky mess with all this rain.

I'm pondering the day as the kidlet wants to swim this morning, but the swim team certainly won't be swimming outside at McClure, and I am highly doubtful that I'll be getting a walk in anytime soon!

I don't have a treadmill, you know. I love walking. I love walking outside. Walking in thunder, lightening and pouring rain . . . not so much.

Which brings me back to my cup of coffee. I take a cautious sip. It's cooled off enough for me to drink and write this blog.

I'm hesitant to write this blog.

Not because I've gained some weight back -- because I have.

Or because I'm quitting Weight Watchers -- I have NOT.

But because I'm not as tuned into this particular WW-related, just discussed topic. I think I'm stuck on the semantics of the topic, not the underlying idea behind their reasoning for this convo . . .

BREAKFAST

When I was growing up, breakfast meant a small glass of orange juice and a bowl of Captain Crunch or Lucky Charms cereal. Or if you were very unlucky, Wheaties, with their tiny flakes of cardboard.

The thought of breakfast conjures up these images.

Though I might like eating Lucky Charms marshmallows, I'm not as much of a fan of cereals as I used to be.

So, what's the dealio with eating breakfast?

The whole idea is to break your fast, thus the name. But what if you aren't hungry? Or you don't want to immediately eat when you wake up? Or the thought of trying to make a full breakfast is overwhelming?

Here's my interpretation of the situation:

• Americans tend to starve themselves and then gorge on food--This forces the body to make constant and HUGE adjustments with insulin and other regulatory hormones.
• We tend to eat more highly processed foods, read simple "carbs" here -- simple carbs simply do NOT stick with you for very long. Ever eat a huge pancake breakfast but find yourself starving only hours later?
• Or we skip breakfast, substituting a cup of coffee or whatever --skipping is just as bad as eating the wrong thing because the body goes into 'starvation mode'.

Just because it's called a 'meal', it doesn't have to be a major undertaking. The key is to have something with staying power, in other words--protein.

Now, many WW suggestions involved more than one healthy guidelines food choices, such as:

• Fat free Greek yogurt mixed with fresh fruit and a little granola -- the yogurt gives you the protein and dairy, the fruit provides the carbs and sweetness, and the granola a little bit of grain. Be careful with granola--it tends to be high in fat and carbs along with the fiber.
• Whole wheat low carb tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, veggies and some cheese -- same situation here. A little bit of food from every food group to give you something to hold you until lunch.

I'm a fan of bananas. Many times I'll drink my coffee and go for my walk before I come home to eat something. I almost always eat a banana. And if I'm still hungry, I'll eat about 1/2 cup of Fat Free Greek yogurt with cinnamon added. Or make a strawberry-banana smoothie with fat free milk, some yogurt, frozen strawberries and a banana. And if I want to add more protein, I'll add some Greek yogurt.

The key is to get some fuel into your system.

One a totally different, and yet related note--Have you ever watched a slender person eat?

Many times you will see them constantly eating. They also stop eating when they are comfortably full, but then you'll see them eat two hours later.

So how do they do it? How do they stay skinny if they are eating all the time?

Notice it's what they eat along with HOW they eat.

They are eating the same amount of food in very small doses. They are keeping their blood sugar levels at a 'steady state'. Now, this doesn't mean it's at one level constantly, what this means is that they don't have the extreme highs or lows.-- they are constantly fueling their engines, like you do when you drive a car for long distances.

You don't gun the car to accelerate to 70 mph, only to coast down to 0 mph and then gun it again, do you?

No, it isn't efficient. Once you accelerate to 70 mph, you keep your car at that speed by constantly giving it fuel.

Think about it.

Later, Peeps!