take a break for breakfast

You've probably heard that breakfast is important. It's probably the most important meal of the day but is the most commonly skipped meal. This is problematic. Here are a few reasons breakfast should never be skipped.

Eating breakfast kick-starts your metabolism and gives you energy for the day ahead
According to the Better Health Channel, "Glucose is the body’s energy source. It is broken down and absorbed from the carbohydrates you eat. In the morning, after you have gone without food for as long as 12 hours, your glucose levels have dropped. Your body compensates by releasing the glucose that has been stored in your muscle tissue and liver, called glycogen. Once all of the energy from the glycogen stores is used up, your body starts to break down fatty acids to produce the energy it needs. Without carbohydrate, fatty acids are only partially oxidised, which can cause reduced energy levels." So, when you skip breakfast, you are not getting the energy boost your body needs to function.

People who skip breakfast are more likely to be overweight
This totally crushes the myth that skipping breakfast can help you lose weight. In fact, studies have shown that people who skip breakfast are heavier than people who eat breakfast. This happens because by the time the person that skipped breakfast makes it to lunch, they are starving and tend to overeat or have a mid-morning snack. Eating a healthy breakfast is a much better plan.

Breakfast provides nutrients essential to your diet
Even a nice, sugary bowl of Lucky Charms has a significant amount of iron in it, among other nutrients. Breakfast provides a variety of vitamins and minerals that are important for your stable health.

People often skip breakfast because they just don't have time or don't think it's important. Well I've hopefully convinced you that it is important, and taking an extra five minutes in the morning to eat a bowl of cereal is not a difficult task. Make time.

Have fun and good luck.

avoiding the skip

This week has been a little crazy for me. I'm in the running for an internship with the American Junior Golf Association and am spending the weekend in Atlanta, Ga., for their intern recruiting weekend.

Since I am not at home and was too busy preparing myself for this weekend, I did not have time to cook. I think that happens a lot. Life gets crazy and one of the first things that we put on the back burner is cooking. We rely on whatever questionable food we find in the refrigerator or maybe skip meals altogether. This is when problems arise.

When you skip a meal, your body goes into what FIT Lauch calls "fasting mode." While in this altered state, your body uses carbs, proteins and fats to for energy. According to FIT Launch, if your body remains in "fasting mode," the glycogen storage deposits found in the liver and muscle become depleted. As the glucose levels drop, the body looks for other sources of fuel. Since the brain and nerves prefer energy from glucose, protein tissues (muscle and liver) are broken down. In efforts to preserve the remaining protein, the body starts to metabolize fat for energy in the form of ketone bodies.

This process of using ketone bodies can bring on a lot of unwanted side effects such as fatigue, nausea and constipation among many others. If this process continues, the body enters "starvation mode," which leads to a slower metabolism because of the muscle loss it is enduring. A slower metabolism, as you may know, means gaining weight just got a whole lot easier (as if it wasn't easy enough).

While occasionally skipping a meal will not have a great effect on you, making a habit of skipping meals will. It's important to take some time to eat a small meal. And it may seem like there just is not enough time in a day to get everything done, sometimes take 15 minutes to eat and clear your head can really help you out when things get out of control.

Have fun and good luck.