Pregnancy is an important time in every woman's life, and it should be the healthiest. You have to take care of yourself and your baby. If you smoke or drink, you give those unhealthy habits up. You worry about getting too much of this and too little of that. Essentially, you become conscious of the effects of every single thing you put in your body.

Regardless of your pre-pregnancy lifestyle, you should use your pregnancy as an opportunity to adopt healthy habits that will benefit you throughout your entire life. Eating breakfast is one of these habits worth picking up and keeping around for a number of reasons.

Breakfast is known as the most important meal of the day because it has a number of short- and long-term benefits.

"Studies have shown that breakfast eaters are healthier because they take in a better mix of nutrients overall," says Melinda Johnson, a registered dietitian and national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. The reason for this may be that those who eat breakfast make healthier food choices throughout the day. In other words, if your day starts with a healthy decision, you will probably make a few more when deciding what to eat at other meals. And the benefits of this practice are immense.

"People who eat breakfast think more clearly, experience fewer food cravings and have better nutrition overall," says Elizabeth Somer, a registered dietitian and author of Nutrition for Women: How Eating Right Can Help You Look and Feel Your Best (Owl Books, 2003) and 10 Habits That Mess up a Woman's Diet (McGraw-Hill, 2005). "People who don't eat breakfast never make up the nutritional deficit." And pregnant women cannot afford this shortage.

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