Can I Have Greek Yogurt for Breakfast?

Today we are going to tackle the common question, “Can I have Greek Yogurt for Breakfast?”

What to eat for breakfast is always a hot topic because it can get a little confusing and if you get it wrong the stakes are big!

First of all, let’s talk about what we should be aiming for at our breakfast meal and why.

You should eat foods that are high in healthy fats for your first meal that breaks your fast. Whether your first meal is at 6am, 8am, or 11am.

In my free Guide The Top Things to Turn Back the Clock on Metabolism, the number 1 Thing you can do to help lose weight is to Choose Natural Fats for breakfast.

Healthy natural fats like eggs, avocados, olive oil, coconut milk, cheese, and meat are what you want to eat for breakfast.

Why?  Because what you eat for breakfast, or your first meal determines your metabolism for the day.

If you eat food high in carbohydrates such as bran muffins, low-fat yogurt with granola, toast and peanut butter, cereal bars, cereal, all cereal, even Kashi Go Lean and that jaza, if you eat carbs you have gotten on the metabolic rollercoaster and you will struggle to control your hunger, your cravings, and your weight all day. It triggers your insulin to turn on too high and then crash in about 2 hours.  Even the more high-fiber carbohydrates like Ezekiel bread.

If you eat natural fat for breakfast you will provide your mitochondria with its best fuel. 

You will not be hungry all morning and not reach for snacks after the 2 hour mark.  

You will maintain excellent blood sugar and insulin control so that you are easily burning fat between meals.  

Your first meal is a huge deal to set the stage for your metabolism for the day.

You either get on the crazy sugar rollercoaster, or the smooth steady train of consistent energy.

So what does a first meal full of healthy fats look like?

You can have eggs, any style, you can have avocado drizzled with olive oil and red pepper flakes. You can have bacon and sausage. You can have smoked salmon and cream cheese, just not the bagel!

The bigger problem here is that our cultural breakfast norms are processed carbs.  Pancakes, muffins, waffles, baked stuff, bread, cereal, etc. So it’s not natural to think of naturally fatty things to eat in the morning.

We need to relax our shoulders a bit and think outside the box and have some fun with breakfast!

Could you not try cheddar cheese cubes and almonds?  Sure!

Could you try heavy whipping cream in your coffee?  Yep.

Could you try an avocado stuffed with smoked salmon?

Could you try bacon with a few raspberries?  Yep.

Could you try sandwich meat and brie cheese? Yes.

Could you try ham slices with some olives? Absolutely.

I want to encourage you to think outside the line of the continental breakfast and find true metabolic health.

Now a note for those of us who have coffee for breakfast.

You still can’t have carbs in the morning. Which means no sweeteners in the coffee. No splenda, no stevia, no sugar, no international delights caramel flavorings.  You can have cream, that’s a healthy fat.  But you can’t have sweeteners.  Once you do, you are on the Metabolic Sugar Train to a rollercoaster of a day and will struggle to lose weight and control your appetite.

If you need to wean off of sweeteners in your coffee, try coconut milk or whipping cream.

Trust me, it’s worth it! So worth it!

What about my Greek Yogurt and ____?

I get this question a lot!

Greek yogurt is not the best way to break your fast because it’s too high in protein and sugar and not high enough in healthy fats. Especially if you add granola or berries, which are both more carbohydrates.

Greek yogurt is made by straining out more whey (the liquid) from the yogurt so that it’s higher in protein and a bit lower in sugar than traditional yogurt.

8 oz of traditional low-fat yogurt has about 17-25 grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat. 

8 oz of traditional low-fat Greek yogurt has 9-15 grams of sugar, 20-25 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat. 

The fat found in dairy is considered a good, natural healthy fat. But yogurt is not good at delivering healthy fat.  It’s good at delivering protein.  We are not looking for high protein breakfasts. We are looking for high healthy fat breakfasts.

The first recipe I give you in the free guide is for Coconut Chia Breakfast Pudding. The Greek yogurt alternative.

The chia pudding recipe I give you contains 1 gram of sugar, 5 grams of protein and 24 gram of fat!

Yogurt will only have as much fat in it as the milk they used for the base.  Yogurt has never been a high-healthy fat dairy food.  High healthy fat yogurt is called sour cream.  

Even 8 oz of whole milk Greek yogurt has 9 grams sugar, 20 grams protein and 9 grams of healthy fat.

Protein is not bad. It keeps us full. It serves many functions for growth and repair in our bodies. But it doesn’t help us burn fat. It doesn't fuel our mitochondria. It doesn't keep our metabolic hormones in balance like healthy fat does. 

Whole milk greek yogurt is not bad, it’s just not great at helping us lose weight if we have damaged metabolisms.

Remember, what’s the goal: eat healthy fat for breakfast.

It may seem a little unorthodox, but try it! What do you have to lose but your excess body fat!

If you are new, I have all my free monthly recipes posted up under GUIDES at the top of this page.  So go look around and try some things out!

If you are struggling with your weight and nothing seems to be working for you, you are probably suffering from metabolic damage.  Metabolic damage is not a calorie problem. It’s a metabolic problem. But one that can be fixed!  The program that I use to help women fix their damaged metabolisms is The Freese Method, my 12-week online group coaching weight loss program.

Remember, you absolutely have what it takes to lose weight and keep it off. We just need to repair your metabolism first.