How often have you found yourself forcing down rice cakes with fat free cottage cheese for breakfast hoping that the sacrifice will be worth it?  Or, finding yourself hungry by mid-morning because the egg white omelet with steamed spinach didn’t fill you up? The problem isn’t necessarily the rice cakes or the egg whites. The problem more likely is that those food choices were not the right choices for you. 

1.      Our bodies are miraculous things. They know without any input from us how to breathe, how to think, how to fight disease, and how to keep us going in spite of the choices we make.

2.      One task our bodies are magnificent at is managing our weight- if we let it! All too often, we interfere with our body’s brilliant ability to maintain a healthy weight by imposing external rules and regimens. No one know better than your body what, when, and how much you should eat.

3.      Our diet culture has taught us that doctors, celebrities and scientists know better than you about how to manage your weight. But the truth is diets make us fat. Instead, it is wiser to learn how to listen to and follow your body’s wisdom.

4.      The worst breakfast you can eat is one that is lacking in the nutrients your body needs on that particular morning. When you learn to listen to your body’s wisdom, you will be guided to the right foods, at the right times, in the right amounts. Some mornings your breakfast of choice may indeed be an egg white omelet with steamed spinach, but on that day that breakfast will satisfy you and you won’t be looking for more to eat (translate more calories leading to more fat) 90 minutes later.

5.      Another reason why eating a breakfast you are told to eat rather than one your body desires, is that doing so can leave you with a sense of deprivation. That deprivation can slowly gain momentum and before you know it you have thrown your diet away and are heading into a binge.

6.      If you want to lose weight and keep it off without feeling hungry or deprived, learn to let your body take the lead. Your body will never steer you to the wrong breakfast!