The most important meal of the day...

well, all of them for sure. But if you're interested in weight loss, then don't skip breakfast!

Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School says that eating breakfast helps jump-stars your metabolism: "When you don't eat breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15 to 20 hours, so you're not producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight."

This isn't a license to go eat a 1000 calorie, high fat breakfast. 100-200 calories will do:

• scrambled eggs with 1 cup of veggies and an orange. A dash of tabasco will give it some nice zing and boost your metabolism.
• 1/2 whole wheat english muffin, poached egg, 1/2 cup berries.
• Sugar free muesli, 1/2 C skim milk, 1 cup berries or fruit.
• Oatmeal with added nuts and fruit.

In a study (by the National Weight Control Registry) of over 3000 adults who lost over 60 pounds and kept it off for over 5 years, eating breakfast was one of four common success factors, no matter which weight loss method was employed. (Wanna know the other 3 - email me at mybody4life@mysoulrefresh.com)

If you currently don't eat breakfast, is it because of lack of time? You'd rather sleep longer then eat breakfast? How about going to bed a bit earlier so you can get a good start to a good day? And yes, you might even want to call your mother and tell her she was right...breakfast IS the most important meal of the day!

mybodyrefresh is a sisterblog to www.mysoulrefresh.blogspot.com