Many people believe that skipping breakfast is one of the best strategies to lose weight. But I can tell you for sure that it is only a myth. Breakfast is a vitally important meal. In fact eating a healthy breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. So it is extremely important to start with a good breakfast.

A typically good breakfast should contain a mix of some protein and some fiber. These will keep your hunger pangs away until lunch. Protein meals also stabilize your blood sugar. Some of the foods that are rich in protein constitute eggs, meat, seafood, soy (like tofu), butter, legumes, beans and nuts. On the other hand fiber can be found in fruits, grains and whole cereals. For that complete breakfast experience you can try out a bowl of whole grain cereal with soy milk, a boiled egg and an orange. You can even choose a whole wheat bagel and pair it up with some cottage cheese or spread peanut butter onto your whole wheat toast or fruit. Just including simple carbohydrates for your breakfast like white bread for toast, regular bagels or desserts is not advisable.
Simple carbohydrates are easily digested and will make you feel ravenous just after a couple of hours or so. Whole grains such as oat meal or brown rice are low on the glycemic index. These foods do not cause a sudden rise in blood glucose and are absorbed slowly into the bloodstream. Therefore they can hold off hunger for several hours. Pastries, syrups and sugary cereals should be strictly avoided at breakfast. These types of foods stimulate a release of too much insulin. This in turn lowers the blood sugar quickly and causes hunger and consequently overeating.

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There is no doubt about the fact that eating a healthy breakfast is the best way to start off your day. But if you still insist that you do not like to have breakfast or are too busy in the morning you can split it up into two or three parts. Have a boiled egg at home, a handful of walnuts while traveling to work and after an hour you can munch on an apple in the workplace. In this way you will feel a lot better through the morning as well as rest of the day without making a conscious effort to have a breakfast. In fact recent researches report that eating anything for breakfast is healthier than skipping your first meal of the day. Having a cup of coffee instead of your regular breakfast does give you an artificial kick but it's fairly short-lived. You do not start your normal metabolism until you start eating. Recent studies indicate that people who skip breakfast eat more fat for the rest of the day. In the end they more than make up for missing breakfast. By mid-morning they may grab a cup of coffee or wolf down a sugary candy bar to give them that much needed punch. This might work for a few minutes, but by lunch time they are again hungry and they become prone to making unhealthy choices. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has concluded that people who skip breakfast often, ironically, in an attempt to lose weight tend to eat about 100 calories more over the course of the day than individuals who did eat breakfast. Recent reports indicate that those who miss breakfast tend to smoke more, drink more alcohol and take less exercise than those who make time for the meal. Experiments conducted both in the United States and internationally have shown that skipping breakfast can affect learning, memory and physical well-being. Also the metabolism of people who habitually skip breakfast can slow down to a point where it burns 100-200 fewer calories a day. A Harvard University study indicates that people who miss breakfast are four times more likely than others to become obese. Also those who take the time out to eat breakfast are leaner than those who skip it.
Regular breakfast eating is therefore essential for maintaining a healthy weight. This will reduce hunger later in the day when most people tend to overeat. Breakfast eaters are also able to resist fatty and high caloric foods better throughout the day. Nutrients consumed at breakfast will give you a better ability to be more physically active. Some people reported that they had better concentration during late morning hours and were able to complete cognitive tasks such as writing, mathematics and problem-solving much better when they ate breakfast.
Skipping breakfast will in no way help you become slim. In fact depriving your body of the nutrients it requires to maintain good health is a potentially destructive way to lose weight. So start your day with a healthy breakfast and remember the golden words of natural food advocate Adele Davis: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

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