We all remember our mothers hassling us to “eat a good breakfast.”

As youth, we are told time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But why is that?

New studies have shown that the old legend is true, and that our mothers were right.

Among all the new diet fads, one thing stands firm. In order to lose weight effectively, one must still eat a healthy, balanced diet. To all those who think this includes skipping meals to cut down on calories, you are wrong.

Actually, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

It has been proven time and time again by personal trainers, doctors and dietitians that eating a healthy breakfast improves your chances for weight loss.

Eating breakfast not only fills you up until lunch, but it has been proven to make people feel better, both physically and mentally.

In addition to that, eating that early morning meal will help boost your metabolism so that your blood sugar levels stabilize and maintain a steady level throughout the day.

By skipping breakfast, your body’s first meal to break down and process is lunch, which can often times be high in fat and starches.

So now that you’ve gotten the point that it is important to eat in the morning, here are some meals that not only fill you up, but taste good.

Eat fruit. Admit it, you probably don’t eat as much fruit as recommended. I really don’t know anyone who does!

Eating an apple or an orange is a good way to sneak in that one extra serving. Oranges are a catabolic food, meaning that if an orange has 75 calories, your body will burn, say 90, just digesting it. Obviously, these kinds of foods are something to look for.

Fill up on fiber. That’s right…no more Metamucil here. Eating a bowl of oatmeal will keep you satisfied a lot longer than a cup of yogurt will.

Foods high in fiber, like oatmeal and healthy breakfast cereals such as Raisin Bran, Total, etc. will leave your stomach more full for longer.

Not only because the food itself is heavier, your body takes longer to break down the fiber and proteins. Fiber has also been shown to help in weight loss studies in both men and women.

Eat about two hours after you wake up. After your body has fully ‘woken up,’ and your blood sugar is ‘hungry’ for some food, it will metabolize food quickly and efficiently. Just make sure that the food is good for you, this means that jelly donuts, pop tarts, and breakfast bars don’t count.

So eat your oatmeal, kids… it IS the most important meal of the day! And yes, sometimes mothers are right!