By Kimberly King
Staff Writer
“I have early morning classes, so I don’t have time for breakfast. Is it really that important?”
These were the words of sophomore Kelsey Lissner, and perhaps those of most of her peers.
Breakfast is such an important part of a person’s day. In fact, it is the most important meal of day. The word breakfast indicates that you’re “breaking the fast.” Your body has gone six to 10 hours without having any food — no new energy was supplied to it at night. When morning comes around, it needs fuel to get through a new day of activities, classes and anything else that requires thinking, moving or breathing. If you don’t have that kick start for the day, you will not be able to function at your best.
When I’m hungry, all I can think of is how hungry I am, and how much I would enjoy getting something to eat. You need to get rid of that distraction by eating when you get up so you can be attentive in classes.
Now that we have established the importance of eating breakfast, we must ask: what can we eat for breakfast? Well, obviously, if you want a full meal — breakfast or whatever you eat when you wake up, you have to wake up earlier.
• English muffins with low-fat cheese and orange juice.
• Whole-grain cereal and milk — add fruit.
• Nontraditional breakfast — pizza, soup and toast, a sandwich.
• Waffle with sour cream and blueberries.
• Hot cereal — oatmeal, Cream of Wheat.
• 
Toaster waffles, microwave pancakes.
But since we value our beauty sleep, we usually don’t get up in time to sit down and eat. Therefore there are several bring-along options that you can pick and choose from. Here are a few.
• Bagels with cheese, egg or peanut butter.
• Packaged toaster pastry — if you have a toaster.
• Breakfast bars.
• Yogurt.
• Yogurt and fruit or granola.
Some of you also may not be hungry in the mornings. If it has worked for you, great, but I suggest at least trying to kick-start your body by eating just a little bit. Just so it has a taste and knows that you’re ready for the day.
• Dried fruit.
• A small granola bar.
• Apple, banana.
• Don’t just drink juice or coffee, because you’re fooling your body and not providing it with any energy to work with.
The idea behind breakfast is to start the energy flow into your body. If you skip breakfast and go deep into your day without eating something, especially something substantial, your body will want to binge when you do actually sit down and eat. So eat breakfast.
— Questions about healthy eating? E-mail Kimberly King, the Public Relations officer for the Student Dietic Association, at kimberly.r.king@pepperdine.edu.
February 06, 2003