While it's long been considered a solid nutritional habit to eat a well balanced breakfast, many people have a hard time understanding why?

As study after study begins to uncover the reasons why breakfast is an important meal (especially for those of us trying to lose or at least maintain our weight), most of the reasons that I can think of seem to be filed under the plain old "common sense" file.

While the reasons may be "common sense" the evidence clearly suggests that…

If you're serious about achieving your fitness goals, staying in a decent mood and having stable energy levels throughout the day, then breakfast is without a doubt the most important meal of the day!

Breakfast is an important meal for everybody seeking optimal health and fitness for a number of reasons…

1.) When eaten shortly after waking, breakfast as it's name suggests helps you "break the fast" after a night of eating nothing.

This is important because it provides your body with nutrients that it needs to produce energy for you throughout the day.

Dr. Mark A. Pereira of the University of Minnesota believes that eating a healthy breakfast might "promote healthy eating throughout the day and might help to prevent situations where you're grabbing fast food or vending machine food."

I whole heartedly agree!

One of the main benefits of eating a solid breakfast is the satisfaction that comes with feeling full to start off the day. After all, if you're not wandering around hungry in the morning, you're far less likely to break down and eat that greasy breakfast burrito or sugar laden muffin .

A well balanced breakfast also increases your metabolism and causes your body to begin digesting the food that you eat. As a result, your body begins to burn calories. If your goals are to lose weight and stay slim, eating breakfast is an easy way to jump start the process.

2.) For those of you who desire a lean, muscular body, you will not have much success if you don't eat the right nutrients at the right times. One of the most important times throughout the day to supply your growing muscles with nutrients is first thing in the morning.

Think about it, you have just completed a fasting period, (usually 8-10 hours), without food.

While you were sleeping, your body was busy repairing the muscle damage caused by the days weight lifting workout. In order to repair and grow, your muscles need adequate amounts of carbohydrate, fat and protein.

By the time you wake, your muscles are in serious need of nutrition! By simply eating breakfast, you can take your muscle building efforts a long way.

3.) The nutrients that we eat directly impact our mood, ability to focus and energy levels throughout the day. If you skip breakfast, your body may never recover and everybody around you is certain to suffer from your irritable mood and lack of energy.

I can relate to this from my own personal experience, Just ask my wife and kids…

If I don't take the time to eat a well balanced breakfast, I know that I won't be able to recover for the rest of the day, maybe even longer!

The lesson to grasp from this story…

If you're serious about staying healthy, feeling great and staying in tip-top shape, then make it a habit to eat a well rounded breakfast (immediately upon waking) that consists of high quality proteins, healthy fats and a mixture of complex and simple carbohydrates.