I'm not hungry in the morning: Most often, runners who lack a morning appetite ate their breakfast at bedtime. Too much evening snacking can easily ruin your morning appetite and also contribute to weight gain (if you overeat).

It can cause dietary deficiencies (if you replace healthful breakfasts with nutritionally poor snacks) and muscle fatigue (if you eat high-fat evening snacks of chips, cookies, and ice cream that can inadequately refuel your muscles). Plan to rearrange your current meal patterns so you eat more during the day, less at night, and wake up hungry.

I'm on a diet: The most successful diets start with a substantial breakfast and end with a light dinner. Research suggests runners who under eat during the day have more body fat than those who eat adequately during their waking hours.

A wholesome, carb-based morning meal not only fuels your muscles but also prevents you from getting too hungry, at which point you simply "don't care" about what you eat and are likely to blow your diet on junk food. Remember: You are going to eat the calories eventually; you might as well enjoy them in the morning. Breakfast invests in losing weight, not gaining fat.

What's best to eat? Any breakfast is better than none, but some choices are better than others for your sports diet. You can easily boost your day's carbohydrate intake with some of these popular foods:

cold or hot whole grain cereal, grits, pancakes, waffles, french toast, english muffins, bagels, toast, banana bread, fruit, juice, yogurt, or whatever carbohydrate-based foods that might be readily available.

For a non-traditional morning meal, enjoy baked sweet potato, leftovers, a sandwich, thick crust pizza, soup. One quick and easy "breakfast of champions" is iron-enriched cereal with low fat milk, banana and orange juice. This simple meal provides important nutrients that support your running program: