Do you wake up in the morning and declare that skipping breakfast is the first step on your path to weight loss? If so, you've probably broken your self-promise by mid-day when your hunger became uncontrollable. A study published in a recent issue of Obesity Research indicates that one of the keys for weight loss and maintenance is eating breakfast.

Researchers from the National Weight Control Registry, a database of more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 60 pounds and kept it off for an average of 6 years, say that regularly eating breakfast every day of the week was a weight control strategy for 78% of the people in the registry. People who kept off weight long-term also reported eating a low-fat diet with an average of 24% fat and exercising for an hour or more each day.

This survey shows that you should forget skipping breakfast if weight loss is your goal. Instead, try eating low-fat foods such as fruit, egg substitutes, oatmeal, whole-grain breakfast cereal and skim milk for breakfast. Remember that breakfast doesn't have to mean traditional breakfast foods - reheat that leftover low-fat entrée from last night for a quick and tasty morning meal.

Related information: Food choices

Sources:  Wyatt HR, Grunwald GK, Mosca CL, Klem ML, Wing RR, Hill JO. Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the national weight control registry. Obesity Research Volume 10, Number 2, February 2002, pp. 78-82; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA Consumer, January-February 2002, "Losing Weight: More Than Counting Calories."