When legendary college basketball coach Dean Smith transformed the traditional fast break into the lightning-fast "Carolina Break," the University of North Carolina started winning.

Smith ended up with a record-breaking career win/loss record of 879-254.

If you're looking for a major transformation — losing weight and getting healthier — you want to change your breakfast so you become a winner too.

How? A 12-week study of overweight and obese women found that those who ate a big breakfast, mid-size lunch and small dinner lost over twice as much weight as women who took in the same calories, but in reverse order!

Breakfast firsters also reduced waist circumference, lowered blood glucose, insulin resistance and levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone.

Why does this work?

While science doesn't have all the answers yet, here are some possible explanations: Eat more calories than you burn, fat is stored. Burn more calories than you take in, weight loss!

Because you burn more calories when you're awake than when you're asleep, doesn't it make sense to eat most of your calories in the morning?

Plus, that hearty first meal seems to stabilize weight-boosting blood sugar levels and helps increase your calorie burn all day long.

So to lose weight, have your highest-calorie meal in the morning. Enjoy a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil, only 100 percent whole grains and lean proteins (beans, nuts, salmon, ocean trout and skinless poultry).

You'll make a fast break from your overweight past by turning your breakfast around.