When should I eat breakfast?

Well duh, that sounds like a silly question, obviously I eat breakfast in the morning.

BUT, I have just worked out that I eat breakfast TWO HOURS after I wake up. In this time I am getting myself and my daughter ready for work/daycare, and then driving to work (I eat brekkie at work).

Now, I am guessing that this is a bit too late to get my metabolism working to it's full potential - can anyone confirm/deny this?

And my 2nd question is, would a smoothie made at home and drunk on the go suffice? And what should I put in it?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • danu213
    danu213 Posts: 3
    Within an hour of getting up. I make up a dozen hard boiled eggs on Sunday, precut some cheese that I weigh out at 1 oz, and then can grab my Ezekial Bread (low carb/sprouted grain as opposed to refined grains), top with mustard. So a quick egg sandwich. Good protein. Low carb. It keeps me going every morning and I can eat it in the car while I drive.




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  • dltaylorii
    dltaylorii Posts: 132
    I eat breakfast in the morning. I eat breakfast in the middle of the day. And I especially eat breakfast at night time. Breakfast is delicious and should never be limited to a single timeframe.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    first of all breakfast has nothing to do with "jump starting" metabolism. Meal timing has nothing to do with metabolism. So you can eat three times a day, one time a day, or 24 times once an hour and there is zero impact on metabolism.

    so the answer is it does not matter when you eat breakfast, and, if you want, you could skip it entirely....
  • tbetts23
    tbetts23 Posts: 303 Member
    When your hungry? I get up at 6am. If you told me to eat then, I would strike you dead ( lol). I have coffee, go for a walk, have another coffee, shower and then MAYBE have breakfast if ny tummy is screaming at me. I am not a morning person. Usually I save those extra calories for a bed night snack :)
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Meal Frequency has no bearing whatsoever, it comes down to personal preference....... Best of Luck....
  • lizardcave
    lizardcave Posts: 42 Member
    My standard breakfast is 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, fruit, and 30g of Bare Naked granola. I throw it all in a cup, mush it around, and eat it during my commute. It's quick, convenient, and a relatively inexpensive breakfast.
  • Mario_Az
    Mario_Az Posts: 1,331 Member
    i usually get up around 8:00 am then go do am cardio then have a protien shake around 9:00 or 9 :30 then have a big breakfast around 11 :00
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    When you feel like it. Technically i eat breakfast at noon but i call it lunch. Then i eat lunch at 8 at night but i call it dinner. Then i do it again the next day;)
  • rszkodzi
    rszkodzi Posts: 6
    I have seen a few posts saying you can skip breakfast and/or it does not matter when you eat it. That would be bad advise.
    While meal timing and eating lots of little meals all day is disputable, one thing is not, glucose levels, and protein amino acid levels.
    If your goal is to loose weight, while at the same time limit loss of muscle you cannot let your body get into a anabolic state where it eats your muscle because it is hungry.
    Instead shoot for an catabolic state where there is plenty of amino acids floating around and your glucose levels do not drop or spike.
    The one time this is hard to avoid is during sleeping. 8 hours of nothing and you wake up low in glucose low in blood sugar, low in amino acids, etc. You need to quickly add something to prevent your metabolism from slowing down and going anabolic.
    Even before you workout.
    If you have no time, no problem. Buy a shaker bottle and Body Fortress 100% whey protein or something similar. Mix 8 oz of water and one scoop of powder. Shake it while in the car for 60 seconds and drink it down.
    Thats 150 calories, a little bit of carbs and fat and loads of amino acids. This should stabilize your glucose and metabolism until you can get some real food in you. But don't wait too long. 150 calories goes very fast. Maybe mix two scoops.

    What you always want to keep in mind is to never let your metabolism get into a hibernation state. That sounds extreme, but all it takes is 500 to 1000 calories in the deficit column for the day to make it happen. That is when your metabolism thinks no more food is coming, so it tries to preserve what it has, slows down, and quickly converts eaten foods into body fat.
    How easy is that? Mow the lawn, do some gardening, then at night workout. For me that 1500 burned calories on top of me trying to eat 1500 BMR calories. I have to eat big calorie meals just to stay at a 500 calorie daily deficit.
    That is why some people use the "eat all day" method. While that is not a diet, per se, it does help you prevent hibernation mode and stabilize blood sugar which will stabilize metabolism.
    Simple rule of thumb ... Eat something, every 3-4 hours, starting right when you wake up. Keep it low cal, low fat, high protein.

    -Rich
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    first of all breakfast has nothing to do with "jump starting" metabolism. Meal timing has nothing to do with metabolism. So you can eat three times a day, one time a day, or 24 times once an hour and there is zero impact on metabolism.

    so the answer is it does not matter when you eat breakfast, and, if you want, you could skip it entirely....

    This. Eat breakfast whenever you want. Eat whatever you want. It's 100% personal preference, and has no impact at all on your health.
  • rumplesnat
    rumplesnat Posts: 372
    I get up to work out for an hour at 5am. I have coffee and water until breakfast at 9. If I eat before then, I find that I'm hungry again before lunch. No issues for me with fatigue, etc when waiting that long to eat breakfast. As long as you're eating breakfast, I think you just need to go with what works for you.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    I have seen a few posts saying you can skip breakfast and/or it does not matter when you eat it. That would be bad advise.
    While meal timing and eating lots of little meals all day is disputable, one thing is not, glucose levels, and protein amino acid levels.
    If your goal is to loose weight, while at the same time limit loss of muscle you cannot let your body get into a catabolic state where it eats your muscle because it is hungry.
    Instead shoot for an anabolic state where there is plenty of amino acids floating around and your glucose levels do not drop or spike.
    The one time this is hard to avoid is during sleeping. 8 hours of nothingand you wake up low in glucose low in blood sugar, low in amino acids, etc. You need to quickly add something to prevent your metabolism from slowing down and going catabolic.
    Even before you workout.
    If you have no time, no problem. Buy a shaker bottle and Body Fortress 100% whey protein. Mix 8 oz of water and one scoop of powder. Shake it while in the car for 60 seconds and drink it down.
    Thats 150 calories, a little bit of carbs and fat and loads of amino acids. This should stabilize your glucose and metabolism until you can get some real food in you. But down wait too long. 150 calories goes very fast. Maybe mix two scoops.

    What you always want to keep in mind is to never let your metabolism get into a hibernation state. That is when your metabolism thinks no more food is coming, so it tries to preserve what it has, slows down, and quickly converts eaten foods into body fat.
    That is why some people use the "eat all day" method. While that is not a diet, per se, it does help you prevent hibernation mode.
    Simple rule of thumb ... Eat something, every 3-4 hours, starting right when you wake up. Keep it low cal, low fat, high protein.

    -Rich

    Um...no
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I have seen a few posts saying you can skip breakfast and/or it does not matter when you eat it. That would be bad advise.
    While meal timing and eating lots of little meals all day is disputable, one thing is not, glucose levels, and protein amino acid levels.
    If your goal is to loose weight, while at the same time limit loss of muscle you cannot let your body get into a catabolic state where it eats your muscle because it is hungry.
    Instead shoot for an anabolic state where there is plenty of amino acids floating around and your glucose levels do not drop or spike.
    The one time this is hard to avoid is during sleeping. 8 hours of nothingand you wake up low in glucose low in blood sugar, low in amino acids, etc. You need to quickly add something to prevent your metabolism from slowing down and going catabolic.
    Even before you workout.
    If you have no time, no problem. Buy a shaker bottle and Body Fortress 100% whey protein. Mix 8 oz of water and one scoop of powder. Shake it while in the car for 60 seconds and drink it down.
    Thats 150 calories, a little bit of carbs and fat and loads of amino acids. This should stabilize your glucose and metabolism until you can get some real food in you. But down wait too long. 150 calories goes very fast. Maybe mix two scoops.

    What you always want to keep in mind is to never let your metabolism get into a hibernation state. That is when your metabolism thinks no more food is coming, so it tries to preserve what it has, slows down, and quickly converts eaten foods into body fat.
    That is why some people use the "eat all day" method. While that is not a diet, per se, it does help you prevent hibernation mode.
    Simple rule of thumb ... Eat something, every 3-4 hours, starting right when you wake up. Keep it low cal, low fat, high protein.
    -Rich
    No. Fat burning is a catabolic activity. You burn fat while in a catabolic state, you store fat while anabolic. Also, glucose levels are highly regulated by the body, unless you are diabetic, you don't have to worry about maintaining glucose levels. That's what the liver and pancreas are for. Total calories matter, not timing of food. It takes the body the same amount of time and energy to process 1000 calories of food, whether it's eaten all at once, or in 10 100 calorie bites.

    As for the last part, it takes 4 days of complete fasting to see any kind of metabolic slowdown. (Or hibernation as you seem to think its called.) Eating every 3-4 hours is personal preference, and has absolutely nothing to do with metabolism.
  • heatherstone5
    heatherstone5 Posts: 3 Member
    Great advice. I met with a nutritionist a few weeks ago, and started eating within 30 minutes of waking up. I also eat ev dry 3-4 hours,which I always thought seemed crazy. In two weeks I have lost weight, feel better, and put an end to the binges that were sabotaging my diet.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Research shows that how often you eat or when in the day makes no difference. What works for you works for you. What it may affect is how you feel, shaky or strong, hungry or not, cranky or happy, etc. So, again, whatever works for you.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I have seen a few posts saying you can skip breakfast and/or it does not matter when you eat it. That would be bad advise.
    While meal timing and eating lots of little meals all day is disputable, one thing is not, glucose levels, and protein amino acid levels.
    If your goal is to loose weight, while at the same time limit loss of muscle you cannot let your body get into a catabolic state where it eats your muscle because it is hungry.
    Instead shoot for an anabolic state where there is plenty of amino acids floating around and your glucose levels do not drop or spike.
    The one time this is hard to avoid is during sleeping. 8 hours of nothing and you wake up low in glucose low in blood sugar, low in amino acids, etc. You need to quickly add something to prevent your metabolism from slowing down and going catabolic.
    Even before you workout.
    If you have no time, no problem. Buy a shaker bottle and Body Fortress 100% whey protein. Mix 8 oz of water and one scoop of powder. Shake it while in the car for 60 seconds and drink it down.
    Thats 150 calories, a little bit of carbs and fat and loads of amino acids. This should stabilize your glucose and metabolism until you can get some real food in you. But don't wait too long. 150 calories goes very fast. Maybe mix two scoops.

    What you always want to keep in mind is to never let your metabolism get into a hibernation state. That sounds extreme, but all it takes is 500 to 1000 calories in the deficit column for the day to make it happen. That is when your metabolism thinks no more food is coming, so it tries to preserve what it has, slows down, and quickly converts eaten foods into body fat.
    How easy is that? Mow the lawn, do some gardening, then at night workout. For me that 1500 burned calories on top of me trying to eat 1500 BMR calories. I have to eat big calorie meals just to stay at a 500 calorie daily deficit.
    That is why some people use the "eat all day" method. While that is not a diet, per se, it does help you prevent hibernation mode and stabilize blood sugar which will stabilize metabolism.
    Simple rule of thumb ... Eat something, every 3-4 hours, starting right when you wake up. Keep it low cal, low fat, high protein.

    -Rich

    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....
  • rszkodzi
    rszkodzi Posts: 6
    No. Fat burning is a catabolic activity. You burn fat while in a catabolic state, you store fat while anabolic. Also, glucose levels are highly regulated by the body, unless you are diabetic, you don't have to worry about maintaining glucose levels. That's what the liver and pancreas are for. Total calories matter, not timing of food. It takes the body the same amount of time and energy to process 1000 calories of food, whether it's eaten all at once, or in 10 100 calorie bites.

    Yes, sorry for the mixup of catabolic vs anabolic.
    Go ahead and do what you want, but every doctor I ever spoke with says adaptive thermogenesis does happen.
    Metabolic slowdown does happen, and occasional rest from a diet is needed.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    No. Fat burning is a catabolic activity. You burn fat while in a catabolic state, you store fat while anabolic. Also, glucose levels are highly regulated by the body, unless you are diabetic, you don't have to worry about maintaining glucose levels. That's what the liver and pancreas are for. Total calories matter, not timing of food. It takes the body the same amount of time and energy to process 1000 calories of food, whether it's eaten all at once, or in 10 100 calorie bites.

    Yes, sorry for the mixup of catabolic vs anabolic.
    Go ahead and do what you want, but every doctor I ever spoke with says adaptive thermogenesis does happen.
    Metabolic slowdown does happen, and occasional rest from a diet is needed.

    metabolic slow down and starvation mode are not the same thing.

    Also, your original post indicated that a 500 calorie deficit would lead to "hibernation mode" , which I guess is starvation mode. If that is the case why do people on 500 calorie deficit diets lose weight, and continue to do so?
  • rszkodzi
    rszkodzi Posts: 6
    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....

    Wow the hate on this site is terrible.
    Trying to be helpful gets this kind response. What class. Why would anyone want to take advise from a poster that says something like that.
  • kganc001
    kganc001 Posts: 317
    I make a fruit smoothie every morning almost, and toss in a little protein powder to thicken it up and drink it on the go :) Keeps me full for hours! :D
  • rszkodzi
    rszkodzi Posts: 6
    I make a fruit smoothie every morning almost, and toss in a little protein powder to thicken it up and drink it on the go :) Keeps me full for hours! :D

    Good advice ! Probably takes only a few minutes too.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....

    Wow the hate on this site is terrible.
    Trying to be helpful gets this kind response. What class. Why would anyone want to take advise from a poster that says something like that.

    what you posted was completely wrong....sorry for pointing that out. For the record, I did not "hate" on you, I pointed the inaccuracy of your post.
  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....

    Wow the hate on this site is terrible.
    Trying to be helpful gets this kind response. What class. Why would anyone want to take advise from a poster that says something like that.

    While admirable that you are trying to help, your information is just way off base. I suggest you do more research before giving such a "matter of fact" answer like that. Meal timing and frequency do not matter. Maybe read up on intermittent fasting... it may be a huge eye opener for you.
  • MrsWells1983
    MrsWells1983 Posts: 160
    I eat within 30-60mins after I wake up, for no other reason than that I am starving in the mornings and that's what works for me :)
  • rszkodzi
    rszkodzi Posts: 6
    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....

    Wow the hate on this site is terrible.
    Trying to be helpful gets this kind response. What class. Why would anyone want to take advise from a poster that says something like that.

    what you posted was completely wrong....sorry for pointing that out. For the record, I did not "hate" on you, I pointed the inaccuracy of your post.

    Its about as inaccurate as saying "you can skip breakfast entirely" like in one of your other posts.
    While my post had a few mistakes in it, it was pointed out fairly nicely by another poster and I edited the typo's.
    I stand by my statements. I did enough of research, and consulted enough of doctors. As far as the 500-1000 calorie deficits, I suggest you do a bit of research.
    I suggest the original poster who needed the advise do the same and not take anything written here as the sole advice.

    The original poster was asking for advise, any given to her on this site is taken with a grain of salt since it doesn't come from her doctor and she should do her own research to verify what is being discussed and suggested.

    The insults being thrown around are welcome, since they show the immaturity of the poster and therefore make the quality of all their posts suspect. Readers can just skip right over the authors of such posts.

    Have a nice day.
  • rszkodzi
    rszkodzi Posts: 6
    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....

    Wow the hate on this site is terrible.
    Trying to be helpful gets this kind response. What class. Why would anyone want to take advise from a poster that says something like that.

    While admirable that you are trying to help, your information is just way off base. I suggest you do more research before giving such a "matter of fact" answer like that. Meal timing and frequency do not matter. Maybe read up on intermittent fasting... it may be a huge eye opener for you.

    Thank you. I will do some more research on intermittent fasting. Sounds interesting.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    congratulations, you have posted the most inaccurate thread in MFP history, you win ....

    Wow the hate on this site is terrible.
    Trying to be helpful gets this kind response. What class. Why would anyone want to take advise from a poster that says something like that.

    what you posted was completely wrong....sorry for pointing that out. For the record, I did not "hate" on you, I pointed the inaccuracy of your post.

    Its about as inaccurate as saying "you can skip breakfast entirely" like in one of your other posts.
    While my post had a few mistakes in it, it was pointed out fairly nicely by another poster and I edited the typo's.
    I stand by my statements. I did enough of research, and consulted enough of doctors. As far as the 500-1000 calorie deficits, I suggest you do a bit of research.
    I suggest the original poster who needed the advise do the same and not take anything written here as the sole advice.

    The original poster was asking for advise, any given to her on this site is taken with a grain of salt since it doesn't come from her doctor and she should do her own research to verify what is being discussed and suggested.

    The insults being thrown around are welcome, since they show the immaturity of the poster and therefore make the quality of all their posts suspect. Readers can just skip right over the authors of such posts.

    Have a nice day.

    Umm yes you can skip breakfast entirely. Ever heard of IF or lean gains? I did Leangains or 8 months, skipped breakfast, and dropped about 1 to 2% body fat, and increased strength. I am an example of why you are wrong. And sorry but 500 calorie deficits do not lead to starvation mode. You have to eat nothing for 72 hours to go into initial starvation mode.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    whenever you want to. theres nothing magical about having any meal at any particular time. you can even eat all your meals within an hour...if that's what you want to do and it stays within your macros. Personally, I like to have breakfast early most of the time...but that's me. YMMV.
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
    I have a smoothie every morning on the way to work. You need to blend: Plain Greek yogurt, I use Fage 2%. You can use no fat Greek yogurt, but 2% keeps me fuller longer. Frozen fruit. My favorite is just strawberries, strawberries and blueberries, or blackberry/raspberry mix. I am sure mango or peach would be good. I add one percent milk and Stevia to sweeten it. I make mine thick, like a sorbet. Frozen fruit is best, and convenient because it doesn't go bad!
  • leishamaree
    leishamaree Posts: 62 Member
    Thank you, that sounds yummy. I thought this post had gotten a bit off course for a while there....