Why Not Eat Breakfast? Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, it is also the most neglected or skipped. Common reasons for not eating breakfast include lack of time, not feeling hungry, traditional dislike for breakfast, and dieting. Breakfast simply means 'break the fast.' Your body spends at least six to twelve hours each night in a fasting state. In the morning your body needs energy to rev up (转动起来) into high gear for the day's work ahead. If you skip breakfast, you are likely to concentrate less effectively in the late morning, feel irritable, short-tempered(易怒的) , tired, or weak. When you choose not to eat breakfast, your body stays in slow gear. Also, people who skip breakfast often binge (无节制的大吃) later in the day at other meals or eat a high -calorie (高卡路里) snack in the morning. Breakfast eaters tend to eat less fat during the day, have more strength and endurance and better concentration and problem-solving ability. A good breakfast should provide up to 1/3 of your total calorie needs for the day. On the average, we eat 400 less calories for breakfast than for dinner. If breakfast doesn't appeal to you in the morning, try eating a lighter-dinner, earlier in the evening or save half your dinner for breakfast in the morning. If you still aren't hungry in the morning, start with something small like juice or toast or have a mid-morning snack later when you are hungry. Not eating breakfast can also cause you to overeat, since a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel very hungry later. To make matters worse, since your body is in a slowed state, it will not be able to burn those extra calories very efficiently. If you feed your body healthy snacks and meals throughout the day, you are less likely to become extremely hungry and stuff yourself as soon as you begin to eat. Since breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, choosing the right fuel is important. The best breakfast foods are fruits, juice, lean meat, and grain products such as breads, rice, noodles, and cereals. The word 'fast' in the phrase 'break the fast' in paragraph 2 means______.