More On Breakfasts

Current Weight: 216 lbs.
Body Fat: 31.2%
Another Reason To Have A Good Breakfast

As I mentioned before, having a big breakfast first thing in the morning is a great way to start your day. What you see as a good night's sleep, your body interprets as 8 hours of starvation. In an effort to conserve energy, there's a dramatic drop in your levels of leptin and insulin, two hormones that affect how fast your body turns food into fuel. This process comes on automatically at night, but it's up to you to shut it off in the morning or you'll start the day in zombie mode.

Eat within an hour of getting up and you'll trigger an increase in leptin, which will in turn tell your body that the recent fast isn't a famine. "When leptin goes up, you feel less hungry, and you increase energy expenditure," says Michael A. Cowley, Ph.D., an associate scientist in the division of neuroscience at Oregon National Primate Research Center. But if you want that energy to last until lunch, don't just pop a Pop-Tart into your mouth -- you need a breakfast that will produce a slow and steady increase in insulin, not a swift spike. Try a combination of protein and fiber-rich carbs, such as cottage cheese topped with berries, or two scrambled eggs stuffed into a whole-wheat pita.

Information from Men's Health Magazine.