It’s 8 p.m. The kids are in bed. You’re eating a bowl of ice cream and surfing the internet. It’s 11p.m. You fall asleep. At 7a.m. the alarm rings. You get up, shower, dress, wake the kids, dress them and, by 8:30, you’re out the door. By 9 a.m. you are at the office and getting prepared for your weekly staff meeting.

What’s wrong with this scenario?

For 13 hours, your body has been fasting. How can you expect to run efficiently throughout the day if you haven’t fueled up? You wouldn’t expect to take a road trip by running on empty. When you go without eating for an extended period of time, the brain reacts by sending signals to the body that you are “starving”—the metabolism slows to conserve energy. Then when you finally eat again, the body thinks it needs to reserve energy in preparation for more food deprivation. Therefore it stores calories in the form of fat. So, not eating can actually lead to weight gain

Besides the common excuse of simply not having time or forgetting to eat breakfast, some people think that they actually eat more on the days that they consume a morning meal, than on days that they don’t eat. Research, reported in the February 2005 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, debunks this belief. The study examined how eating and then skipping breakfast altered the participants’ daily caloric intake. During the two-week interval when participants skipped breakfast, they consumed 100 more calories than during the two weeks when they ate breakfast.

Studies have also shown that people who eat breakfast:

• Are less likely to be overweight


• Eat more nutrients and less fat and cholesterol


• Have more energy and better concentration throughout the day


• Have healthier cholesterol levels

To keep you fuller, longer, your morning meal should provide a combo of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Also, aim for at least 5 grams of fiber. Dodge the doughnuts, croissants and high-sugar cereals, which provide little nutritional benefit. Although your body physically needs calories, optimizing the health impact of the calories you eat will have a positive result on your health, energy and weight goals.