Skipping Breakfast

tameko2

I've always skipped breakfast, but recently started a new job that means getting up earlier and I was getting hungry before lunch time so have started to have a small breakfast - typically a breakfast bar. After a plateau of no weight loss for 3 months my weight has started to drop off again. My total calorie intake is the same, and actually I'm doing less exercise as have less spare time.

I've been a bit stressed with my now job, but the hours are the same (have to get up earlier as longer commute) and its just as active as my previous job.

I'm wondering if its like 'starvation mode'. When your asleep your body shuts down, when you wake up and get active again and if you don't eat then your body thinks it might not get food for a while so slows your metabolism to cope and to try to make sure you last as long as possible before food is available (thinking to caveman lifestyle).

good point

Its not like that at all.

Your body does a LOT of stuff while you are asleep - YOU BURN CALORIES WHILE YOU SLEEP! in fact most people burn more calories sleeping than watching TV. Seriously.

You know what makes a difference though? Being up longer. When I wake up at 6:45 I tend to eat breakfast - I'm hungry around 9 and I know I won't get to eat until 11:30 or 12. So I eat. But when I wake up later, I tend to just wait 2-3 hours and eat lunch.


Those of us who are telling you its irrelevant are NOT anti breakfast. If breakfast helps you focus and feel good throughout the day THEN EAT IT.

What we are trying to tell the OP is that if he/she doesn't like eating breakfast there is absolutely no SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN reason to FORCE yourself to eat it. Unless you are hungry - people perform tasks better when they are not hungry. But if you're not hungry or dont' have tiem til noon, as long as you stick to your macros or calories it is FINE to eat your first meal at noon.

I know your body burns calories while your asleep, etc etc. I've always been in the camp of total cals in vs total cals out is what matters, not when you eat. But the fact is that since eating breakfast my weight has started to drop again. It had stopped over summer - I increased my exercise, tried yo-yoing calories, but nothing had an effect. I had a BMI of 22 so didn't want to over do it by reducing my cals too much so just continued to log and was quite happy. Then started my new job - I sleep the same amount so I'm not up for LONGER, just earlier. Instead of waiting till lunch to eat, so about 4 hours after getting up, I now eat breakfast. I still eat pretty much the same for lunch and dinner (breakfast is under 100cals so not much adjustment needed to reach the same total calories). In 6 weeks I have lost 4 pounds.


I'm not advocating for or against breakfast, and the op can do what they want based on all the comments made. I just thought I'd share my experience and see what the thoughts are about it, as I'm curious as to why my weight has started to drop again, and at a pretty quick rate (I'm actually a little worried about it!!!).

Well if it was my body it would be because my daily TDEE would be higher. Like for me, if I have to get uip earlier I don't really go to sleep THAT much earlier AND if I get out of work earlier (assuming you are) I actually do a lot more stuff in the afternoons - like I run a lot more errands, I'm much more likely to actually cook food rather than grab takeout, much more likely to do dishes, etc.

I don't know why, because its not like I gain any more hours in my day, but leaving work earlier makes me feel like I have WAY more time to do stuff, even if I plan to go to bed earlier too. Do you think it could be that?

I mean I assume you already ruled out major dietary changes since you're logging your food but if you haven't you should also compare WHAT you are eating. Everyone's body burns certain foods differently - some people do better eating lower carbs or wheat because their body processes it too efficiently and some people are not affected at all. Or like in my BFs case if he adds a lot of veggies to his diet even though theoretically he 'ate' those calories, he body digests veggies REALLY poorly (as in, an hour later he'll be in the bathroom poorly) and I would bet he doesn't absorb nearly as many calories from those as he would log.

Not that veggies are that many calories, but still. Like japanese sticky rice and I are BFFs, my body likes it and I like it, but a lot of people find the GI spike from rice to be an issue and others find the simple carbs to be an issue.

Jeff92se

let's say you eat 1 ginormous meal a day vs breaking it up into 3. As far as weight loss/metabolism it might be a wash but how would one just eat one meal (no matter how large that one meal is)?

With a fork?

If you have a day job, I'd probably consider keeping it.

You too buddy. Maybe if you asked questions that made sense, you'd get better answers.

You are incorrectly assuming I could give 2 rabbit turds about any possible answer you are currently offering.

I don't remember offering you an answer. My comment was merely intended to convey the fact that your question didn't make any sense. Now please stop talking to me.

With a fork is an answer. So you got out zinged at your own game. Congrats

In reading the quote above it looks like "with a fork?" was a question, not an answer. Just sayin.

It's answering the question with a question. You know? Just sayin'

But then it's not really an answer, it's just an evasion of the question. "With a fork." is an answer because it tells us how one would eat the meal. "With a fork?" suggests a possibility at best, but provides no real answer.

Opinions vary?

Why yes, I believe they do.

No they don't

Sidesteal

let's say you eat 1 ginormous meal a day vs breaking it up into 3. As far as weight loss/metabolism it might be a wash but how would one just eat one meal (no matter how large that one meal is)?

With a fork?

If you have a day job, I'd probably consider keeping it.

You too buddy. Maybe if you asked questions that made sense, you'd get better answers.

You are incorrectly assuming I could give 2 rabbit turds about any possible answer you are currently offering.

I don't remember offering you an answer. My comment was merely intended to convey the fact that your question didn't make any sense. Now please stop talking to me.

With a fork is an answer. So you got out zinged at your own game. Congrats

In reading the quote above it looks like "with a fork?" was a question, not an answer. Just sayin.

It's answering the question with a question. You know? Just sayin'

But then it's not really an answer, it's just an evasion of the question. "With a fork." is an answer because it tells us how one would eat the meal. "With a fork?" suggests a possibility at best, but provides no real answer.

Opinions vary?

Why yes, I believe they do.

No they don't

I just wanted to see how long of a quote window I could make.

bcattoes

let's say you eat 1 ginormous meal a day vs breaking it up into 3. As far as weight loss/metabolism it might be a wash but how would one just eat one meal (no matter how large that one meal is)?

You would prepare the food and put it into your mouth?

Not sure I see what the issue is. I've done all my calories in 1 meal before, feels freakin' amazing honestly.

EDIT: Not trying to be a d1ck here Jeff, I just don't see where you're going with this.

If I ate one big meal at 7:00am. I'm pretty damned sure I'd be hungry as hell again by lunch or definately at dinner. The point being while the studies are technically correct (I'll assume they are), I think the point is that people that might only eat one meal, in reality end up eating something else during the day. Thus ending up eating more food VS someone that split up that huge calorie binge thoughout the day.

I suppose you could train yourself to only eat one meal a day but I'm not sure how that would affect your insulin levels etc....thoughout the day. I'd THINK that spreading out the calories would tend to keep your body more on an even keel than eating just one meal a day.

Leidy HJ. et al. The influence of higher protein intake and greater eating frequency on appetite control in overweight and obese men.Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Sep;18(9):1725-32. Epub 2010 Mar 25

"The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of dietary protein intake and eating frequency on perceived appetite, satiety, and hormonal responses in overweight/obese men. Thirteen men (age 51 +/- 4 years; BMI 31.3 +/- 0.8 kg/m(2)) consumed eucaloric diets containing normal protein (79 +/- 2 g protein/day; 14% of energy intake as protein) or higher protein (138 +/- 3 g protein/day; 25% of energy intake as protein) equally divided among three eating occasions (3-EO; every 4 h) or six eating occasions (6-EO; every 2 h) on four separate days in randomized order. Hunger, fullness, plasma glucose, and hormonal responses were assessed throughout 11 h. No protein x eating frequency interactions were observed for any of the outcomes. Independent of eating frequency, higher protein led to greater daily fullness (P < 0.05) and peptide YY (PYY) concentrations (P < 0.05). In contrast, higher protein led to greater daily ghrelin concentrations (P < 0.05) vs. normal protein. Protein quantity did not influence daily hunger, glucose, or insulin concentrations. Independent of dietary protein, 6-EO led to lower daily fullness (P < 0.05) and PYY concentrations (P < 0.05). The 6-EO also led to lower glucose (P < 0.05) and insulin concentrations (P < 0.05) vs. 3-EO. Although the hunger-related perceived sensations and hormonal responses were conflicting, the fullness-related responses were consistently greater with higher protein intake but lower with increased eating frequency. Collectively, these data suggest that higher protein intake promotes satiety and challenge the concept that increasing the number of eating occasions enhances satiety in overweight and obese men."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20339363

I don't see anything in this study about eating one big meal. Did I miss it? Isn't it a comparison of 6 mini meals vs 3 bigger meals?

Jeff92se

The influence of higher protein intake and greater eating frequency on appetite control in overweight and obese men.Obesity

4theking

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense. If we don't eat, our bodies release fat from the fat cells to supply energy. Thats why we have fat in the first place, in case no food is present. Just recently we have decided to get in shape and lose weight, we need to eat every three hours but in the past when obesity wasn't as prevelant, we ate two or three meals a day. Hmmmmm.

bcattoes

let's say you eat 1 ginormous meal a day vs breaking it up into 3. As far as weight loss/metabolism it might be a wash but how would one just eat one meal (no matter how large that one meal is)?

With a fork?

If you have a day job, I'd probably consider keeping it.

You too buddy. Maybe if you asked questions that made sense, you'd get better answers.

You are incorrectly assuming I could give 2 rabbit turds about any possible answer you are currently offering.

I don't remember offering you an answer. My comment was merely intended to convey the fact that your question didn't make any sense. Now please stop talking to me.

With a fork is an answer. So you got out zinged at your own game. Congrats

In reading the quote above it looks like "with a fork?" was a question, not an answer. Just sayin.

It's answering the question with a question. You know? Just sayin'

But then it's not really an answer, it's just an evasion of the question. "With a fork." is an answer because it tells us how one would eat the meal. "With a fork?" suggests a possibility at best, but provides no real answer.

Opinions vary?

Why yes, I believe they do.

No they don't

They don't?

lorals05

I'm usually not hungry in the mornings-as long as I have my coffee I'm good to go. However, if I don't eat by around 10 am, I am starving and tend to overeat at lunch. I have been getting around this by keeping mid-size bananas at work. They are filling without many calories and also help prevent me from getting the leg cramps I usually experience with running.

bcattoes

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

BrettPGH

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

SergeantSunshine_reused

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

4theking

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

While I agree common sense doesn't always work. It certainly applies here or I wouldn't have stated it. When you don't eat you don't die for a while. Your body uses something for energy. Hmmmmm what could that be?

bcattoes

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

I don't think common sense it overrated, it's just very hard to find.

Jeff92se

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

While I agree common sense doesn't always work. It certainly applies here or I wouldn't have stated it. When you don't eat you don't die for a while. Your body uses something for energy. Hmmmmm what could that be?

Something. But will the body break down muscle or fat first?

4theking

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

While I agree common sense doesn't always work. It certainly applies here or I wouldn't have stated it. When you don't eat you don't die for a while. Your body uses something for energy. Hmmmmm what could that be?

Something. But will the body break down muscle or fat first?

Lots of factors involved. Genetics, bodyfat, hormones, etc.

joejccva71

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

Shhh you.

joejccva71

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

While I agree common sense doesn't always work. It certainly applies here or I wouldn't have stated it. When you don't eat you don't die for a while. Your body uses something for energy. Hmmmmm what could that be?

Something. But will the body break down muscle or fat first?

Lots of factors involved. Genetics, bodyfat, hormones, etc.

Don't avoid the question. Answer it. Will the body break down muscle or fat first?

judykritikos

Mayo clinic: A healthy breakfast refuels your body and replenishes the glycogen stores that supply your muscles with immediate energy. I'm taking a weight mgmt course and breakfast (break the fast) is important as it does re-start your metabolism. It doens't STOP at night, but like a car w/ gas - you run out, or run low. For optimum performance, eating HEALTHY foods for breakfast re-fuels your muscles. They also point out that if you don't eat, you're more likely to be REALLY hungry mid-morning and eat whatever you can - which is usually not good for you.
I was never a breakfast eater - if I ate at 8, I'd be starving by 10 and eat twice my normal foods. However, I eat a healthier breakfat, and drink water during the morning, and I am losing weight. So...for me, I'm heeding the advice of Mayo Clinic AND the LivingLean program which both advise eating a healthy breakfast to re-fuel my muscles.

judykritikos

If COMMON SENSE were so common - then why is it so FEW people have it??

Acg67

Mayo clinic: A healthy breakfast refuels your body and replenishes the glycogen stores that supply your muscles with immediate energy. I'm taking a weight mgmt course and breakfast (break the fast) is important as it does re-start your metabolism. It doens't STOP at night, but like a car w/ gas - you run out, or run low. For optimum performance, eating HEALTHY foods for breakfast re-fuels your muscles. They also point out that if you don't eat, you're more likely to be REALLY hungry mid-morning and eat whatever you can - which is usually not good for you.
I was never a breakfast eater - if I ate at 8, I'd be starving by 10 and eat twice my normal foods. However, I eat a healthier breakfat, and drink water during the morning, and I am losing weight. So...for me, I'm heeding the advice of Mayo Clinic AND the LivingLean program which both advise eating a healthy breakfast to re-fuel my muscles.

::sigh::

bcattoes

Mayo clinic: A healthy breakfast refuels your body and replenishes the glycogen stores that supply your muscles with immediate energy. I'm taking a weight mgmt course and breakfast (break the fast) is important as it does re-start your metabolism. It doens't STOP at night, but like a car w/ gas - you run out, or run low. For optimum performance, eating HEALTHY foods for breakfast re-fuels your muscles. They also point out that if you don't eat, you're more likely to be REALLY hungry mid-morning and eat whatever you can - which is usually not good for you.
I was never a breakfast eater - if I ate at 8, I'd be starving by 10 and eat twice my normal foods. However, I eat a healthier breakfat, and drink water during the morning, and I am losing weight. So...for me, I'm heeding the advice of Mayo Clinic AND the LivingLean program which both advise eating a healthy breakfast to re-fuel my muscles.

It's not just them, Just about all medical sites, doctors and nutritionists recommend breakfast. And there have been studies showing it's value to back those recommendations up, mostly for the reasons stated. But that doesn't make it necessary. As a rule I follow medical recommendations, but for breakfast (and alcohol) I don't because I don't have a problem with any of the reasons for the recommendations. I'm not hungry first thing in the morning. If I get hungry before lunch I have no urge to splurge, I just have a healthy snack. And I have a desk job so I'm not burning a lot of calories in the morning.

You just have to find what works for your body and your schedule.

BrettPGH

Let' throw out all the studies and just use some good old common sense.

Shhh, you'll make Joejccva71 cry.

He almost made ME cry with that one. I hate when people say that sort of thing.

Common sense is HIGHLY overrated. Common sense tells me the Earth I'm walking on is flat. If we all had enough common sense to know what's right for our health most of us wouldn't be overweight now would we?

While I agree common sense doesn't always work. It certainly applies here or I wouldn't have stated it. When you don't eat you don't die for a while. Your body uses something for energy. Hmmmmm what could that be?

Something. But will the body break down muscle or fat first?

Lots of factors involved. Genetics, bodyfat, hormones, etc.

Don't avoid the question. Answer it. Will the body break down muscle or fat first?

He's waiting for common sense to magically provide the answer.

kassandra81

Technically as far as weight loss in concerned, I don't think it really matters.

However, I do think it is better for your body overall to seperate your meals out and eat smart, including having a yummy breakfast.

I started eating breakfast every day about 5 months ago and I don't think I could manage without it now, lol. I love having breakfast now Yum! However, if it was sleeping vs. breakfast... I LOVE my sleep!

GL!

CraziiPrettiiMILF

I skip breakfast all the time and it actually helps me stay on track. When I go have breakfast I try to stay away from sugary cereals and carbs because they throw me in a tailspin.

Russellb97

Its not bad to skip breakfast :] Has no effect on you metabolic rate

Very true

fireman300

Normally I dont jump in on these wars but...I went back and reread the posted question again. Paraphrasing ithe question ..what I read is>>>> Do I have to wake up and eat breakfast or is it ok to sleep in? How much energy or "metabolism boost" does a body thats sleeping need in the first place. Believe me I am far from an expert, but why does the first meal of the day have to be "breakfast"? If you wake up at say 6 in the morning and eat "breakfast" at 8 am, isnt that the same as waking up at 10 am and eating lunch at noon? Eat when your hungy (but stay in your calorie rang), drink when your thirsty (but make sure you get your water requirements for the day) and sleep when your tired. Our body will tell us what it needs if we listen to it.

Our bodies are all different, if it works for you then go with it. If it doesnt work for you then go with plan B or plan C or whatever it takes.

Russellb97

The way I got ripped was by not skipping breakfast(because I just personally need food) but instead having protein in the form of a low-carb shake or bacon and eggs.

The point is eating 6 times a day doesn't give you a metabolism boost, it doesn't really matter when you have your calories. I just personally feel safe having high protein morning and through the day and then having my carbs at night. I personally feel I can burn more fat this way and save my muscles.

It has worked wonderfully too.

robin52077

Are you familiar with leangains protocol/Martin Berhkan..
[...]
I would never suggest Intermittent Fasting for everyone as it SEEMS to be something that people either love, or can't do.

Thank you Sidesteal!
I was wondering when someone was going to mention Leangains, IF, or ESE.
I have done both Berkhan's Leangains style and the full 24 ESE and love it.
16/8 is easier though!

The point the smart people on this thread are trying to make:
Meal timing does not make a lick of difference to your "metabolism", but you may feel better eating breakfast, or you may feel better fasting half the day...whatever... eat to suit your lifestyle and to fuel your workouts properly, not based on a clock because you think you "should" eat at a certain time.

robin52077

let's say you eat 1 ginormous meal a day vs breaking it up into 3. As far as weight loss/metabolism it might be a wash but how would one just eat one meal (no matter how large that one meal is)?

With a fork?

This made me LMAO. Love it.

I didn't quite understand the question either... How would you eat one meal a day?
You just don't eat until later in the day, then eat a big meal and go to bed. It's called Intermittent Fasting, AKA EatStopEat.
(and yes, with a fork.)

Jeff92se

let's say you eat 1 ginormous meal a day vs breaking it up into 3. As far as weight loss/metabolism it might be a wash but how would one just eat one meal (no matter how large that one meal is)?

With a fork?

This made me LMAO. Love it.

I didn't quite understand the question either... How would you eat one meal a day?
You just don't eat until later in the day, then eat a big meal and go to bed. It's called Intermittent Fasting, AKA EatStopEat.
(and yes, with a fork.)

If I didn't eat my one meal until later in the day (ie.. dinner), my work and workout performance would suffer. I'm pretty sure of that. I've tried to workout when I've skipped lunch and my lifts and cardio suffered noticably.