Breakfast eaters are champions of good health.

Research shows people who have a morning meal tend to take in more vitamins and minerals, and less fat and cholesterol. The result is often a leaner body, lower cholesterol count, and less chance of overeating.

"That one act [of eating breakfast] seems to make a difference in people's overall weight," says Melinda Johnson, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). She says breakfast can hold off hunger pangs until lunchtime and make high-calorie vending machine options less enticing.
Not only that, researchers at the 2003 American Heart Association conference reported that breakfast eaters are significantly less likely to be obese and get diabetes compared with nonbreakfast eaters.

Another study in the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition showed that people who consumed breakfast cereal every day reported feeling better both physically and mentally than those who rarely ate cereal in the morning.

For kids, breakfast appears to enhance alertness, attention, and performance on standardized achievement tests, reports the ADA.

To get the full benefits of breakfast, the Mayo Clinic recommends a meal with carbohydrates, protein, and a small amount of fat. They say that because no single food gives you all of the nutrients you need, eating a variety of foods is essential to good health.

Yet, even with so much scientific support that breakfast does the body good; many people still make excuses not to eat in the morning. They include not having enough time and not feeling hungry. For these people, Johnson suggests tailoring breakfast to the day.

"When I'm getting ready in the morning, I don't really want to take the time to eat breakfast because that would mean sacrificing sleep," says Johnson. "So I bring my breakfast with me, and I know I have an hour when I'm reading emails in the office when I can eat it. By that time, I'm hungry because I've been up for almost a couple of hours." 

Strength Training Can Jump Start Your Weight Loss
If you're not strength training, start now. And if you are, ramp it up a notch. Muscle is your greatest ally in breaking a plateau. Unfortunately many women train with weights too light to produce the metabolic boost they need. Don't be afraid of heavier weights. They should be heavy enough that you can only do between 8 and 12 reps.

Salads can be a hidden fat trap! 
 
According to a study by the National Restaurant Association, more women choose salad for lunch than any other food. But not all salads are created equal. Do you know what to pile on your plate and what to avoid at the salad bar?
 
In the study, the most popular items to top a salad with included cottage cheese, cheddar cheese and hard-boiled eggs. Tomatoes and red onions were in the Top 5, but dark, leafy greens -- the foundation for a healthy salad -- didn't make the list. With a heaping helping of bacon bits or Chinese noodles and lots of dressing, your lunchtime fare may be higher in fat and calories than a burger with the works.
 
So how can you make sure your salad is full of the good stuff? Keep reading!
 
Yummy Salad Fixings That Pack a Nutritional Punch:
 
Chickpeas: Toss in plenty of these -- ½ cup has 6g of soluble fiber and as much protein as a hard-boiled egg. As an added bonus, chickpeas have 186mg of potassium.
 
Cherry tomatoes: With 50% of the RDA for vitamin A and 25% of RDA for vitamin C, these are worth every calorie (5 tomatoes have just 18 calories). And there's no sodium.
 
Mesclun salad greens: A mix that includes arugula, radicchio and oak-leaf lettuce has almost half your daily requirement for vitamin A and 25% of your daily quota of folate, which helps protect against birth defects.
 
Cauliflower: ½ cup will give you almost half your RDA for vitamin C for only 13 calories.
 
Broccoli: Go for the green! ½ cup has 100% of the RDA for both vitamins A and C.
 
Green peas: Help yourself to plenty of these -- 1/3 cup contains 40% of the RDA of vitamin A and 2g of fiber.
 
Kidney beans: Add a burst of color to your plate with ½ cup of beans, which has 5g of fiber and 6g of protein.
 
Cottage cheese: Light on calcium but heavy on protein (14g in ½ cup), cottage cheese will help you feel fuller longer.
 
Spinach: Popeye knew it: Spinach is a powerhouse. For only 13 calories, 1 cup delivers 16mg of vitamin C, 55mg of calcium, 2mg of iron and 2g of fiber.
 
Empty Calorie Salad Fixings:
 
Iceberg lettuce: It pales in comparison to other leafy greens and won't fill you up for the long haul -- 1½ cups have only 1g of fiber (the RDA is 25 - 35g per day).
 
Cucumbers: These are mostly water. ½ cup has only a tiny amount of folate and a minimal amount of vitamin A.
 
Mushrooms: They may add a satisfying, meaty flavor to your salad, but they lack nutritional value -- ½ cup has no fiber, only 5% of the RDA of potassium, and less than 10% of vitamin D.
 
Olives: Back in black! 5 green olives have a whopping 468mg of sodium; 5 black olives have only 145mg.
 
Red onions: There's no reason to suffer onion breath! ¼ cup has 15 calories and little else, except some potassium and a teeny bit of vitamin C.
 
Marinated artichoke hearts: Two hearts contain 55mg of potassium and just 1g of fiber. Since they are often soaked in oil, if you must have them, take just a few.
 
Radishes: They have few calories and few nutrients. If you like a peppery taste, go ahead and pile them on; if not, don't feel guilty skipping them.
 
Salad Fixings to Use Sparingly:
 
Grated Cheddar Cheese: 1oz (about 4 tablespoons) provides almost 1/5 of your daily calcium requirement and has nearly as much protein as a hard-boiled egg; but it also has 114 calories and 9g of fat, so think of it as a garnish, not a main ingredient.
 
Chinese noodles: 4 tablespoons have 75 calories and 4g of fat. Get your crunch with croutons instead.
 
Hard-boiled eggs: These are a great source of protein (7g in the whites) and are low in calories (80 calories), but one yolk has 6g of fat, so leave the yellow stuff behind.
 
Deli-style coleslaw: Unless you know it's made with low-fat dressing, don't dig in! ½ cup made with mayo has 175 calories and a belt-busting 16g of fat.
 
Bacon bits: If you must have some, sprinkle lightly. 2 tablespoons have 50 calories and 2g of fat.
 
Raisins: ¼ cup gives you nearly 10% of your daily potassium requirement, along with 1g of protein and 2g of fiber. But they're high in calories (130 in 4 tablespoons) and can be as cavity-causing as candy.
 
Roasted red peppers in oil: Skip them if you can -- 2 tablespoons have 20 calories (10 of which are from fat) and 125mg of sodium.
 
Sunflower seeds: A good source of minerals that are important for strong bones like calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and vitamin D, these seeds are also very high in calories (83 in just 2 tablespoons).
 
Potato salad: ½ cup has 20% of the RDA of vitamin C, as well as 11g of fat. If you can resist, take a pass.
 
Topping It Off
 
The wrong salad dressing can transform even the healthiest salad into a fatty feast. The worst dressings are bleu cheese, ranch and other creamy, cheese-based varieties, which contain more than 100 calories in a tablespoon.

Instead choose bottled "light" dressings, which have half the calories. Your best choice is to make your own dressing with oil and vinegar. Olive oil is high in unsaturated fatty acids, which protect your heart, and vinegar contains disease-fighting flavonoids.

Sources: Joy Bauer, R.D., M.S.; Riska Platt, R.D., M.S.; and Susan Adams, R.D