Do you know about, or are you dealing with insulin resistance (aka metabolic syndrome)? This syndrome includes health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. Studies show it affects as many as 1 in 3 Americans.

Typically you can't tell if you have insulin resistance by how you feel. You'll need to get a blood test that checks your blood sugar levels. But there are some tell-tale symptoms:

And other common symptoms:

• A waistline over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women
• Blood pressure readings of 130/80 or higher
• A fasting glucose level over 100 mg/dL
• A fasting triglyceride level over 150 mg/dL
• An HDL cholesterol level over under 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women
• Skin tags

If you have any of these symptoms, you might want to get that above-mentioned blood test and consider your eating patterns. I’m speaking of breakfast-eating, specifically. Many people with insulin resistance decide to skip breakfast in order to save on calories, but abundant scientific research shows doing this actually promotes fat storing.

After not eating all night, the body is in a fasting metabolic state. In this state, the body will conserve and store more fat. By eating first thing in the morning or very soon after rising, this fasting state is broken and the body is allowed to start burning fat more efficiently.

I’ve shared this news with breakfast-skipping friends and family and have gotten the same three answers every time: “I don’t like breakfast.” Or “I’m not hungry first thing in the morning.” Or “I just don’t have time for breakfast.”

I do understand: habits are hard to break. But truly, breakfast-skipping is just a learned habit. And if you learned it, you can also un-learn it. If you relate to any of the above responses and aren’t used to eating breakfast, you might want to work on a paradigm shift, considering the above information. To help with that, I share a chart I found online that makes breakfasting easy by removing, or at least minimizing the decision-making.

These ideas are designed to rev up your morning metabolism engine. You can easily create a perfect breakfast by choosing one or two items from each column. And remember—small portions go a LONG way!

PERFECT MIX and MATCH BREAKFASTS for the INSULIN RESISTANT: