For those of you affected by the shifts in and out of Daylight Saving Time, breakfast and exercise become more important because they can help you adjust to the hour change.

Exercise helps for two reasons. Psychologically, you feel that you've done something good for yourself. Physiologically, it gets your heart pumping, supplying oxygen to your brain to combat drowsiness and improve concentration.

Why Eat Breakfast?

Headaches and irritability are associated with sleep disturbances, but they're also symptoms of hunger.  When you awake, you have just had a six to eight-hour fast. A healthy breaking of this fast is the best thing you can do to stave off the morning fogginess and improve concentration. 

As an added benefit, it controls overeating. When you start your day with a healthy meal, you can skip the mid-morning run to the snack machine, and you'll have less of an impulse to overeat at lunch and dinner. 

Excuse Busters for Breakfast Skippers

We skip breakfast for many reasons.  Here are my suggestions to combat the top reasons:

"I have no time in the morning."
There are a few ways to address this:

• Eat foods that require little to no preparation. Try yogurt or a whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk and berries/banana. 
• Prepare foods the night before, such as boiled eggs or a fruit salad.
• Try to adjust your bedtime so you can have enough time in the morning for breakfast.

If you must eat breakfast on the run, skip the fast-food breakfast options.  Most of the offerings are loaded with bad fats, cholesterol and salt that can make you sluggish and sleepy.

"I don't like traditional breakfast foods."
The key is to have a nutritious breakfast, not a traditional one. You can eat any (healthy) food you want for breakfast.  You can have meat and rice or a tuna salad sandwich for breakfast.

I am notorious for eating leftovers for breakfast.  I just had last night's spaghetti with meat sauce and a glass of milk for breakfast.  It was delicious. 

"I'd rather save the calories for lunch or dinner."
This is a bad reason to skip breakfast.  Most folks who try it end up grabbing a snack to tide them over until lunch, and that snack probably has more calories and fat than a healthy, homemade breakfast would have.

What I Eat for Breakfast

Breakfast should include healthy fats, a good serving of fiber, a protein and a carbohydrate. Here are a few of my favorite breakfast foods:

• A smoothie or shake.  Combine 1 cup of low-fat milk, one whole banana, and a tablespoon of wheat germ; blend until liquefied. It takes less than two minutes from start to finish.
• Two boiled eggs, two slices of whole wheat toast with a pat of butter and jelly, plus six ounces of vegetable juice.
• A sandwich peanut butter and jelly or tuna/chicken salad on whole-wheat bread with low-fat milk, rice milk or soy milk. 
• Cheese and crackers with six ounces of juice.
• Baked potatoes. I'll eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner because they take less than five minutes to prepare.  Clean the outside well, and eat it with the skin on.

Use this end to Daylight Saving Time as a reason to start every day with a healthy breakfast.  You have an extra hour in the morning, so use is wisely. 

If you have children, set a good example by having breakfast with them in the morning. If they eat breakfast every morning now, they will most likely continue this healthy habit as adults.