You heard it before. Your mother told you, your doctor told you, and you’ve researched it yourself. You may believe what you read, but how much difference does eating breakfast REALLY make? I’ll tell you!

If you were thinking about how to GAIN weight, I would tell you to definitely skip breakfast! This will prevent your body from increasing its metabolic function. You’ll want to keep that as low as possible to conserve all of your precious fat stores. You would do what sumo wrestlers do: eat a big meal before bed and skip breakfast in the morning. Then I would exercise/work and develop a strong appetite for lunch while keeping my metabolic rate as low as possible. Now eat a large heavy meal followed by a period of relative inactivity. Save those calories! Then you could finally exercise again (or maybe for the first time that day) and of course finally continue with a big heavy meal and then sleep. Good work! You are on your way up in the world of Sumo.

Not what you’re looking for? So take this seriously. It is true that eating breakfast will help you lose weight and keep it off. It is one of the 2 most important practices to have in order to be a successful loser. (the other is regular exercise). That’s why:

1. It shifts your body from “fast” mode to “plenty” mode. During fasted (sleep) mode, you are operating at your lowest metabolic rate of the entire day. His breathing slows, his body temperature drops, and he doesn’t move much. In the morning, unless you give your body some new fuel, your body assumes that it must now operate in fasted conditions, as if you were in a famine. Intellectually, you may know that there is plenty of food available, but on a biological level, your body works as if it doesn’t know when the food will arrive, and you’re better off doing what you can to conserve your resources. Remember, the success of a living organism is measured in its ability to survive tough times and adverse conditions, not how lean it can be!
2. Increase your physical energy and your mental energy. It is true. When you’ve eaten, you’ll tell your “engines” to rev up and you’ll have more energy. As a result you will move more even if it is for running, running errands, working at home or exercising. As a result, you will maintain your muscle mass more effectively, and as we all know, it is muscle that burns fat, 24/7! Your thinking will also be clearer and more focused.
3. It will kill your appetite. For some people, eating breakfast will give them more energy, reduce their appetite throughout the day and give them more energy. The right breakfast will raise your blood sugar levels, though not too quickly, and it’s low enough on the glycemic scale that you won’t have a blood sugar crash after an hour or two.

For some people, eating in the morning will make them hungrier for the day or make them feel sleepy and exhausted, or both. I used to be one of these people! I cannot stress enough how important it is to eat the Correct breakfast. People are different. They have different activity levels, different metabolic types, different food sensitivities, and different lifestyles. Finding the right formula for breakfast can take a bit of work. After all, we don’t come with instruction manuals. With a little trial and error, and maybe a little help, it’s possible to find a breakfast solution that works for you.