Stop eating breakfast. Here's why.

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Replies

  • Jesung
    Jesung Posts: 236 Member
    So you're insinuating that these people started eating MORE and lost weight. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that.

    This is absolutely TRUE in my case... and I'm not alone.
    Was your body in starvation mode due to a long-term severe calorie restriction?
  • istalkzombies
    istalkzombies Posts: 344 Member
    no thanks eating breakfast has helped me lose weight, gets my metabolism going and makes it so I dont overeat later.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    So you're insinuating that these people started eating MORE and lost weight. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that.

    This is absolutely TRUE in my case... and I'm not alone.
    Was your body in starvation mode due to a long-term severe calorie restriction?

    Not severe calorie restriction, but yes. I never ate breakfast because it made me nauseous. I often skipped lunch. I even sometimes forgot to eat dinner. (My hunger drive is "fritzy). When I did eat, it was a larger than normal meal, but by no means at the level of maintenance (when I get full, I'll also get nauseous). To lose weight, I had to increase my calories and gain for a bit before I started losing.

    MFPs biggest use for me is simply reminding me that it's time to eat something.
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
    So you're insinuating that these people started eating MORE and lost weight. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that.

    This is absolutely TRUE in my case... and I'm not alone.
    Was your body in starvation mode due to a long-term severe calorie restriction?

    Exactly. That's not what we're talking about here, which is fairly obvious.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    So you're insinuating that these people started eating MORE and lost weight. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that.

    This is absolutely TRUE in my case... and I'm not alone.
    Was your body in starvation mode due to a long-term severe calorie restriction?

    Exactly. That's not what we're talking about here, which is fairly obvious.

    I took "what we're talking about here," from your post title and first entry. " Stop eating breakfast." No thank you. That's what got me here in the first place.

    If your post had been presented as an option, I wouldn't have had any issue with it. Go with what works for you.
  • Self control is key in weight loss, which includes not eating when you feel hungry, or eating even if you are not, in order to make wise choices by keeping our metabolisms active and staying in calorie goals. So no, we don't always "listen to our bodies," we intelligently guide them.

    I.E.- Eat breakfst even if not hungry.

    WHY? Please, tell me, WHY do we need to eat breakfast if we aren't hungry? I look forward to hearing what you have to say, since you've spoken so definitively.


    The WHY is the metabolism reference I gave. Simply put: Eating in the morning activates your metabolism, which is beneficial in weight loss. The later you eat the more hours of fully activated metabolism you miss out on. It's simply a weight loss strategy. If you don't want to do so that's fine, but you are missing out on easy help. Of course there is research to back up anything someone would want to validate, so even though I do work in the medical field, and have benefitted from this myself, and have had several patients in the past lose weight simply by adding a healthy breakfast to their routine... it's still up to everyone to decide on their own.

    Just because you are in the medical field doesn't mean you know *kitten* about nutrition. You are not trained for that. You are not a food scientist.
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    You know what?! It's going to sound crazy I know but I eat 600-700 calories for Breakfast *gasp* BECAUSE I know it's what I need for me to continue through out the day.

    do what's right for you and forget the rest!

    diana
  • elfy66
    elfy66 Posts: 138 Member
    I get nauseous when I'm too hungry.
  • When I was in competition, I actually ate a lot more food than I would ever eat now. I would actually eat almost every 2 hours from the minute I woke up until I went to bed. I trained 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night. I lost a lot of weight doing that and of course, I did a lot of cardio. Needless to say, I would drop from 265lbs to 220 in a 15 week period and step on stage with 2% body fat! For those of you that have lost a lot of weight, try putting Preparation-H around your mid-section for about 8 weeks and you will be amazed at how your skin tightens up.

    Take care..................... jojo
  • tracy337
    tracy337 Posts: 199 Member
    Wow, Really BAD and unhealthy advice!
  • tracy337
    tracy337 Posts: 199 Member
    When I was in competition, I actually ate a lot more food than I would ever eat now. I would actually eat almost every 2 hours from the minute I woke up until I went to bed. I trained 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night. I lost a lot of weight doing that and of course, I did a lot of cardio. Needless to say, I would drop from 265lbs to 220 in a 15 week period and step on stage with 2% body fat! For those of you that have lost a lot of weight, try putting Preparation-H around your mid-section for about 8 weeks and you will be amazed at how your skin tightens up.

    Take care..................... jojo


    Hmm Could you elaborate on the Prep H? How much, how often, personal experiance or read it somewhere, Source?
  • It's not advice, it is just what i did to compete on the national level. I would never recommend this to anyone.



    11459367.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • Personal experience... all the pro bodybuilders would do this for about 8 weeks and some mixed it with bengay for added heat. I would put it on my waist, butt, upper thighs and lower abs then I would wear sweats to bed and in the morning my skin felt real warm. It really does work.
  • tracy337
    tracy337 Posts: 199 Member
    It's not advice, it is just what i did to compete on the national level. I would never recommend this to anyone.



    11459367.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

    Should have quoted lol I was talking about the OP, then saw your post and wondered about the Prep H for tightening skin :)
  • tracy337
    tracy337 Posts: 199 Member
    Personal experience... all the pro bodybuilders would do this for about 8 weeks and some mixed it with bengay for added heat. I would put it on my waist, butt, upper thighs and lower abs then I would wear sweats to bed and in the morning my skin felt real warm. It really does work.

    Sweet! Have to bookmark this thread now lol I have lost over 100 so far but still have about 90 or so till my goal weight. Been overweight and morbidly obese for far too many years so I know this is going to be a big issue for me. Thanks!
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
    I actually do just the opposite... my biggest meal of the day is breakfast and basically I taper my food intake from there. I never miss a meal (I eat 4 meals per day on average). I used to be a competitive bodybuilder and followed the same taper method and was easily able to lose 20 to 30lbs when needed. I think dinner should consist of a small amount of food and definitely don't eat 2 hours before sleep. And, I can't say this enough, drink lots and lots of water whether you are thirsty or not.

    That's what works for me! :wink:

    I've heard of people having success with this method as well. I'm glad it worked so well for you. One thing I've always believed is, if you want to know how to cut fat, ask a bodybuilder.

    Ok. Ask A body builder and you get A answer. Ask another and you get another, ask a third and you get a third. Lots of body builders use IF. But as a general concensous the majority of body builders say consistent even protein intake through out the day is essential even when cutting. Even leangains dude says -

    "Technically, training is not completely fasted - that would be detrimental. The pre-workout protein intake, with its stimulatory effect on protein synthesis and metabolism, is a crucial compromise to optimize results. The 8-hour feeding phase starts with the post-workout meal."

    I have no problem with IF. I can make a damn good argument that a short term fast boosts your metabolism more than the breakfast boost. But I can also make a damn good argument that eating breakfast aids in your weight loss.

    If you like breakfast eat it. It's not going to slow your weight loss down at all. If you don't like breakfast, skip it. It's not going to slow your weight loss down at all. And for the love of God stop arguing about it. That's mostly directed to the breakfast is essential people, but also a few of the IF people who can't seem to let it go.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Wow, Really BAD and unhealthy advice!
    What's unhealthy? Meal timing is a myth that has been disproven time and time again. Total calories are all that matter, it doesn't make a difference if you split your total calories into 100 meals a day, or eat them all in one meal. To the body it's the same thing.

    Let's use the car example. Putting 1 gallon of fuel in your car at a time, or filling the entire tank at once does not change how much fuel that car needs to drive 100 miles. All that changes is how often you stop for fuel. The body and eating is the same way, it doesn't matter how often you stop to eat, the body still burns the same amount of calories to function, whether you eat breakfast or skip it and eat a larger meal later.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    I eat breakfast and lunch and I look better than you therefore I'll stick to my way Thanks.

    Sorry but this is an ignorant statement.

    And you don't think this is: "Breakfast is not required. It's Calories in vs Calories out. Again, meal timing is irrelevant."

    So, I think I'll eat my weekends worth of food right now...then eat nothing until Monday. According to you, this works, right? I should be fueled and primed for my 6 mile tempo run this afternoon, my push day at the gym tomorrow and my 14 mile run on Sunday - right? No, our bodies are NOT efficient storers of energy.

    you are using extremes, significant metabolic slow down ccurs somewhere in the 48hr+ range of complete fasting. not eating for 8-10-16 hrs isn't going to be unhealthy

    This is true. Our ancient ancestors (when we were becoming prime specimens) didn't eat regularly throughout the day. They certainly didn't eat breakfast faithfully every morning (and do structured exercise). They would have days with no food and after a good kill they would gorge themselves. Intermittent fasting and/or eating 1-2 meals a day is a more natural way of eating. The HGH (fat-burning hormone that is secreted while you sleep) secretion actually increases five-fold on the second night of fasting. Cortisol levels don't become a factor until more than 40 hours into a fast. (chronic high-intensity cardio also causes cortisol levels to increase. This is a muscle waster).
  • oswaldbowser
    oswaldbowser Posts: 164 Member
    The reason I have breakfast whether good or bad is because i need disipline in life....If I have a good sensible breakfast it fills me up and then i tend to choose foods later in the day by thinking what too eat and not just grabbing something that is near by..if that makes sense !
  • brookelyn2030
    brookelyn2030 Posts: 84 Member
    I'd consider doing a fast in the form of drinking a protein shake as a meal replacement, but skipping a meal altogether is next to impossible for me - my job requires use of my brain, and if I don't fuel my brain, I'm not going to be productive. If I'm not productive, then I'm not going to get paid. If I don't get paid, then I'm going to be homeless. Yeh I think I'll stick with a bowl of cereal and some fruit in the morning haha.
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
    OP here. As this thread slows down I just want to reiterate that I chose the title of this thread based on the hopes that it would get people to read the article. I don't believe this article is definitive, but I also don't like that we are told over and over things like "breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" I don't agree that EITHER is true 100% of the time. I want IF'ers to be open to more traiditional eating patterns just the same as I want more traditional dieters to be open to new ideas like IF and Carb cycling.

    I'm a weightlifter. I LOVE squats. I hate performing them, but I love what they do to my body. I believe they are the best builder of overall muscle I can use, but they are still only a tool in my toolbox. There are thousands of other ways I can move against a source of resistance with the goal of bettering my body. Carb cycling, intermittent fasting, macronutrient timing, peri-workout nutrition, these are all tools in my toolbox that I can use when I believe they will help me reach my goals.

    I just want everyone else to have all of this wonderful information that's out there. I want people to NEVER be afraid to QUESTION and try new things!

    But then again, like I said, I'm a man of extremes. I like extreme diets, and I like extreme ideas. I like questioning the majority. Some people take the fact that the majority believe something is true to be evidence that it IS true. I don't feel that way at all. I think when people become complacent and just start going with whatever they are told that we have a responsability to our fellow man to question WHY people are so accepting of information that "sounds right" even when it flies in the face of the science, or at least is not fully SUPPORTED by the sceince, the latter being the case with the importance of breakfast.

    Some people have been very passionate about either eating breakfast or not eating breakfast in this thread. I actually don't care about that. I'm passionate about questioning WHY you choose to do what you do! So many of you have GREAT reasons for doing what you do, wether that means eating breakfast or not, or even taking on a more extreme dietary approach like IF (By the way, you don't have to choose one or the other. The article just suggests moving breakfast back a couple hours, which is not nearly as extreme as IF.) If you have good reasons for the coices you've made, than that's awesome, BUT, if you do what you do because you heard it was the right thing to do, or because you never really thought about it, than it's time to become informed.

    There are options out there, and one of them will work better than all the others for you. One of them will be the best path to success, and I don't want anyone to be left without the right tool in their toolbox.
  • Rilke
    Rilke Posts: 1,201 Member
    I choose to eat breakfast (and lunch) because I am hungry. When I am hungry I am grumpy. I do not want to be grumpy when I have to deal with hundreds of teenagers all day long.

    So I "graze" constantly. And there is much rejoicing.
  • catwrangler
    catwrangler Posts: 918 Member
    save
  • I actually do just the opposite... my biggest meal of the day is breakfast and basically I taper my food intake from there. I never miss a meal (I eat 4 meals per day on average). I used to be a competitive bodybuilder and followed the same taper method and was easily able to lose 20 to 30lbs when needed. I think dinner should consist of a small amount of food and definitely don't eat 2 hours before sleep. And, I can't say this enough, drink lots and lots of water whether you are thirsty or not.

    That's what works for me! :wink:

    I've heard of people having success with this method as well. I'm glad it worked so well for you. One thing I've always believed is, if you want to know how to cut fat, ask a bodybuilder.

    Ok. Ask A body builder and you get A answer. Ask another and you get another, ask a third and you get a third. Lots of body builders use IF. But as a general concensous the majority of body builders say consistent even protein intake through out the day is essential even when cutting. Even leangains dude says -

    "Technically, training is not completely fasted - that would be detrimental. The pre-workout protein intake, with its stimulatory effect on protein synthesis and metabolism, is a crucial compromise to optimize results. The 8-hour feeding phase starts with the post-workout meal."

    I have no problem with IF. I can make a damn good argument that a short term fast boosts your metabolism more than the breakfast boost. But I can also make a damn good argument that eating breakfast aids in your weight loss.

    If you like breakfast eat it. It's not going to slow your weight loss down at all. If you don't like breakfast, skip it. It's not going to slow your weight loss down at all. And for the love of God stop arguing about it. That's mostly directed to the breakfast is essential people, but also a few of the IF people who can't seem to let it go.

    There is no one thing that works for everybody. What works for me won't necessarily work for you. I was a very successful bodybuilder and my methods were used by hundreds of people.
  • happyheart15
    happyheart15 Posts: 383 Member
    I think this is bad advice.
  • No thank you! (: I'll continue to eat my breakfast
  • I'm a natural born pig. If I don't eat breakfast and space out my meals during the day, I'll binge eat all night long.

    Kudos to you though, if it works for you then hey that's great. :flowerforyou:
  • You can find information to prove that this works, not just blogs but actually studies. You can also find information to prove that breakfast is essential, that milk with dinner creates results, that eating only twinkles can allow you to lose weight. Just do what you want and feels good for you and everything will work out. The only rule is stop telling people your way is THE way.

    ABSOLUTELY!!
  • Jesung
    Jesung Posts: 236 Member
    You can find information to prove that this works, not just blogs but actually studies. You can also find information to prove that breakfast is essential, that milk with dinner creates results, that eating only twinkles can allow you to lose weight. Just do what you want and feels good for you and everything will work out. The only rule is stop telling people your way is THE way.

    ABSOLUTELY!!
    IF certainly works. Eating breakfast is not essential as IF demonstrates. Milk with dinner is no different from milk with cereal in the morning. You will lose weight on a calorie deficit, whether you are eating twinkies or steak.
    Listening to a body that has been scrambled with unhealthy processed carbs and gluten does not sound like the best idea. If you don't eat breakfast for a few days, your body will adjust and you won't feel hungry until lunch time. Does that mean you have to eat breakfast and not eat it in order to be healthy?
  • Play_outside
    Play_outside Posts: 528 Member
    I think it all depends on the person. I used to not eat for most of the day (sometimes not until 2-3pm) and I found that it made me sluggish, screwed up my metabolism, and definitely my brain was not on the ball-I'm an RN student so having energy and a functioning brain are very important. Also, I find that although I have usually had a pretty healthy diet, since I've been eating breakfast it encourages me to be more organized about my meals and more aware of what I'm eating.
    To each their own
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