RISE AND SHINE!
Kick off your day — and solidify healthy habits — with simple yet innovative low-carb breakfast ideas
IF you’re looking to lose weight in 2018, consider rethinking your breakfast.
In her diet book “Target 100,” weight-loss expert Liz Josefsberg says that planning out a week’s worth of healthy morning meals not only provides you with the right kind of fuel, it helps you make better food choices later in the day as well.
“It’s the perfect starting point,” Josefsberg, 46, tells The Post, noting that it’s easier to adopt a healthy-eating lifestyle if you start small — as opposed to radically reinventing your diet from top to bottom.
“You’ll feel like a rock star because you did something good for yourself at the start of the day,” says the former director of brand advocacy for Weight Watchers who’s coached stars such as Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Simpson.
When it comes to making breakfast more exciting, Josefsberg encourages readers to “think outside the cereal box” — and aim for a meal containing 250 to 500 calories and 20 to 35 grams of carbs or fewer. (To find out what kind of breakfast is right for you, take Josefsberg’s “Breakfast Challenge” on the following page.)
“There’s no reason you can’t have a salad for breakfast, or a bowl of soup or a cheese plate,” she writes. “If you think it might be fun to swap in some new foods, make a list of possibilities.”
And use leftovers, she says. Last night’s grain bowl can turn into a satisfying breakfast, perhaps with a fried egg on top. Even less planning is required if you constantly stay stocked up on items such as hard-boiled eggs, almond butter and bananas.
When meal-planning, it’s important to keep in mind the main tenets of “Target 100.” Josefsberg advises eating fewer than 100 grams of carbs a day, in addition to drinking 100 ounces of water a day. Each week, she recommends you get 100 minutes each of heart-pumping exercise, movement such as walking, extra sleep and stress relief.
Each of Josefsberg’s pillars is backed up by research, including a 2016 study out of Tulane University showing that low-carbohydrate diets are more effective than their low-fat equivalents.
The “Target 100” diet emphasizes pairing low-carb foods with proteins and healthy fats. Low-carb items include whole eggs, full-fat Greek yogurt and nut butters. Proteins such as chicken sausage, beans or bacon are good go-tos, while healthy fats could mean cheese or avocado. At breakfast, aim to include at least one serving of fruit and vegetables — the fiber will help keep you full, she writes.
Most importantly, breakfasts should be customized to what the dieter actually likes to eat.
“I get so many people [who ask], ‘Are you going to make me eat kale?’ and I’m like, ‘If you like it, we’ll eat it,’ ” she says. “This diet is really about thinking about who you are, what your lifestyle is, and making that plan fit you.”
Here, Josefsberg offers seven days of low-carb breakfasts to get you started.
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