How important is eating breakfast in the morning to weightloss?

dfranch

No, not important. I lost 99 lbs not eating breakfast. I've only ever eaten 2 meals a day (lunch & dinner). Because so many people preach it, I tried eating breakfast for a while. I didn't see any benefit, and I found it harder to fit my remaining meals into my calories for the day, so I stopped. I never was a breakfast eater, although I do love breakfast foods, I just eat them for lunch.

Cocoa1020

i used to never eat breakfast and i ended up eating a lot more during the day because i was starving. Now i eat breakfast because i hate overeating later. but I guess its a personal preference

Hayshaw3

Wow, so many opinions and thoughts on this subject... I have really enjoyed reading them. Care for one more? Here's my 2 cents worth....

When I skip breakfast I find that I can go all day without that strong hunger. On the flip side, even when I eat a sensible and healthy breakfast, I will get hunger pangs after 5 or 6 hours that I simply can not get past and then I wind up eating more food (= calories) than I would have if I didnt eat breakfast.

Like other people have said, that's what I find is how my body works. I just wanted to throw it out there as one more possibility or option.

The BOTTOM line is this..... If you eat 2000 calories a day and eat them all at one sitting or spread them out through the day but only burn 1900 calories, you will never lose weight. If you eat 2000 calories a day and burn 2100 then you are on your way. It's really that simple. Just do what works for you and keeps your motor running, and eat less than you burn.

Steve_ApexNC

surely there are success stories on both sides of the fence for this issue. Alas, those are anecdotal. The scientific community for years has said eat breakfast to lose weight. For example, Duke University's Nutrition folks have done a number of studies over the years (you can google it and read it yourself) that suggest folks who skip breakfast are more likely to binge eat later (http://www.dukedietcenter.org/breakfast-important-to-weight-loss-is-it-a-fact-or-a-myth.html). However, there may be another consideration. When you sleep, your metabolism slows down. WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/lose-weight-eat-breakfast) sites Elisabetta Politi at Duke DIet and Fitness Center as saying, "When you don't eat breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15-20 hours, so you're not producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight." This was always the bit that I heard about breakfast and weight loss - kickstarting the metabolism

Then again, I have seen other articles that challenge the Breakfast-weight loss mantra. For example: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/truth-about-breakfast-weight-loss
sites a study or two on the issue.

So, you know, there seems to be some dissension even in the scientific community. That suggests to me something many folks here realize already - everybody is different and needs to find some things that work for them. Log your food intake honestly and look at it over time. Watch results and try to match it to patterns in your results. If you are skipping breakfast and not losing weight, go back and look at what and when you are eating your next meal. If things aren't working for you, then perhaps try one of the healthy breakfast ideas for a couple weeks and see what happens. If you understand the issues involved (metabolism and binge eating) then you are better educated to tweak your own diet to find what makes you successful.

PAV8888

I have seen a number of studies that suggest that people who eat breakfast lose more weight. That said, I usually find it easier/better for me to eat more of my calories later in the day.

Look: if you spend 2500 Calories and you eat 2000, you will lose weight.

There is little doubt in my mind that if the 2000 Calories you eat are JUST PERFECT: they're eaten at the right time, in the right combinations, have just the right macros, maximize the TEF, contain all the right nutrients, and are largely composed of quality grass fed and massaged ungulates and otherwise perfectly scrubbed "clean" foods you WILL gain a marginal advantage, and have even better health outcomes, as compared to eating 2000 Calories of McDonald's and Snickers bars.

There is also very little doubt in my mind that it is vastly more important, in terms of losing weight, that you primarily make sure you are eating 2000 Calories in the above situation. Because, really, if you end up eating 2200 calories of the perfect, and perfectly timed, food whatever marginal advantage this confers will be long gone in view of the lesser deficit!

TimeforchangeEtd

Thank you everyone for your "professional" opinions/experiences on the matter! I super duper appreciate it!!