Get Up and Eat Your Breakfast

It's easy to do. You hit the snooze button one too many times and now you're running around the house like a madman trying to get to work on time. You're rationalizing that you can make your normal 15 minute commute in just 5 minutes.

And then you do it: You skip breakfast.

You can almost hear the screeching sounds as your metabolism grinds to a halt.

Eating breakfast -- or "breaking the fast" -- kick starts our metabolisms. Here's how it works: After fasting all night, our bodies need fuel in the form of calories. (Not just any calories, of course. No donuts.)

Once we eat something, our bodies are then able to start burning calories more efficiently. If we don't eat quickly after waking, then our bodies will hoard calories later in the day, thus holding onto that unwanted fat.

If we get calories on a regular schedule -- starting with breakfast -- then we burn calories at a regular pace. (We have set the stage for a steady metabolism.)

If we get calories on an irregular schedule -- especially if we skip breakfast -- then we burn calories at an irregular pace. We actually hold onto calories, storing them as fat, when we do get them. (We have set the stage for a slow metabolism.)

Also, our brains benefit from eating breakfast. It helps improve our thinking ability. It's already hard enough to operate first thing in the morning, let's help ourselves out a bit. Right?

Tomorrow, try hitting that snooze button one less time and grab something to eat before you head out. Your body and brain will thank you.