What constitutes a "breakfast"?

dlyeates

I get up at 5:45 am to get ready for work, out the door with family at 6:30 am, drop kids off at 7 am, work by 7:45 am and I eat when I get to my desk. I make a crustless quiche on the weekend and bring a piece of that or have a bowls of cereal. But it's cuz I'm hungry and know my day is going to get crazy. Then I have my 1st lunch (I split my lunch into 2 smaller meals) around 11:45 am and then eat the main part of it around 1 pm. Snack around 3-3:30 pm (usually a fiber bar) and then dinner around 6-630 pm with a snack (sometimes depending on calories left) around 9 pm.

This works for me but I'm hungry by 7:45 am and know I may not eat again til 11!!! You do what works for you, your body and your schedule. I think the main reason to eat breakfast is so you are not so hungry at lunch that you gorge/overeat because you are so hungry. I don't know about the biology but I also believe in eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full. Since most people can't do that then the experts recommend the eating schedule.

I also tend to plan my meals for the day and sometimes will log them in the morning so that I know how many calories I have, if it's an exercise day I know about how many calories I will burn and can eat them back during the day instead of having a deficit at night of 300+ calories. It also eliminates my having to think about what to eat and possibly making the wrong choices.

Good luck finding the balance for you.

piezoeyjune

Well... Thanks to everyone for... clearing that up? :laugh:

Here's what Im going to do. I will continue to sleep longer and go to work with just coffee but I'll add a piece of fruit to accompany it.
When I get home I will make myself a "breakfast" that will hopefully give me some energy/nutrition/ whatever.

I used to try to make it till "lunchtime" to have lunch that would hopefully keep me satisfied through the afternoon.
(Yeah, not working.) So now Im home and hungry so Im going to eat instead of wait.

I just made myself a 2 egg & 2 egg white omelet with 1T of Parmesan and 1/4 c salsa. 1 slice of whole grain bread with 1T pb. And an apple. (510 cals) I am stuffed. But I want to see how my body reacts to this massive amount of food and if I can then have a smaller lunch later and prevent snacking. I got the idea from this blogger... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/bjohs

It seems that basically everyones point of eating in the am; something nutritionally beneficial (not just coffee); is to prevent craving/snacking/eating pointless cr@p later in the day. (those of you who adhere to it.)

I really appreciate everyone's opinion and help. While both sides provide plausible arguments Im going to try this for a while. Maybe it will work for me. Its still early in the am and Im eating when Im hungry. Lets see how it goes.

Thanks everybody!

tigersword

There are no biological "benefits" to having breakfast as far as weight loss goes. It does NOT jump start your metabolism. It may help you control your cravings and urges later in the day, and allow you to make better choices, but if you don't have/can control you cravings, it's just an early calorie amount that if you don't really want you might as well save till you actually do want it

Exactly this. Your metabolism is running constantly 24/7, it does not magically shut off when you don't eat breakfast, or between meals. It doesn't need to be "woken up." it takes several days of constant fasting to have any sort of detrimental effect on your metabolism.

As for eating breakfast "boosting" your metabolism, well, if you consider burning 15-20 extra calories a "boost," then I guess it does. Then again, you would get that same boost whenever you first eat, whether your first meal is breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Its not a constant boost, it's a few extra calories.

All eating constantly does is prevent your digestive system from shutting down, and all that does is force your body to take energy from other parts of your body to keep the digestive system running, sapping energy from everything else you could be doing.

catwrangler

I'm doing this and it's very very interesting science:

http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Research

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html