Skip Breakfast to Lose Weight, Says Study

Do you eat breakfast because you think it will help you lose weight?? Yesterday's news headline may cause you to rethink that decision.? Some researchers now say that that occasionally skipping breakfast could be an effective weight loss strategy.? Surprised?? I'm not.

Benefits of Eating Breakfast

Diet experts have long believed that if you eat a healthy breakfast, you'll consume fewer calories throughout the day.? Eating fewer calories will help you to lose weight.? Some people also believe that eating breakfast improves your metabolism.? But research does not support that belief.

The new study, however, found that breakfast eaters consume an average of 408 more calories during the day.? The problem with the study, however, is that researchers only evaluated 24 subjects aged 18-23.? That's a very limited sample and the results may not be relevant for you.? For that reason, you might want to think twice before taking the headline too seriously

Should I Eat Breakfast to Lose Weight?

Eating regular meals, including breakfast, is a good idea.? It helps you to avoid the crazy hungry state we often get into that causes us to binge on unhealthy high calorie food. ??But what matters in the end is the total number of calories you consume throughout the day.

If eating a morning meal helps you keep that total number down, then there is no reason to make a change.? If not, then you need to make some adjustments to the timing of your meals or to your food choices at mealtime.

Need a little help sifting through the facts about breakfast?? Here's some easy advice:

(photo source: Daniel Hurst Photography/Getty Images)

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Are Smaller Restaurants Healthier? Not If You're Trying to Lose Weight, Says Study

Do you really make the best choices when you dine out?? Those of us who try to eat healthy often do so by avoiding large chain restaurants.? Not only is the fat and calorie content of fast food very high, but many times the food just doesn't taste good.? So, if you're like me, you prefer to spend your money at locally owned bistros and cafes where the food at least looks like it's healthier.? But is it?? If weight loss is your goal, it might not be.

New Research Investigates Small Restaurants

A new study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association evaluated the calorie content of 157 meals served at independent and small chain restaurants.? Researchers targeted these smaller restaurants in particular because large chain and fast food restaurants are now providing calorie information due to increased pressure from consumers and legislation.? These larger establishments have gotten significant criticism for serving meals that are too high in fat and calories.? But smaller restaurants are off the hook when it comes to providing nutritional information.? So are the calorie counts any better?? Apparently not.

Researchers found that the average meal from these smaller restaurants contained 1327 calories or 66% of typical daily energy requirements.? In addition, the calorie counts of those meals were 49% greater (on average) than those of popular meals from the largest national chain restaurants.? Yikes!? I don't know about you, but this almost makes me want to run to Applebees.? Almost.

Why Visit Small Local Restaurants?

Of course, there are other reasons to visit small cafes and bistros in your area.? The food quality is probably better, it feels good to support small business and the atmosphere is generally more relaxing.? In addition, you may have more success if you want to tailor you meal to meet your own health needs and dietary requirements.? But if you are trying to lose weight, don't be fooled into thinking that your local mom and pop shop is necessarily better.? In some cases, it may be doing more harm than good.

Trying to find healthy fast food?

(photo source: gleangenie/morguefile)

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Study of How Massage Chair Aids in Back Pain

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