Breakfast Like A King, Lunch Like A Prince, Dinner Like A Pauper

“Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, Dinner like a Pauper” this adage by Adelle Davis (which is also rule #54 in Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual”) delivers some valuable advice to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 
It stresses out the importance of front-loading the calories at the beginning of the day and decrease the intake as the hours goes by.
The rationale behind is that the human metabolism slows down as the day progresses and - furthermore - the chances of burning calories are fewer as nighttime approaches. 
Accordingly, breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day and dinner the smallest.

Breakfast is literally what it says: breaking your fast. When you get up in the morning it may be easily from 7 to 12 hours since you last ate (unless you’re a secret night binger) and blood sugar levels is very low. 
Having a proper breakfast is going to set you up for the rest of the day. Sadly most people leading today’s hectic lives skip breakfast altogether or - in the best case scenario - just have a morning beverage on-the-go which hardly contains the nutrients needed for the body to function properly. This may result in less mental sharpness as well as decreased efficiency, among other things. 
That’s why having a complete, balanced and healthy breakfast can really make a difference. You should aim to get at least 25 to 30 percent of your daily caloric intake from the first meal of the day. 
Some nutritionists push the argument forward, claiming that a very large breakfast (almost 40% of your DCI) can keep you full up to 14 hours and can decrease your appetite throughout the day1. 
Truth of the matter a complete and balanced breakfast helps you get your day off to a great start so you can manage your calorie intake better.

Eating a big meal late in the day sounds unhealthy, though in fact the science isn’t conclusive. Some research suggests that eating close to bedtime elevates triglyceride levels in the blood, a marker for heart disease that is also implicated in weight gain2.

Studies have also shown that people who eat a healthy breakfast each day have greater control over their daily calorie intake and, overall, they tend to have lower body weights3.

In other words, it’s better to have dinner for breakfast than breakfast for dinner4.
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References
1 Jakubowicz, Daniela (2009-11-15). The Big Breakfast Diet: Eat Big Before 9 A.M. and Lose Big for Life. New York.
2 Pollan, Michael (2009-11-24). Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. New York
3 http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/158/1/85.long
4 Cunningham, Tricia (2007-12-01). The Reverse Diet: Lose 20, 50, 100 Pounds or More by Eating Dinner for Breakfast and Breakfast for Dinner. New York.