Breakfast jumps starts your metabolism? Explain that please.

MrsNoir

In my case I would get very very very GRUMPY if I don't have breakfast. And in general I may go grumpy if I don't have a dosage of food every two hours or so. And I hate those blood tests where you have to go "fasting", that's the hardest thing for me to do.. wake up and just live on water.. horrible... I can't live without my coffee and honey piece of toast .

But for a more scientific explanation, I guess it's a way of telling the body that it's going to have fuel for the rest of the day, so it doesn't need to hold on tight to the food from the previous day, so it allows you to eat more and lose more , I think it works the same way as the starvation thing that shows when you log too few calories per day.

livinginwoods

My healthy skinny friends eat breakfast, my fat ones don't. I now eat breakfast. Even my Dr. told me that her obese patients majorly don't eat breakfast. I hardly ever did. If I did it was a pop tart or some junk food. Now after 6 weeks of doing this I wake up starving and I eat less during the day if I eat it. So it works for me.

myak623

I'm going to say that it's all relative. My boyfriend does a 16 hour fasting period. His food intake cutoff is 9pm and he breaks his fast at 1pm. He adjusted quite easily to it and it works for him. He loses weight when he's cutting, maintains when he needs to and is still able to bulk up when he needs to. It also fits into his schedule.

Me, on the other hand, could not do this. I have to eat very soon after I wake up or I get shaky. I also eat smaller meals more often. If I don't I get headaches and my blood sugar drops. This works for me and the smaller more frequent meals fit in to my schedule.

Every one is different and you should do what works for you.

This post makes a very good point. Everyone can have a different definition of "break fast". Is it a cultural thing that we all associate breakfast as the morning meal? If something is working for you, then stick with it. Screw studies! That study wasn't done on you so who cares what it says. I enjoy eating in the mornings. So, that is when I will have my first meal. My wife isn't the same. She isn't hungry when she first wakes up. She may break her fast a few hours later.

Depends on the person.

Elizabeth_C34

Eh. I don't really care what a study says - I eat as soon as I wake up because:

a) I'm starving

b) I've found eating right away and eating often helps keep my blood sugar level. A level blood sugar keeps me from binging.

I will say I never ate breakfast when I was overweight and had a serious binge eating problem. So, I truly believe for ME - it helps control that... which makes breakfast important to me.

The studies do not comment on preference, which is what you are talking about. It says simply that eating the same number of calories per day regardless of whether they are divided into separate meals or in one large meal or somewhere inbetween is all that matters. Simply put, if you eat the 1300 calories per day in one big meal, you'll lose just as much as someone who divides it up into multiple smaller meals. Of course, waiting to eat all your calories at dinner doesn't work for everyone, so that is really up to you.

I think, however, that there's a caveat to your logic. Sure, eating the same amount of calories regardless of timing or portion size/meal will still result in weight loss. However, I highly doubt anyone would actually prefer to eat their entire days worth of calories in one meal. It can be done, but generally speaking, at the risk of getting hungry, which usually results in overeating. I eat breakfast (and about 5 other small meals a day) so that I don't get hungry. Period. Getting hungry is pretty much the devil when it comes to trying to lose weight.

There are some people on MFP and other places that only eat once or twice per day and do not get "hungry" cravings. It's not me, but I know some of my contacts are like this.

I used to be like that, until I realized I wasn't eating enough... Now I eat enough calories, and I noticed when I've gone too long without eating (usually more than 3 hours) i.e. I get hungry, really hungry. Loss of or poor appetite is sometimes a result of not eating enough.

The problem here is that you're generalizing your specific situation to everyone else. Not everyone is like you in their preferences and eating strategies, and that is perfectly fine. It doesn't necessarily mean they are going hungry or somehow deficient in their caloric needs because they eat once or twice per day instead of 3-5 times per day.

tigersword

If you skip breakfast and wait until later in the day, your body goes into starvation mode. This means that when you do eat after skipping breakfast, your body registers that it hasn't had food for a while, and being fearful that it won't get food again for a while, it goes into "starvation mode' and stores, instead of utilizes, the calories you consume. If you are exercising frequently, then this shouldn't be a big deal as your body will burn calories through exercise. It is helpful to eat breakfast though.

Um, not even close to being true. It takes 3 days of complete fasting before your body even thinks about slowing down your metabolism. Waiting an extra 3 hours and eating breakfast at lunch time instead of first thing in the morning will not suddenly put you in starvation mode. Do you think humans 100,000 years ago ate 6 meals a day? They were lucky to eat one meal every 3 or 4 days.

soonersfan1975

The fact is that not eating small meals throught the day does slow metabolism down. Think like this if considering metabolism is like a camp fire if no one puts wood on the fire the fire will burn very slow and go out. Metabolism is the same way if you eat 1300 cals all at once it will be like throwing gasoline on the fire but later you will need to eat again. If you split that 1300 into 3-5 meals throught the day you will feel fuller longer and may not eat anything other then those 1300. Breakfast will help you not over eat through the day and will help blood sugar levels from dropping to much as your body has went around 8 hours with out food. My advice is to eat something around 300 cals try it for a week just to see if it makes a difference!

Bankman1989

http://www.mrhealthy.com/articles/diet-nutrition/breakfast-important.aspx

here's a great article. Its about how your blood sugar is low..fuel to rejuvenate etc. I eat breakfast EVERY morning.

tigersword

Eh. I don't really care what a study says - I eat as soon as I wake up because:

a) I'm starving

b) I've found eating right away and eating often helps keep my blood sugar level. A level blood sugar keeps me from binging.

I will say I never ate breakfast when I was overweight and had a serious binge eating problem. So, I truly believe for ME - it helps control that... which makes breakfast important to me.

The studies do not comment on preference, which is what you are talking about. It says simply that eating the same number of calories per day regardless of whether they are divided into separate meals or in one large meal or somewhere inbetween is all that matters. Simply put, if you eat the 1300 calories per day in one big meal, you'll lose just as much as someone who divides it up into multiple smaller meals. Of course, waiting to eat all your calories at dinner doesn't work for everyone, so that is really up to you.

I think, however, that there's a caveat to your logic. Sure, eating the same amount of calories regardless of timing or portion size/meal will still result in weight loss. However, I highly doubt anyone would actually prefer to eat their entire days worth of calories in one meal. It can be done, but generally speaking, at the risk of getting hungry, which usually results in overeating. I eat breakfast (and about 5 other small meals a day) so that I don't get hungry. Period. Getting hungry is pretty much the devil when it comes to trying to lose weight.

It's called intermittent fasting, and billions of people around the world eat that way on a daily basis.

myofibril

The act of eating increases overall metabolic rate ( as opposed to BMR) as it requires energy for your body to process the incoming food (TEF: thermic effect of feeding) hence the idea that breakfast "kickstarts" your metabolism. The actual time of day or that it comes after a period of prolonged rest has no real bearing on it

The idea that small frequent meals keep your metabolism "revved" up is based on this process. However studies have shown that where calories are equal there is pretty much no meaningful difference in rates of lipolysis (extracting fat from fat cells) and oxidation (fat storage) between frequent smaller meals and larger less frequent meals (which require more energy to process which balances out the affect)

In short, do what suits your preferences. It's a great thing that we can have flexibility in our approaches.

debussyschild

Eh. I don't really care what a study says - I eat as soon as I wake up because:

a) I'm starving

b) I've found eating right away and eating often helps keep my blood sugar level. A level blood sugar keeps me from binging.

I will say I never ate breakfast when I was overweight and had a serious binge eating problem. So, I truly believe for ME - it helps control that... which makes breakfast important to me.

The studies do not comment on preference, which is what you are talking about. It says simply that eating the same number of calories per day regardless of whether they are divided into separate meals or in one large meal or somewhere inbetween is all that matters. Simply put, if you eat the 1300 calories per day in one big meal, you'll lose just as much as someone who divides it up into multiple smaller meals. Of course, waiting to eat all your calories at dinner doesn't work for everyone, so that is really up to you.

I think, however, that there's a caveat to your logic. Sure, eating the same amount of calories regardless of timing or portion size/meal will still result in weight loss. However, I highly doubt anyone would actually prefer to eat their entire days worth of calories in one meal. It can be done, but generally speaking, at the risk of getting hungry, which usually results in overeating. I eat breakfast (and about 5 other small meals a day) so that I don't get hungry. Period. Getting hungry is pretty much the devil when it comes to trying to lose weight.

It's called intermittent fasting, and billions of people around the world eat that way on a daily basis.

Deliberate fasting also slows down your metabolism. Just sayin'... Not the best tool for weight loss. Perfectly fine if you're maintaining, though. Please tell me I'm wrong...

tigersword

The fact is that not eating small meals throught the day does slow metabolism down. Think like this if considering metabolism is like a camp fire if no one puts wood on the fire the fire will burn very slow and go out. Metabolism is the same way if you eat 1300 cals all at once it will be like throwing gasoline on the fire but later you will need to eat again. If you split that 1300 into 3-5 meals throught the day you will feel fuller longer and may not eat anything other then those 1300. Breakfast will help you not over eat through the day and will help blood sugar levels from dropping to much as your body has went around 8 hours with out food. My advice is to eat something around 300 cals try it for a week just to see if it makes a difference!

When you eat has no bearing on metabolism. Metabolism is nothing like a camp fire. It runs 24/7, regardless of how often you eat. The only thing that really boosts metabolism is extra physical activity, moving more boosts your metabolism. Eating more often doesn't. Your metabolism doesn't change speeds, you have your basal metabolic rate, which is how many calories it takes to run your vital organs and support your total mass while in a coma (and that includes digestion) and then you have your Activity Level, which are the extra calories above your BMR that your normal daily activities burn throughout the day. Your BMR is constant, and eating doesn't change it. The only way to boost your metabolism is to move more than you normally do during the day.

Sidesteal

Deliberate fasting also slows down your metabolism. Just sayin'... Not the best tool for weight loss. Perfectly fine if you're maintaining, though. Please tell me I'm wrong...

You are wrong, unless you're referring to fasting for several days.

tigersword

Eh. I don't really care what a study says - I eat as soon as I wake up because:

a) I'm starving

b) I've found eating right away and eating often helps keep my blood sugar level. A level blood sugar keeps me from binging.

I will say I never ate breakfast when I was overweight and had a serious binge eating problem. So, I truly believe for ME - it helps control that... which makes breakfast important to me.

The studies do not comment on preference, which is what you are talking about. It says simply that eating the same number of calories per day regardless of whether they are divided into separate meals or in one large meal or somewhere inbetween is all that matters. Simply put, if you eat the 1300 calories per day in one big meal, you'll lose just as much as someone who divides it up into multiple smaller meals. Of course, waiting to eat all your calories at dinner doesn't work for everyone, so that is really up to you.

I think, however, that there's a caveat to your logic. Sure, eating the same amount of calories regardless of timing or portion size/meal will still result in weight loss. However, I highly doubt anyone would actually prefer to eat their entire days worth of calories in one meal. It can be done, but generally speaking, at the risk of getting hungry, which usually results in overeating. I eat breakfast (and about 5 other small meals a day) so that I don't get hungry. Period. Getting hungry is pretty much the devil when it comes to trying to lose weight.

It's called intermittent fasting, and billions of people around the world eat that way on a daily basis.

Deliberate fasting also slows down your metabolism. Just sayin'... Not the best tool for weight loss. Perfectly fine if you're maintaining, though. Please tell me I'm wrong...

You're wrong. It takes 72 hours of complete fasting before your metabolism starts to slow. Intermittent fasting calls for a fast of no more than 24 hours, and actually boosts fat burning during that fasting period. Also, since your digestive system shuts down during the fasting period, the energy it was using diverts to other body systems, giving you a perceived energy boost. After several days of that, your body then perceives a famine state, and slows down metabolism to conserve energy.

jeffazi

I don't eat breakfast to jumpstart my metabolism (not sure that it even does that). I eat breakfast because I feel sick if I don't. If I don't eat by 8:00 I get extremely nauseous. Always have.

hottottie11

All this bro-science is making my head hurt

Acg67

Many studies and nutrionists show that eating breakfast is important to metabolism and weight loss. Even if it's something very small, like a bar, string cheese and an apple, etc. will be beneficial to kickstart your day until your first meal.

Again confirmed as I read in The eat-Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno - National Weight control registry found that those who shed 30 pounds of weight or more did so with the help of eating breakfast.

I never ate breakfast but I know better, so in my current diet testing theory of eating breakfast and eating smaller meals every 3 hrs.

I happened to read some of Tosca's blog posts and she is quite the bro scientist.

And it is not confirmed, correlation =/= causation

hlcook

I had to run on 0 food when I did my military training. We used to hoard oranges so we'd have just a nibble before 0430 runs...

I agree with whoever said that we eat because we have fasted for 8+ hours. I believe I gained wait because I didn't eat enough and kept my body in starvation mode, causing it to store everything it can. It makes sense (to me) that after 8 hours my body is wondering "will she feed me? should I start storing some reserves?"

Heather
www.redwritinghood.ca

LuckyAng

I don't know about how accurate that statement is but when I was fat I NEVER ate breakfast. I think people that skip breakfast tend to eat more calories during the rest of the day then people who eat a good breakfast. I wake up every morning starving now so i have to eat as soon as I get up!
also not everyone is as blessed with an awesome metabolism as you

Same here. I used to never eat breakfast, but I would snack super late. Now I too wake up starving, and never eat past 8 pm.

CyberEd312

I think this is more of a what works for you and for myself being a type 2 diabetic that split trains daily, I eat within 30 minutes of waking in the morning before I head to the Y..... My blood sugar would crash (it is already in the low 70's when I wake up) if I even thought of trying to workout on an empty stomach. So again its a personal preference as far as I am concerned....

marasw

When I was not counting calories I did not eat breakfast because in general I had stayed up late every night eating and snacking until the moment my head hit the pillow, so I was not really hungry when I woke up. I also knew I could count on a HUGE satisfying 1000+ calorie lunch whenever I got around to it so there was no urgency to eat in the morning. Now I don't eat much, if anything, after dinner so by breakfast time I am hungry.