Start big for weight loss success

There's one good reason why most diets fail—hunger. My willpower crumbles when those mid-morning munchies come around. So, how to make it to lunch without giving way to double-choc muffins? The answer may be to eat big at breakfast. A new study reported to the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco shows that women who eat a big breakfast, as part of a low-carbohydrate diet, lose more weight and keep it off for longer, compared to women who just follow a regular low-carb diet. All the women in the study were obese (very overweight).

The regular low-carb dieters ate 1,085 calories daily, with the smallest meal at breakfast and the biggest meal at lunch. The big breakfast dieters ate 1,240 calories daily, with the biggest meal at breakfast (containing half the daily calories) and the smallest meal in the evening.

But hold the waffles with syrup. The way to a healthy breakfast is through "good" carbohydrates like wholegrain toast, oatmeal and fruits, along with protein such as eggs and dairy products. The study showed women who'd had a big breakfast were less likely to feel hungry just before lunch, and had fewer cravings for carbs.

While both groups of dieters lost about the same amount of weight during the first 16 weeks of the study, the big breakfast dieters did much better in the long term. They continued to lose weight, while the regular dieters regained the pounds. Eight months after the study began, the regular dieters had lost an average 10 pounds from their starting weight, while the big breakfast dieters had lost an impressive 44.5 pounds.

What you need to know. A healthy breakfast is an important part of a weight-loss diet. If you eat your fill first thing in the morning, you're less likely to break your diet before lunch and more likely to lose weight in the long term.

—Anna Sayburn, patient editor, BMJ Group

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Comments

[Rebecca Joyce]

How big is "big"? Are we talking eggs and bacon? A bowl of oatmeal with fruit and something else?