I remember the time when I couldn’t care less about breakfast… The time when I’d just wake up, go about my day, get dizzy and feel tired by mid-morning, eat whatever food I could find just to get my energy levels up, surprisingly be starved at lunch and overeat (all though I had just eaten a couple of hours earlier). Then, after getting used to eating at such small intervals, I couldn’t help but feel hungry before dinner. In an attempt to not spoil my appetite, I’d have something quick like junk food… And what’s the result of that? It just pushes dinner time to just before going to bed, and we all know what eating late at night does to our figures… I’m sure you can guess my mirror’s opinion about all of this.

Breakfast

Then a miracle happened. My father started getting up before me and making me breakfast. He always tempted me with an extremely fatty plate of bacon and eggs. Which I ate with bread, picked only the yolk because I didn’t like egg whites, engulf the bacon and quench my thirst with a mug of hot coco. It wasn’t a healthy breakfast at all and I did protest a lot to it as I was not happy with my weight in the first place. But I couldn’t resist the smell of bacon in the morning and I gave in every time. Soon enough, I was eating breakfast on a regular basis, eating better during the day and losing what I had previously gained.

I found I was much more delightful in the mornings. I felt strong and happy from the beginning of the day. With time, I learned to choose a healthy breakfast that would suit my energetic needs. I didn’t require a snack before lunch and I moved my dinner back to early evening. This small change that seemed to be so irrelevant turned out to be a great improvement for me.

So why is really breakfast so important?

When you wake up your blood sugar levels are low, and you don’t have any energy. Eating something will give you the energy to carry out your tasks during the day. Having some breakfast will start up your metabolism and you’ll burn more calories during the day.

When you are asleep, your metabolism slows down, and you need something in your stomach to wake it up.

If you are not depleted of energy, you are less likely to over eat during the day.

Benefits of eating breakfast:

Starting your day with a good breakfast boosts your energy, increases your attention span, and heightens your sense of well-being. You’ll be in better control of your emotions. Other studies have even linked healthy breakfasts with less chronic disease, increased longevity and better health.

The effects of a skipped breakfast are short attention span, lack of alertness, longer reaction time, low blood sugar, decreased work productivity, and over time, weight gain.