Big breakfast, small dinner

biggsterjackster

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/02/best-breakfast-for-weight-loss/?intcmp=sem_outloud

Who can eat half of their daily calories for breakfast? And then just a tiny dinn er?

animatorswearbras

I am the complete opposite, so basically would be in the less weight loss group, but I couldn't imagine coming home after a long day at work and just having a bowl of soup or something really pitiful for 200 cals.

It probably does work but I'd just be upset by it, and within a few days flip a table and then eat a pie.

neanderthin

I'd like to read the actual study. That's a hefty claim.

biggsterjackster

Exactly same with me. Maybe I try it out, when I am on vacation and do not have to run around all day.

Jg04811

This is me! I love to have a huge breakfast and then sometimes I even skip dinner because I am not even hungry. You just have to do what works best for yourself. I always wake up very hungry and since I work out mostly in the evenings I am not hungry after a work out. I would usually have a protein shake for dinner before I work out but that is it.

etkahler

What about a group that ate their calories spread evenly throughout the day (450-500 calories per meal)?

mscrystallee

I tend to eat most of my calories before noon, I have an early day and I am okay with a light dinner, but breakfast has always been a calorie dense meal for me

tedrickp

I'd like to read the actual study. That's a hefty claim.

Might be this study:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20460/abstract;jsessionid=9029A24D04B82CE2F6AB826007228420.f04t01

Havent read it but searched it out once I read that article

freerider2000250

This is how I lost 11kg in 3 months without exercises. Continuing.

GiveMeCoffee

No thanks! I prefer no breakfast and the bulk of my calories for dinner and dessert. Seems to be working for me. Meal timing is a personal preference, just make sure at the end of the day you have a reasonable calorie deficit.

Sheila_Ann

bumping so I can read this later...

omma_to_3

You know, I typically would be in the camp that it doesn't matter. But...this month, I've spent a lot of it back and forth to the hospital. I've eaten the majority of my calories by lunch time and frequently have about 200 to 250 calories for dinner (cereal or a ham sandwich eaten late after getting back from hospital) and I've seen more weight loss than I've seen in months. Even though my exercise has been nearly nonexistent.

Hmmm....

xXBabyBelleXx

Im a bit of both, my breakfast is usually around 250 calories, lunch 100 and then the rest is for my main meal in the evening.

Whatever works for you is the best way, as I know I couldn't eat light at the end of a long day :-)

ItsCasey

If I didn't have to work, I'd get up early, work out, and then eat a 1000 calorie breakfast every day. I love breakfast. But I already leave for work around 6:15. I'm not getting up early enough for a workout and preparing a huge breakfast. So I train after work and eat all my calories for dinner.

Meal timing and frequency impact diet adherence, but they do not directly impact weight loss.

Shreddingit84

me:drinker:

neanderthin

I'd like to read the actual study. That's a hefty claim.

Might be this study:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20460/abstract;jsessionid=9029A24D04B82CE2F6AB826007228420.f04t01

Havent read it but searched it out once I read that article

Thanks mate. Interesting. I'll be looking for similar studies going forward.

msf74

I am guessing the participants were self reporting using some kind of dietary questionnaire or monitoring. Unfortunately this method can be rather unreliable as even with training people are notoriously bad at tracking their intake. Therefore while the suggestion is that the diets were isocaloric whether they were in reality is a different matter.

Given that most people tend to over eat in the evenings, particularly on a mindless and unconscious level in the face of restriction and deprivation I am guessing the big dinner group were plain old eating more calories than recorded. The large breakfast group, given they had already consumed a much larger meal earlier on probably felt less deprived and therefore this type of eating was minimised.

This is of course just speculation on my part. I will have a look at the study myself when I have a moment.

GEMMA_2014

Some days I have a big breakfast. Today I will have a small breakfast because I am going out to lunch with my friend who eats like a horse and never gains weight. I will eat about 1/3 of what she eats, I need to save calories for the lunch.

SweeDecadence92

I'd be very interested to know if their is any merit to this, it's a big claim. Generally breakfast is my smallest meal and dinner my largest.

neanderthin

I am guessing the participants were self reporting using some kind of dietary questionnaire or monitoring. Unfortunately this method can be rather unreliable as even with training people are notoriously bad at tracking their intake. Therefore while the suggestion is that the diets were isocaloric whether they were in reality is a different matter.

Given that most people tend to over eat in the evenings, particularly on a mindless and unconscious level in the face of restriction and deprivation I am guessing the big dinner group were plain old eating more calories than recorded. The large breakfast group, given they had already consumed a much larger meal earlier on probably felt less deprived and therefore this type of eating was minimised.

This is of course just speculation on my part. I will have a look at the study myself when I have a moment.

It was 12 weeks and most people will try to comply when they take it upon themselves to make themselves available for a study of this nature. Non compliance was adjusted for as well.I would think that if someone was only having 200 calories for dinner that that the group would more than likely have the tendency of overeating.

QuietBloom

I'd like to read the actual study. That's a hefty claim.

Might be this study:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20460/abstract;jsessionid=9029A24D04B82CE2F6AB826007228420.f04t01

Havent read it but searched it out once I read that article

A caveat: The women were all obese and had metabolic syndrome. I think the results are very interesting. I have always been a big breakfast eater and usually eat at least half of my calories before noon.

otillie03103

I am the complete opposite, so basically would be in the less weight loss group, but I couldn't imagine coming home after a long day at work and just having a bowl of soup or something really pitiful for 200 cals.

It probably does work but I'd just be upset by it, and within a few days flip a table and then eat a pie.

I am the same way, I use maybe a quarter of my calories on breakfast, a small amount on lunch and a healthy snack at some point in the day and then at dinner I have a decent size portion. I am an evening snacker, so I try to keep myself full at that time when I am less busy. If I still have calories left and get hungry may have a carrot with some hummus in the evenning and then a cup of tea to ward of hunger pains...although these times are becoming fewer and fewer. If a recipe I plug in has too many calories I try to alter it to meet my caloric needs.

neanderthin

I'd like to read the actual study. That's a hefty claim.

Might be this study:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20460/abstract;jsessionid=9029A24D04B82CE2F6AB826007228420.f04t01

Havent read it but searched it out once I read that article

A caveat: The women were all obese and had metabolic syndrome. I think the results are very interesting. I have always been a big breakfast eater and usually eat at least half of my calories before noon.

Obese and MetS I believe was their focus. Very interesting for sure.

twixlepennie

I'm a rebel and my biggest meal of the day is lunch :laugh:

geebusuk

One of the possible 'reasons' is that for many people not eating much early will leave them feeling tired.
If most of their activity is BEFORE their main meal, they may burn less calories generally in the day, then have a big meal and not really do much - so their 'calories out' goes down because they do as much during the day.

Also, it seems they were rellying on honesty in calorie consumption - while I was reading recently about how often people will fool themselves about the calories they were eating - I know that a cube of 'sample' cheese in the supermarket can easily be 50 calories, but others might just dismiss it, for instance.

msf74

I would think that if someone was only having 200 calories for dinner that that the group would more than likely have the tendency of overeating.

True enough. I will have a squizz at the study tonight when I have a moment. The idea that meal timing is actually important in the context of an isocaloric diet is certainly novel.

With regard to the 200 calories for dinner being more prone to over eat I don't think that actually bears out on a psychological perspective at least. If you spend all the day restricting yourself then you have a large amount of ego depletion (and therefore willpower) in the evening time. In response to this you tend to over eat no matter the size of the meal or the quality (within limits of course!) It's as if when you reach the evening time because you have eaten you might as well eat some more as you have broken the diet anyway. The situation is reversed (I know that sounds counter intuitive) with the large breakfast group. Less ego depletion during the day as less restriction and engaging of willpower therefore less likelihood of over eating as they are still on plan and therefore greater overall compliance.

If there is strength here it is the elimination of mindless snacking I would wager. Again, purely speculation.

neanderthin

Also, it seems they were rellying on honesty in calorie consumption - while I was reading recently about how often people will fool themselves about the calories they were eating - I know that a cube of 'sample' cheese in the supermarket can easily be 50 calories, but others might just dismiss it, for instance.

Absolutely, but all participants would be equally susceptible to that.

frodopuppy

I like to graze all morning before noon just finished hummus and pistachios then eat less as the day goes on helps me stay strong for long work day then I back off toward evening. Whatever works for you

neanderthin

I would think that if someone was only having 200 calories for dinner that that the group would more than likely have the tendency of overeating.

True enough. I will have a squizz at the study tonight when I have a moment. The idea that meal timing is actually important in the context of an isocaloric diet is certainly novel.

With regard to the 200 calories for dinner being more prone to over eat I don't think that actually bears out on a psychological perspective at least. If you spend all the day restricting yourself then you have a large amount of ego depletion (and therefore willpower) in the evening time. In response to this you tend to over eat no matter the size of the meal or the quality (within limits of course!) It's as if when you reach the evening time because you have eaten you might as well eat some more as you have broken the diet anyway. The situation is reversed (I know that sounds counter intuitive) with the large breakfast group. Less ego depletion during the day as less restriction and engaging of willpower therefore less likelihood of over eating as they are still on plan and therefore greater overall compliance.

If there is strength here it is the elimination of mindless snacking I would wager. Again, purely speculation.

I don't think it had much to do with meal timing but more about caloric distribution and human metabolism.

WhisperAnne

Sounds like me. I have about 500-700 calories in the morning and a tiny dinner. Has worked for me all these years.

WarriorReady

Sounds interesting - bumping to read later...