Hard to believe, but there could be a benefit to loading up your breakfast plate.

Besides helping you eat less later in the day, a big breakfast might also help you lose weight. But you have to be smart about it.

Load Up to Slim Down?
Okay, so you can't completely overdo it at breakfast and hope to drop pounds. But when obese dieters ate a big 600-calorie breakfast of healthy protein and carbs (think scrambled eggs, diced turkey, whole-wheat toast, and a banana), they lost significantly more weight than dieters who ate only half that much. Why? Researchers speculate that eating a large balanced meal in the morning helps stymie carb cravings later in the day -- especially if you're cutting carbs and calories in an effort to slim down.

A Better Breakfast
Here are some other ways to make your morning meal really count:

• Put eggs back on the menu. Yep, they're officially a health food again. Watch this video to learn how to poach eggs quickly and easily.
• Never skip. Check your RealAge Plan to see how much older skipping breakfast makes you.
• Follow these four simple breakfast rules for shedding pounds.

Do you have high blood sugar? Try these "diabetes appropriate" breakfast ideas in the RealAge Recipe Finder.

Effect of diet with high carbohydrate and protein breakfast on weight loss and appetite in obese women with metabolic syndrome. Jakubowicz, D. et al.; Endocrine Society Annual Meeting, poster session, June 17, 2008.