Breakfa-what?!?

PersistentPresence

So.. Here's my issue.
its nearly 10:30 and I have yet to have breakfast...Again.. I've been up since 7.. Most days I find it hard to eat before noon. I just don't feel hungry! Is this because my body is still in sleep mode? Ugh.
The days that I do eat breakfast, I feel like I can't stop eating. I'm tempted every time I come in close proximity with my refrigerator door. Or the kitchen in general..
I know that eating in the morning is important. But I've also heard that one shouldn't eat when they aren't hungry. So which is it people?! Which is it?!?!?

seltzermint555

Ok, so I can't totally relate since I do feel semi-hungry at 7 am after waking at 6 and getting ready. But I find that having a breakfast "plan" reallllly helps me eat a good, sensible breakfast. Even if that meant the same rotation of egg taco, yogurt, French toast and sugar free syrup, repeat. In fact I have an egg taco almost every morning when it's a work day. If I let myself just kinda think "ooh what sounds good for breakfast?" I'd probably wind up eating a gigantic brownie or something!

micheleb15

There's no universal right or wrong here. What works for some, won't work for all - don't try to force yourself to eat because someone said it's what you should do. A lot of people do Intermittent Fasting, which mean you only eat for a certain amount of hours during the day, other people eat anytime, do what you want.

Long story short - timing of calories doesn't matter, amount of calories does.

BarbieAS

It doesn't matter. Eat when you're hungry. Yes, you may find you need to tweak certain *types* of foods you eat in order to meet your macro or calorie goals and it may take a little time to figure out what works for you (so you may not be perfect right off the bat, and that's ok), but there's absolutely no need to either force yourself to eat when you're not hungry OR not to eat when you're starving. You can always make it up the next day or over the next few days, too, if you're significantly over or under for a day. But...to get back to your question, meal timing does NOT matter. Eat your breakfast when you want.

JoRocka

X,XXX calories to eat in 24 hours.

eat them when you want.

I typically don't like eating when I get up- I eat around around 9 hours. If I could wait till 10 to eat I would.

doesn't matter.

Look up intermittent fasting. Have at it and enjoy!

lattarulol

I used to not be too hungry in the mornings until i started eating reasonable dinner portions. Once I got my dinner portions under control and normal, I was always hungry in the morning. Are you having problems with night binges?

That being said, do what works best for you.

Vaisaxena

So.. Here's my issue.
its nearly 10:30 and I have yet to have breakfast...Again.. I've been up since 7.. Most days I find it hard to eat before noon. I just don't feel hungry! Is this because my body is still in sleep mode? Ugh.
The days that I do eat breakfast, I feel like I can't stop eating. I'm tempted every time I come in close proximity with my refrigerator door. Or the kitchen in general..
I know that eating in the morning is important. But I've also heard that one shouldn't eat when they aren't hungry. So which is it people?! Which is it?!?!?

Eating in the morning is not important - that's just propaganda you hear.

Eat when you're hungry - people who eat the majority of their calories at night adhere better to their diets.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Don't eat breakfast. Not important.

husseycd

Just chiming in to agree with what everyone else has said. Don't eat if you aren't hungry. I eat around 10 a.m. I find I'm just as hungry at lunch if I eat at 7:00 or 10:00. In fact, if I eat at 7:00, I'm still hungry at 10.

I do have cream in my coffee, but that's plenty.

ndj1979

meal timing and metabolism have no relation..

If you are not hungry then wait until you are hungry and eat then.

The only caveat to this, is that don't wait so long that you binge and end up over eating.

Plenty of people skip breakfast and use the IF/Lean Gains approach and have great results. Did it for a while myself...

Breakfast is overrated...and don't believe any of that "jump start your metabolism" or "most important meal of the day" garbage either...Eat when you want...

kluvit

Delay your first meal until you're really hungry. I have similar issues in that my first meal starts the hunger cycle, so I end up wanting to eat more. I prefer to have a moderate lunch (500-600 calories) and a larger dinner w/ dessert (800-900 calories) rather than eating lots of smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. Figure out which distribution of calories works best for your lifestyle and overall satisfaction, and do what works for you!

lavaughan69

I agree with everyone else, eat when you're actually hungry. I usually don't eat until noon, today I was hungry at 11am so I sliced off a few pieces of cucumber to hold me over. If I eat breakfast I find the same thing as you, it kick starts my eating and I'm just as hungry at lunchtime as when I skip breakfast. And I'm an evening snacker, so I like to have my breakfast calories then.

etoiles_argentees

I love eating breakfast, but if you're not hungry then don't eat it:)

elsyoommen

agree but if you are diabetic or have other blood sugar issues you need to keep things stable, so not good to go too long without eating.

PersistentPresence

Thanks so much to everyone for the feedback! It's great to know I can do this my own way.
Also - this was my very first forum post and getting so many replies just makes me feel good!

Escape_Artist

Just eat when you are hungry (unless you have a medical condition) it doesn't matter.

I get up around 5am and don't eat until 1:30pm.
I hate eating ''breakfast'' it's like it makes me so hungry the rest of the day :embarassed:
So I skip it altogether and go straight to lunch (which is normally a huge nom fest lol)

helenrosemay

Breakfast is just simply the first meal you eat regardless of time. So you always eat a breakfast even if it's not as soon as you get up and is later in the day. I don't know why people get so worked up about it, you eat the first meal of the day when you're hungry.

musycnlyrics

I'm terrible at breakfast. I usually eat in the morning because I get a little woozy if I dont, but if I dont eat at home, I make TERRIBLE choices (like those lovely malorca sweet breads from Starbucks grrrrrr :mad: )
I actually love "breakfast" food (eggs, pancakes and bacon are my top fave foods) and if I got up early enough, I would make breakfast for myself every day. When I am awake, I love egg white sandwiches/wraps with spinach and bacon or oatmeal with fruit and raisins or cream of wheat, but I am one of those, roll out of bed 10 minutes before I have to leave the house and I am running like the white rabbit in alice in wonderland

So I tend to make myself a protein shake or getting a pick up meal from a restaurant. And by lunch time (12-2pm) I am starving! AND craving sweets
Still trying to find a good balance and I am going to try some methods from this thread...maybe just grabbing a protein bar in the morning and saving the big cals for lunch and dinner...

Confuzzled4ever

Yea... I make breakfast and pack it up and take it to work. I end up eating it around 9 or 10 most days. for me breakfast is important, because if I don't eat it I don't eat enough calories during the day. but if you are satisfied and full and not cranky and you eat enough.. then it's no biggie if you eat later.

iechick

There's no universal right or wrong here. What works for some, won't work for all - don't try to force yourself to eat because someone said it's what you should do. A lot of people do Intermittent Fasting, which mean you only eat for a certain amount of hours during the day, other people eat anytime, do what you want.

Long story short - timing of calories doesn't matter, amount of calories does.

This!

It's after 12pm here and I'm just breaking my fast now with a sweet potato and dinner plate sized salad. I also ran two miles this morning and felt great! Do what works for you and your lifestyle and just aim to have your calorie allotment eaten by the time you go to bed at night.

jeansuza

I am no doctor or expert but my husband is diabetic and I remember being told that if you don't breakfast, if your fast is long, your liver will produce glucose so your blood sugar stays within a certain range. It is its job to automatically do so in order to keep your brain productive. However, if for any reason it gets "tired" or "lazy", you could eventually get diabetes. I wouldn't take a chance overtaxing such an essential organ, would you?
Now as to being hungry, maybe you should modify your breakfast including more proteins AND fibres. I don't know what you usually do but trying new routines will help you to find what is good for you in terms of healthy lifestyle. Good luck!

magerum

I know that eating in the morning is important. But I've also heard that one shouldn't eat when they aren't hungry.

Neither of those are true. Meal timing and frequency has no (any amount worth worrying about) impact on weight control (loss, gain, whatever).

darkangel45422

Don't eat unless you're honestly hungry; a large part of our society's problem with food is that we eat for reasons that have nothing to do with hunger, and because someone told us to is one of those many reasons.

Don't buy into the conventional wisdom that you have to eat breakfast or you'll somehow stall your entire metabolism; humans as a species weren't designed to required the intake of calories ever 2-4 hours in order to function properly. People can and have healthily fasted for entire days without stalling their metabolism.

So long as you're eating good food, eat it when you're actually hungry.

Showcase_Brodown

I know that eating in the morning is important.

Eating is important. When it happens during the day or night is in most cases inconsequential. I haven't eaten "breakfast" in months.

alanlmarshall

I am no doctor or expert but my husband is diabetic and I remember being told that if you don't breakfast, if your fast is long, your liver will produce glucose so your blood sugar stays within a certain range. It is its job to automatically do so in order to keep your brain productive. However, if for any reason it gets "tired" or "lazy", you could eventually get diabetes. I wouldn't take a chance overtaxing such an essential organ, would you?
Now as to being hungry, maybe you should modify your breakfast including more proteins AND fibres. I don't know what you usually do but trying new routines will help you to find what is good for you in terms of healthy lifestyle. Good luck!

Skipping breakfast causes diabetes? That's one I've never heard before.

I don't think so, sorry.

JoRocka

I'm terrible at breakfast. I usually eat in the morning because I get a little woozy if I dont, but if I dont eat at home, I make TERRIBLE choices (like those lovely malorca sweet breads from Starbucks grrrrrr :mad: )
I actually love "breakfast" food (eggs, pancakes and bacon are my top fave foods) and if I got up early enough, I would make breakfast for myself every day. When I am awake, I love egg white sandwiches/wraps with spinach and bacon or oatmeal with fruit and raisins or cream of wheat, but I am one of those, roll out of bed 10 minutes before I have to leave the house and I am running like the white rabbit in alice in wonderland

So I tend to make myself a protein shake or getting a pick up meal from a restaurant. And by lunch time (12-2pm) I am starving! AND craving sweets
Still trying to find a good balance and I am going to try some methods from this thread...maybe just grabbing a protein bar in the morning and saving the big cals for lunch and dinner...

make a dozen or more eggs the way you like them- measure them out via scale- and walla- favorite breakfast foods.

I make bacon- drain half the grease- sautee my veggies of choice- then add mixed eggs to make scrambled eggs with veggies in them.- add bacon on top- let cool for a few minutes so you don't make your bacon soggy with steam.

Now you have breakfast- lunch or dinner. I make usually 10-12 eggs at a time.

I also pre-chop 5-6 cups of my favorite veggies- so making eggs is easy- it takes 10 minutes- I can make it while I pack my lunch and the coffee is perking. easy peasy lemon squeezy.

breakfast foods are nommm nommmm nommmm

PersistentPresence

I am no doctor or expert but my husband is diabetic and I remember being told that if you don't breakfast, if your fast is long, your liver will produce glucose so your blood sugar stays within a certain range. It is its job to automatically do so in order to keep your brain productive. However, if for any reason it gets "tired" or "lazy", you could eventually get diabetes. I wouldn't take a chance overtaxing such an essential organ, would you?
Now as to being hungry, maybe you should modify your breakfast including more proteins AND fibres. I don't know what you usually do but trying new routines will help you to find what is good for you in terms of healthy lifestyle. Good luck!

I think trying a completely new routine might be exactly what I need. I am a habitual late night eater. It makes sense that if I stop eating earlier in the evening, my body will automatically want to break-fast earlier in the day.

Akimajuktuq

I am no doctor or expert but my husband is diabetic and I remember being told that if you don't breakfast, if your fast is long, your liver will produce glucose so your blood sugar stays within a certain range. It is its job to automatically do so in order to keep your brain productive. However, if for any reason it gets "tired" or "lazy", you could eventually get diabetes. I wouldn't take a chance overtaxing such an essential organ, would you?
Now as to being hungry, maybe you should modify your breakfast including more proteins AND fibres. I don't know what you usually do but trying new routines will help you to find what is good for you in terms of healthy lifestyle. Good luck!

Wow, I've seen a lot of things... but fasting causing diabetes?! NO. NO. And NO. Fasting was a normal state for our human ancestors and they had no diabetes until.... we started eating processed, carb dense foods.

I don't like breakfast. I don't eat it. When I used to try to force myself (under bad advice) then it would set me up to over-eat all day. Except, on mornings that I do my strength training I must eat a small amount of something with protein. If I don't eat something before going to work I experience nausea 1 to 2 hours before lunch.

avskk

Meal timing isn't a big deal -- or rather, eating to hunger rather than to the clock isn't a big deal. When I was working 2AM-6PM, I definitely ate breakfast... because I was hungry by my "mid-morning" (7AM) break! Now that I'm working a more normal 9-5 schedule I find I'm not really hungry until lunch, so I just don't eat until then and have a bigger dinner than before.

Work with your body whenever possible, rather than constantly fighting against it. That's something you can do for the rest of your life, even if other things (calorie counting, macro balancing, whatever) fall by the wayside.