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Most of us have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but few of us know why. The number of adults who skip breakfast for one reason or another is staggering. However, they aren't the only ones to miss this very important meal with many teens and older children skipping out as well. So, what's the big deal? After all, you are a big girl or a big boy and should be able to decide whether or not you want some breakfast.

Low on Fuel.

Like the engine in your car, your body needs fuel to get through the day. It gets this fuel by burning the Calories in the foods that you consume. After dinner or your midnight snack there are several hours of sleep that take place (at least most days). This provides the body down time. It finished burning the food that you consumed the day before and puts it to use (either as fuel for repair work or it gets stored as fat). Once that fuel is gone, your blood sugar falls and your body goes into starvation mode. It believes that since the food is gone, you must be starving. It won't start burning fat for fuel, but will instead cut back to make the fuel sources last as long as possible.

You then wake up and the body is sure that you are starving. You skip breakfast and move on with your day. Your body is confused and rather then burn fat it tries to store it for hard times ahead (even if you have never starved a day in your life). If you don't provide fresh fuel this process will continue throughout the day.

Snack Attack.

For most people, hunger hits them after they have been awake for a few hours, but long before lunch. Most studies show that this hunger attack happens around 10, but can vary from person to person. Because it isn't yet lunch time people often grab the first snack they can to fill this immediate need. Often these aren't healthy snacks and can include those high in fat, salt, sugar, or other undesirables.

Now that your body has gotten some food (even it if it isn't "real" food) it feels a little better. You must not be starving, but it could be a fluke. So rather then turning the engines on full blast it turns them on rather slow. Your metabolism carefully burns your food, just in case there really is a famine about. Having just put in way too many Calories and WAY too much fat your body has a lot to work with and if your engines on slow don't burn it off then it is likely to be stored later as fat.

Lunch.

Lunch comes and because you had only a slightly filling snack you are hungry. You eat a good size lunch

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