Skipping breakfast

tinajay1

Im not really an eater after i wake up so i dont tend to eat until lunch time. I simply just dont want to eat. Will skipping breakfast get in the way of my weight loss?

janejellyroll

No. Meal timing is irrelevant for weight loss -- it's the total number of calories consumed that counts.

malibu927

Only if it causes you to binge later

jenathp

They SAY that eating or drinking something soon after you wake up kick starts your metabolism. I don't know if it's true or not...I'm not normally a breakfast eater but I'm doing meal replacement shakes and I can't do that with just 2 a day lol. So I am drinking one in the morning and then one in the afternoon then eating dinner. Seems to be working so far I've gone down one pants size.

rontafoya

Actually, it may help you. Check out leangains.com I only eat from 12p-8pm daily. It's a form of intermittent fasting. For women, a 14 to 16 hour daily fast can help weight loss. Men can do 16 hours or even more. I lost 40 lbs doing this, watching my calories and doing weight training. I highly recommend this, especially if it comes naturally to you, which it seems to. I never get hungry until about 10 naturally, so it's just a couple more hours. No big deal for me.

malibu927

jenathp wrote: »

They SAY that eating or drinking something soon after you wake up kick starts your metabolism. I don't know if it's true or not...I'm not normally a breakfast eater but I'm doing meal replacement shakes and I can't do that with just 2 a day lol. So I am drinking one in the morning and then one in the afternoon then eating dinner. Seems to be working so far I've gone down one pants size.

Your metabolism doesn't need kickstarted. Meal timing is irrelevant to weight loss.

CoffeeNCardio

Eat when you are ACTUALLY HUNGRY. I cannot say this enough. If you go stuffing your face whenever you think you're supposed to (like one of those absurd 5 small meals per day things I tried and epic failed on) you'll just maintain or gain and be miserable because it takes a lot of stress to keep that up for any length of time. You don't need to worry at all. The scientific community has spoken on the issue of skipping meals: http://greatist.com/fitness/why-you-should-exercise-on-an-empty-stomach

It starts out talking about fasting, just move on a bit and it discusses the particulars of the absurd fears about skipping meals when you are NOT even hungry anyway

CoffeeNCardio

This is a great one too http://greatist.com/health/wtf-intermittent-fasting

CoffeeNCardio

Note that I am not suggesting you do a 24 hour fast or anything (the article is very clear that you shouldn't do that if you're calorie counting and doing fine, it's just a thing some people do), just that these articles explain why skipping breakfast is not a huge deal.

mandipandi75

Some people swear by intermittent fasting. I believe the real key is counting your calorie intake and expendature accurately. If you weigh yourself right at the end of a long fast, good chance you'll see instant scale gratification but as soon as you start putting things in your body, you will see an increase in weight. Food and drink has weight. You can better guage actual weight loss over longer periods of time. Taking body measurements is another good method to see real results. I guess I'm not a true believer in intermittent fasting. A calorie is a calorie. If you starve yourself you tend to binge and your blood sugars highly fluctuate. Not a good thing to do long term for sure.

vivmom2014

Some days I skip breakfast, some days I eat it. Hasn't made a bit of difference.

rontafoya

malibu927 wrote: »

jenathp wrote: »

Your metabolism doesn't need kickstarted. Meal timing is irrelevant to weight loss.

+1. This is very true. All that really matters is energy exchange; calories in versus calories burned. That said, there are benefits to eating during limited eating windows (e.g. intermittent fasting). Hormonal benefits, also a chance for your digestive system to heal itself. That "eat frequent meals" thing is 100% BS. Especially for people like me who need a huge dinner. No matter how much I eat during the day, my dinner is 1000-1300 calories minimum. The more often I eat, the hungrier I get, and that's how I got overweight in the first place. So now I eat one or two small meals early in the day and a big dinner and now I rarely over eat. Much better plan for limiting your calories. Said differently, why eat when you are not hungry?

CoffeeNCardio

K hang tight, I messed up THIS is the one I wanted to give you. It's like 100% about listening to your body and making sure that you're doing what's right for YOU instead of what seems right by societal standards.

http://greatist.com/health/ditch-diet-rules-listen-your-body-optimal-health

nordlead2005

I pretty much never eat breakfast and eat lunch ~11AM and I'm down 35lb, so no. I'm also typically within 1lb of my projected rate of loss (so far over 20 weeks and I expect that trend to continue until maintenance).

There have been studies showing that IF may boost metabolism in some people, but the boost is going to be small (a few %). In the grand scheme of things, finding a eating schedule that you can stick to and be happy with while being within your calorie goals is more important than potentially boosting your metabolism only to not follow your plan because you are starving.

CoffeeNCardio

I make myself eat breakfast. It's not cause I'm not hungry and I'm making myself eat. I have the opposite problem of you sort of. I have difficulty in understanding what is hunger and what isn't, so it's beneficial for me to stick to a general set of rules where food is concerned. I have been known to eat literally nothing from 7 am til 4 or 5 pm and then explosion-binge on dinner. Obviously this is not a good thing, so I have been actively trying to spread my calories out throughout the day. But like others have said CICO is all it really takes initially, so do what feels right for you. For me, I know if I don't eat an egg at 730, I'll have pasta for lunch, maybe for you an egg at 730 would be beneficial, maybe it would mess you up. Listen to what your body is telling you

kshama2001

clgaram720 wrote: »

K hang tight, I messed up THIS is the one I wanted to give you. It's like 100% about listening to your body and making sure that you're doing what's right for YOU instead of what seems right by societal standards.

http://greatist.com/health/ditch-diet-rules-listen-your-body-optimal-health

(FYI, you can edit your posts for up to an hour )

CoffeeNCardio

kshama2001 wrote: »

clgaram720 wrote: »

K hang tight, I messed up THIS is the one I wanted to give you. It's like 100% about listening to your body and making sure that you're doing what's right for YOU instead of what seems right by societal standards.

http://greatist.com/health/ditch-diet-rules-listen-your-body-optimal-health

(FYI, you can edit your posts for up to an hour )

Lol, thanks, I was gonna but the other two are good also;)

jgnatca

Just because I do, I'll mention one group that benefits from a routine breakfast. Diabetics must eat on a routine to better monitor their food intake and related blood sugar levels. So it is important for them to eat at the same time every morning and make this a routine.

crazyjerseygirl

Nah you're good. Get your kcal when you want!

I tended to eat breakfast, then I started skipping, now I'm eating it again and skipping lunch. To each their own!

kommodevaran

Did you wake up today? Have you eaten today? If you answer "yes" to both questions, you have had breakfast.

There's no magic involved. Just eat whenever and whatever suits you. If you keep within your calorie goal, you will hit your weight goal.

tinajay1

Thanks guys, this was really helpful.

amillenium

kommodevaran wrote: »

Did you wake up today? Have you eaten today? If you answer "yes" to both questions, you have had breakfast.

There's no magic involved. Just eat whenever and whatever suits you. If you keep within your calorie goal, you will hit your weight goal.

Love this philosophy! I eat "breakfast" everyday sometimes it is at 7am and sometimes it as 11am but I am not going to eat if Im not hungry yet :P

WastedGetsSmaller

I'm on team "eat when you're hungry". I think eating when we weren't hungry is how a lot of us gained weight in year first place, haha.

I never eat breakfast. I don't get hungry until about 12pm.

chezloseit

I find I I go out of my way to eat as soon as I'm up, I still end eating my usual 10am snack anyways. So I end up eating it for no reason at all. Everyone is different but you stick to what your body knows best. I just wait until I'm hungry too!

Purplebunnysarah

jgnatca wrote: »

Just because I do, I'll mention one group that benefits from a routine breakfast. Diabetics must eat on a routine to better monitor their food intake and related blood sugar levels. So it is important for them to eat at the same time every morning and make this a routine.

This. My sugars are fine now but I had gestational diabetes and that morning breakfast was key... if I was late on it, my fasting glucose would spike as my body dumped glucose from wherever short term storage is (liver?).

Having been on a diabetic diet I find that following it roughly still works for me, at least with meal timing. But eating breakfast makes my husband gain weight as he's more prone to binge when he has it.

redperphexion

I'm hardly ever hungry until 10:30/11am... I have coffee in the morning with 2% and sugar, so that ~150 gets me through to my early lunch or late snack. I often eat a snack at 3:30/4pm, and we eat supper 6/7pm. If I don't have that 3/4pm snack, I overeat at dinner. I think it's important to know how your mind and body work, instead of eating "by the rules".

brb2008

Just the past two days I have stopped forcing myself to eat at 9am. The issue for me is that after 9 at work, I end up out and about with the children i nanny for and I usually have an egg based breakfast (preference and calorie/protein practicality) and its tough to bring along. But yesterday I didnt eat until after noon, and today I made it to 10:30 before we were going somewhere that I couldn't bring my food in with me so I scarfed a few undesired bites. I do want the protein but I'm starting to consider a change in my plan for next week and see how I feel. Maybe a bigger lunch would fit my day better. I have a feeling skipping breakfast on weekends will become a habit of mine.

CoffeeNCardio

brb2008 wrote: »

Just the past two days I have stopped forcing myself to eat at 9am. The issue for me is that after 9 at work, I end up out and about with the children i nanny for and I usually have an egg based breakfast (preference and calorie/protein practicality) and its tough to bring along. But yesterday I didnt eat until after noon, and today I made it to 10:30 before we were going somewhere that I couldn't bring my food in with me so I scarfed a few undesired bites. I do want the protein but I'm starting to consider a change in my plan for next week and see how I feel. Maybe a bigger lunch would fit my day better. I have a feeling skipping breakfast on weekends will become a habit of mine.

You know, you can bring a hot breakfast with you if you plan ahead. I can't stand cold food first thing in the morning, hurts my stomach. Here's what I did:

Acquire a thermo-insulated lunch box (a soft squishy lunchbox with a shiny interior, the hard white plastic interior ones are for cold). Make your hot eggs or whatever and wrap them up in tin foil, then a kitchen towel, place in lunch box. If you're gonna be a long time before eating, fill a couple doubled up ziploc bags with the hottest water your sink will produce (do not microwave to get hot, do not boil water, both those temps might melt the ziploc.) and add them to your lunch box. I can keep my scrambled eggs hot for HOURS like this even on a cold day, and it takes all of 45 seconds to prepare this packaging method. I do this probably twice a week for my son cause he comes to work with me and we don't always have time in the morning to sit and eat at home. Don't forget a fork like I always do. Or you can steal one from the local gas station convenience store. Obviously this won't help if you go somewhere with "no outside food" rules, but at least on those days when you take the kids to the park or wherever, you have options.