Most people have heard that breakfast is the most important part of the day.  But why? The importance of breakfast lies within its name.  If you separate breakfast into its two components, "break" and "fast" you will find the answer.  Breakfast is the meal in which you are stopping or breaking the fast that has occurred since dinner the night before.

Assuming that you eat dinner at seven o'clock at night and breakfast at seven in the morning, there is a 12 hour spam between meals.  During this span, your body will continue to utilize blood sugar for maintenance activities.  Once your body starts to run low on blood sugar from your last meal, your body will go into conservation/starvation mode.  In this mode, your body will hoard fat and break down muscle for energy. This is a scenario that you want to avoid.

If you skip breakfast, you may not eat your first meal until lunch.  That means you may go 17 hours, or possibly even more, without putting food in your body.  This will definitely place you in starvation mode.

In addition to your body breaking down muscle for fuel, skipping breakfast will cause your metabolism to slow.  This process occurs for the same reason.  Your body thinks that it is starving and, therefore, must slow all metabolic processes to guarantee survival.

If you are trying to lose weight, or make sure that you do not gain unwanted weight, eating breakfast should be at the cornerstone of your routine.  Keep in mind breakfast does not have to be a full-blown meal.  Juice and toast or even a glass of milk can provide a good start to your day. The important thing to remember is that you simply need to get some food in your body at the beginning of your day.