A big carb-rich breakfast is the secret way to reach the perfect silhouette, a new study suggests. A group of scientists, led by Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a clinical professor of medicine at the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said that a “big breakfast” diet, involving more calories, more carbohydrates and proteins and a lower proportion of fat helps you lose weight. It helped people feel fuller during the day and those who participated to the study said they felt less hungry during the day, but also in the mornings.

She tested the “big breakfast” diet against a low carbohydrate died in a study which involved 96 obese and inactive women. Forty-six of these women were assigned to a very low-carb diet, which allowed them to eat 1,085 calories a day. So, 46 women consumed 17 grams of carbs, 51 grams of protein, 78 grams of fat, which makes a total of 1,085 calories per day. Breakfast was the smallest meal at 290 calories, containing 7 grams of carbohydrates, such as bread, fruit, cereal and milk and just 12 grams of protein, such as meat and eggs.

In the “big breakfast” diet, women were given 97 grams of carbs, 93 grams of protein, 46 grams of fat and a total of 1,240 calories a day. The subjects had a 610-calorie big breakfast, consisting of 58 grams of carbs, 47 grams of protein and 22 grams of fats, while lunch and dinner were 395 and 235 calories respectively.

After four months, low-carb dieters lost an average of 28 pounds, while the big breakfast group lost 23 pounds. But after eight months, the situation had reversed. The low-carb dieters had regained 18 pounds, while the big breakfast eaters continued to lose weight on average 16.5 pounds each. In the end, those who ate big breakfast lost more than 21 percent of their initial body weight while the low carb dieters lost merely 4.5 percent.

Dr. Jakubowicz explained that a very low carbohydrate diet exacerbates the craving for carbohydrates and slows metabolism. As a result, after our body looses weight, there is a quick return to obesity. A big breakfast helps you not to get hungry during the day and eat foods that are high in fat and sugar, such as biscuits and pastries other unhealthful, carb-rich foods. There are other studies suggesting that a diet full of plant food is more effective at helping women lose weight, compared to an omnivorous diet.