13 September 2005

Eat Your Breakfast!

....and make it cereals, if you can. Mix with low-fat or non-fat milk, and it's ready. Instead of coffee, you can also eat it with a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Do this regularly if you want to maintain a slimmer figure.

Why not good old tapsilog for breakfast? Well, that's ok too. But if your line of work requires you to sit in front of a computer all day long, and perhaps a few elevator trips to some floors in your office building, then that tapsilog may be too much in terms of caloric content --- I estimate it at 800 calories 1, 2, 3 per serving --- and if your body can't burn that, it can transform into fat.

But if you work out like Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer, then, by all means, I think it's ok to feast on tapsilogs for breakfast.

See, what many people do not know is that great dieting means maintaining a delicate balance. It's really simple, but it requires commitment and discipline. The operating principle is: if you can spend or burn what you eat, then you won't get fat at all. However, if what you do all day long is sit in the office, then the only logical thing to do is to eat within your daily caloric requirement.

Your daily caloric requirement4 depends on your lifestyle:
  1. SEDENTARY - your daily activity consists mainly of sitting, reading, typing, or working at a computer

  2. LIGHT Activity - you participate in light excercise, such as walking, for no more than 2 hours daily

  3. MODERATE Activity - you rarely sit during the day and do heavy housework, gardening, or dancing daily

  4. VERY ACTIVE! - you participate in physical sports such as jogging or mountain-biking each day or you hold a labor-intensive job such as a construction worker or bicycle messenger

The September 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association has a study that reveals that girls who ate breakfasts with cereals are slimmer than those who skipped it. [news story and abstract of the study]

"Not eating breakfast is the worst thing you can do, that's really the take-home message for teenage girls," said study author Bruce Barton, president and CEO of the Maryland Medical Research Institute. [USATODAY.com]

Why so?

It may be due to the fiber-content of the cereals and the OJ that goes with it. You may not like eating cereals or oats because it tastes like paper. Parang kumakain ng papel. But, that's just it! It tastes like paper because it has fiber. If you examine paper, it's made up of many fibrous elements.

However, unlike carbohydrates which can give you blood sugar spikes after meals, dietary fibers make you feel full, prevent constipation, and can normalize blood sugar levels and reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Here are more helpful links: TIPS IN CHOOSING YOUR CEREALS, FABULOUS FRUITS, and the most important, WHY YOU SHOULDN'T MISS YOUR BREAKFAST
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Footnotes:
1 - nutritional info of 1 fried egg
2 - nutritional info of beef, top sirloin, cooked
3 - nutritional info of white rice, medium-grain, cooked
4 - calculate your daily caloric requirement


12 reactions:

Rygel said...

whaaaa! it's so hard to eat breakfast! i just don't have the appetite when i get up. Hunger usually kicks in around 10AM but at that time i'm already too busy to eat :(

Doc, which of the 4 is a doctor's lifestyle? active?

Dr. Emer said...

I guess it depends on your specialization, Rygel. But first year residents have moderate activity at least, I think. :)

Toni said...

My lifestyle is definitely sedentary. I've been neglecting my gym workouts too often lately. Sigh. I've been trying to make cereal-eating a habit in the mornings. I'm getting there. *crosses fingers* Thanks for the links too!

Anonymous said...

Doc Emer, salamat sa info! Hindi ako kumakain ng breakfast and I have weight problems right now. Siguro lesson na ito sa akin.

may said...

i can only wish eating good breakfast can stop a food addict from eating when depression strikes :(

sharima said...

Thanks for the tip doc. Been having creals or oatmeals for breakfast lately. Seems that its the way to go with my current lifestyle.

duke said...

I am not much of a breakfast person either coz I normally wake up later than in the day but whenever I have the chance I do eat breakfast. i think they are really good and healthy. Thanks for sharing this article, doc!

Dr. Emer said...

Toni: I bet you can do it easily. Be patient. You're definitely getting there. Soulmate says you've lost weight since last year when we met. :)

Angela: Hello! Eat a high-fiber breakfast daily and observe if your weight goes down. don't foget to exercise. :)

May: Why not give it a try? :)

Sharima: Payat na po ikaw. Keep on eating those cereals and oats. :)

Duke: Your welcome. :)

Nick Ballesteros said...

If walking also includes frequent trips to the ground floor and to my boss' office and to accounting and all over the office, then I'd be somewhere between sedentary and light activity. I liked oatmeal when I was a kid. A couple of months back, I asked my wife to cook some, and found out that I no longer like the taste. Cereals too. But thanks for this info Doc! I will have to cut short on the tapsilog and get more fiber :-).

Dr. Emer said...

Sometimes it's not about the taste, Watson. ;)

eye said...

i fall under the "light activity" category, i guess a rice-egg-ulam bfast is indeed too much hehe! i used to bring cereals and milk or oat from home kaso lately kinatatamaran ko na :D

Dr. Emer said...

You can always try again, Eye.

BTW, I like your new avatar here. :)