Anti-Breakfast brigade?

Leijing

Before anyone freaks out, I'm NOT saying that I think breakfast is bad for you. I've just never been a fan of breakfast. I'm the one that ate a pack of pop-tarts every morning in high school because I wouldn't want to eat before I left in the morning, but I needed something to tide me over until lunch. My stomach thinks it needs a couple hours to wake up in the morning before it's willing to accept food.

Since I started tracking, I've noticed that I usually don't break 300 cal for my breakfasts, and most of that is juice, coffee, and creamer.

Is breakfast really the "most important meal of the day" like everyone keeps saying, or are there more people out there that think breakfast is just sort of "meh"? Also, what do those of you who aren't breakfast fans do to make sure your calorie intake stays on point?

malibu927

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was started by Kelloggs to get people to buy cereal. Some people don't like eating early, some get ill eating early, and some have found that by eating early they will end up eating all day (I'm actually the opposite of this where if I DON'T eat breakfast I'll snack all afternoon). Those people who don't eat early will just eat more calories in the meals they do consume.

sardelsa

You don't need to eat first thing in the morning of you don't want to. However, if you are trying to gain weight and having issues, expanding your eating window can help get the calories in.

jgnatca

My high energy time is the morning and my favourite meal of the day is breakfast. I’ve had to get used to the idea that I might be enjoying my morning alone, though.

AnvilHead

Meal timing is irrelevant to weight loss/gain. It can, however, be relevant to satiety/adherence and workout performance (in other words, let personal preference be your guide).

The whole breakfast thing is advertising propaganda, as malibu927 stated above. It was started by John Kellogg (of Kellogg's cereal fame), a doctor who had some very strange, tinfoil hat ideas about nutrition and human behavior.

bee_bee8

If I eat breakfast, I don’t stop eating and I’ll eat junk. I have a coffee or a latte, but that’s all I need until lunch. I just eat good meals for lunch and dinner. Whatever works for you!

Gallowmere1984

When you’re trying to gain mass, the “most important meal of the day” is usually your next one. Granted, most people aren’t as absurdly stubborn about insisting upon whole food bulking as I am, but when you’re trying to get in 3500+ kcals per day, skipping a meal isn’t an option, unless you want to have one that ends in you feeling like overstuffed garbage.

Personally, I tend to frontload most of my calories into the earliest parts of the day, but I also train between 4-7 am, depending upon the day of the week (earlier during the work week).

comptonelizabeth

I have this issue with lunch. I eat a big breakfast because I wake up hungry but then find I'm not hungry at lunchtime.
The only issue I have with skipping a meal is that for me, it makes it harder to reach my calorie goal.

TonyB0588

malibu927 wrote: »

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was started by Kelloggs to get people to buy cereal. Some people don't like eating early, some get ill eating early, and some have found that by eating early they will end up eating all day (I'm actually the opposite of this where if I DON'T eat breakfast I'll snack all afternoon). Those people who don't eat early will just eat more calories in the meals they do consume.

I'm eating breakfast as I read this, and yes it is is a bowl of cereal. But I remember as a young child in the 70s we always had breakfast, but at that time my parents weren't buying cereal yet, so it certainly wasn't a Kelloggs inspired concept. They learnt about cereal on an overseas trip in 1982 and followed up on the idea when they got back home.

Social change and the deterioration of family life has had some impact on the breakfast scenario (and other meals as well). Some houses no longer have someone waking up and preparing breakfast and calling the family to sit around the table to eat together. Even less likely to be happening at lunch time now, and sometimes not even the meal at the end of the day is had together as a family.

LivingtheLeanDream

Meal timing is not important, its about the total calories you consume being less than you burn so if you don't want breakfast, don't have it.

suerlewis2

The term "breakfast" is literal - it means to break the fast - i.e: when your asleep. So you can have "breakfast" at any time of day that suits you and your meal plan, not just when society deems it "breakfast time". Dont think you are skipping a meal if you dont eat until 11am, 12noon, whenever, that's just when you and your body are ready to "break the fast". Do what's right for you. '

sytchequeen

Lol. Three Square Meals a Day is a relatively modern concept actually. I've dug up an interesting article you might enjoy. Knowing a lot of farmers they've often done hours of work before coming in to have a breakfast. As a former shift worker I used to eat "breakfast" a few hours into my shift.

bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243692

Lean59man

I used to believe breakfast was essential.

However, my experience with intermittent fasting has shown me it is not.

malibu927

sytchequeen wrote: »

Lol. Three Square Meals a Day is a relatively modern concept actually. I've dug up an interesting article you might enjoy. Knowing a lot of farmers they've often done hours of work before coming in to have a breakfast. As a former shift worker I used to eat "breakfast" a few hours into my shift.

bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243692

Honestly that’s what I do. Up at 4:45, at work at 6, eat at 10:30.

fb47

Everyone eats breakfast, if you never break your fast, you're simply not eating.

trigden1991

I typically don’t break my fast until midday at the earliest. Fewer large meals work really well for my adherence to a deficit.

cwolfman13

"Most important meal of the day" was Kellog's marketing for cereal.

Personally, I like breakfast around 8:30 am...it's usually my smallest meal at around 350 calories. Usually a couple eggs and oats or pinto beans with a low sodium V8

quiksylver296

malibu927 wrote: »

sytchequeen wrote: »

Lol. Three Square Meals a Day is a relatively modern concept actually. I've dug up an interesting article you might enjoy. Knowing a lot of farmers they've often done hours of work before coming in to have a breakfast. As a former shift worker I used to eat "breakfast" a few hours into my shift.

bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243692

Honestly that’s what I do. Up at 4:45, at work at 6, eat at 10:30.

Me, too.

Leijing

malibu927 wrote: »

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was started by Kelloggs to get people to buy cereal. Some people don't like eating early, some get ill eating early, and some have found that by eating early they will end up eating all day (I'm actually the opposite of this where if I DON'T eat breakfast I'll snack all afternoon). Those people who don't eat early will just eat more calories in the meals they do consume.

When I was a kid, this was always stated as a fact, not an advertising slogan.

Gallowmere1984

Leijing wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was started by Kelloggs to get people to buy cereal. Some people don't like eating early, some get ill eating early, and some have found that by eating early they will end up eating all day (I'm actually the opposite of this where if I DON'T eat breakfast I'll snack all afternoon). Those people who don't eat early will just eat more calories in the meals they do consume.

When I was a kid, this was always stated as a fact, not an advertising slogan.

It‘s time as a marketing campaign predated almost anyone who is still alive. By anyone under 100 years old’s time, it had moved into the zeitgeist as accepted “fact”.

MikePfirrman

I'm a crazy heavy night time eater. When I started on calorie counting (I'm into maintenance for nearly five years), I thought you had to eat breakfast (as in the traditional sense) every day. Now I mostly skip it and save the calories for between 1PM and 9PM, where I cram a ton of calories into the hours my body is hungriest naturally. I don't feel deprived at all any longer.

andreascjonsson

I usually eat my breakfast about 3-4 hours after waking up, so then i eat a very late lunch and usually have something very small or nothing at all for dinner instead

freespirit6315

I'm not very much of a breakfast food person the only breakfast food I eat basically is eggs but I prefer to wait until 10 a.m. to noon before I eat anyting and I eat between that time and 8 p.m. I don't like to eat after 8 p.m. since I've been on this program I have not gone over my required calorie amount of daily intake usually I'm below.
The doctors I've had say I should eat breakfast because I'm diabetic and I should I eat before bed so my sugar doesn't Spike.

freespirit6315

That's one of the reasons why I'm on here is to figure it all out with my diet and do the best I can to get this weight off I'll figure out what's best for me and in this program and in this community I surely appreciate all the advice and information I'm getting on this site it's wonderful thank you.

Leijing

I work nights, so my eating schedule can be a little erratic. There are days that "breakfast" is at 5 PM, lunch is 1 AM (or later), and dinner is at 7 am. But it's like my digestive system needs extra time to wake up or something. I've been trying to either pack extra calories into my later meals or bring a 10 o'clock snack to make up for a small breakfast.

juliamfu161

I'm pretty much the same, my body very rarely feels hungry in the morning. If it does, it's because I was calorie deficient the day before. Usually, I don't feel hunger until 9-10am. But, I do think breakfast is kind of important so I have something small, like an apple or orange around 8am. If I miss it on a day that I don't workout it's not that bad, but I think the sugar boost helps especially after I work out in the morning to feel awake. I always just bring a packet of plain oatmeal to work because I get antsy around 9:30am when my stomach wakes up. I can cook it in the microwave, and stave off lunch until 12:30 or 1pm. Dinner and snacking after dinner has always been my biggest problem, so if there are any tricks people have, I'd love to hear about it!

HoneyBadger302

I can't eat first thing, my stomach doesn't like food that early. At all.

Since I get up and head straight to the gym, I add some BCAA to my water just to help me get through my workouts (from my research about the only thing it's good for, and it does seem to help me get through the two hours I'm there). I then have my protein shake with some berries and a banana when I get home as my "breakfast."

A real "breakfast" is only eaten on rare occasions where it's more like a brunch than a breakfast.

J_Fairfax

I never used to eat breakfast but I have made an absolute routine of having a bowl of oatmeal, usually with a banana and a splash of honey. And coffee, I find my brain and body work a lot better with this approach.

Sometimes I will just feel like having a cheeky quick run or something before breakfast though.

nowine4me

Breakfast = coffee. Maybe a green smoothie if I really go crazy. But I do eat 3 meals, they are at 12, 3 & 7.

Unknown

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DragonHasTheSapphire

I eat first thing in the morning. I used to believe (no longer) that if you worked out on an empty stomach, you'd lose more weight. Later, I found out that all it did was make my workout sloppy and my appetite increase so much, to where I would overeat.

Generally, I eat most of my calories/carbs in the morning, and then do a workout. I used to not be hungry when I woke up in the morning, but since my exercising has increased and got more intense, I feel like a glutton when it comes to food XD.