You’ve probably heard it before: If you want to slim up, you should eat breakfast to kick-start your metabolism, right? Not so much, says a recent study that found no connection between the morning meal and losing weight.

The study, which was published in June in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (and co-authored by a University of Colorado professor), found that during a 16-week period, eating or skipping breakfast had no effect on weight loss among more than 300 participants. There have been plenty of studies that associate breakfast with weight loss, but this is the first to try to prove causation, explains James O. Hill, professor of pediatrics and medicine at CU–Denver and co-author of the study.

Of course, in the tricky business of dieting and nutrition, these findings don’t give permission for the healthy person to skip breakfast—eating a balanced diet throughout the day will always be crucial to losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle. The moral of the story? Don’t stress too much if you miss the first meal of the day. Instead, put down that bagel and shmear and opt for some fruit and steel cut oats if you’re trying to shed pounds this summer.