You’ve all heard it before – breakfast is the most important meal of the day… But why?

Eating breakfast is a way to start your day on the right foot. While sleeping, your body is in a fasting state. When you wake up in the morning, a healthy breakfast “breaks the fast” and starts up your metabolism allowing you to start burning calories for the day.

Breakfast is the first chance for your body to get the protein and energy you need for the day. If you’ve ever had a healthy breakfast before work, I’m sure you would have noticed that you were much more alert throughout the day and had better concentration.

If you skip breakfast, you’re much more likely to be hungry enough to run to the nearest coffee shop on your break to grab something “quick” like a fat-laden donut… This is a common problem for people skipping breakfast. Processed, sugary, “quick” foods are so much more convenient when you’re starving around 10am because you skipped your breakfast. This is why researchers find that those who skip breakfast are often more at risk for weight gain and diabetes. When you skipped breakfast that morning, you told your body to conserve calories and store energy – so guess what happened when you ate that donut? Stored – as fat! When you eat breakfast, your body is told that food is readily available and there is no need to store the calories (allowing your body to burn them).

It’s fascinating how one meal can make or break your day! Try having breakfast every day for a week – even if it means waking up a little earlier! You’ll notice a difference.