why is it????

flitabout

Why is it that if I am a good girl and I eat breakfast by lunch I want to gnaw my own arm off. (We won't talk about the rest of the day because I get such horrid cravings that I will eat anything that doesn't run from me especially if it has sugar in it, until I go to bed) The more often I eat the more I crave. But on the days I don't eat breakfast I can skip lunch and snacks and I don't get craving # 1, I'm not even hungry!. It is so frustrating! I understand that it isn't healthy. I did Pink for the whole reset phase and I lost nothing and I ate veggies constantly, I hit phase 1 and I gained 3 lbs that never went anywhere so at the end of phase one I quit. I did South Beach for about a month and can you guess how much I lost???? I gained 2 lbs. I strictly followed these plans hoping that these great results they were talking about would materialize for me but nope!
But when I cut myself down to 1 meal a day a healthy meal I lose like nobody's business? I don't just lose I keep it off, well until I get pregnant again! My doctor can't figure it out I don't have diabetes, my thyroid is just fine. So am I just weird or is there anybody out there as strange as me???

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Do what works for you. I only eat once a day, too. Check out intermittent fasting. I do the 20/4 variation and I love it. Meal timing and frequency are irrelevant and IF has tons of health benefits.

MysticRealm

I virtually never eat breakfast. I wake up at 7:20 and my first meal of the day is between 12-1:30 depending on how work is going. And then I usually only eat under 350 cals at that time.

mockchoc

There is no need to eat breakfast as we were once told. It won't boost your metabolism so skip it!

3dogsrunning

Meal timing is irrelevant. Breakfast is not the most important meal of the day.

My only concern would be if you are eating enough in one meal, but if you are all your calories in one meal vs your calories across 2,4,6,10,etc. meals doesn't matter.

flitabout

Wow I read that and it sounds like what I have just done naturally all my life! With the exception of when I was pregnant and Saturdays when I make pancakes for my kids and I have to force myself to eat, I hate breakfast and I am not overly fond of lunch either! Diets that make me plan on a snacks all day that I then have to guard with my life so that my kids don't eat my perfectly portioned almonds and bagies of cut veggies fruit and boiled eggs. Buying special food that I spend hours a day preparing only to find out that my very excited kids that help me make that food hate it.
I do have to say though that I do need to work on my meals so I can get more nutrients and calories in to them Tonight at dinner I drank a huge glass of whole milk and I still didn't get the calories I needed in. But I have to say that even without the extra calories my energy is through the roof in the last couple of days since I have started eating when my body tells me to. Thank you guys so much. I don't feel liek quite such and oddity now!

MakingChangesToday

I experienced the same and my dietician was very insistent that I need to add breakfast. There is so much information out there for and against breakfast that I am assuming there is not just one way to go.

I however realized the following: if I eat my breakfast before going running at the beach in the morning it interrupts the cycle of being hungry all the time from breakfast onwards for the rest of the day.

donnaj46

I notice that if I eat a high carb breakfast, I get hungry, but if I eat a high protein meal or something like a hard boiled egg, it holds me over even if I am working and I am not starving by lunch time

flitabout

It doesn't matter what I eat, eggs protein shakes oatmeal sugary cereal if all has the same effect. As far as exercising after breakfast I don't really have that option. I still have 2 small kids at home and I run a trucking company from home. I get my older kids off to school at 7:30am and promptly start working feeding the younger two cleaning the house. I am in constant motion from the time I get up until I go to bed at night. Starving I can deal with it's the cravings that kick me in the butt.

Nutella91

skipping breakfast is the only thing that has worked for me, and i tried EVERYTHING.

GnomeLover1984

Same here. I usually just skip it.

Ed98043

I rarely eat anything before noon. Do what works for you.

NRSPAM

How many calories are you getting/day? If you're that hungry, it sounds like you need to eat! I personally believe in eating breakfast, and I never used to eat it. You can actually up your calories and lose weight. It depends on your TDEE. MFP may not be giving you an accurate calorie goal. You can search the forums and find "in place of a road map." Good info on there! Good luck!

phildawson75

Losing weight is absolutely nothing about how many meals you eat each day or at what time you eat them, and what you are eating for them meals.

Its all about total calories consumed to what you have burnt. If you eat more than your TDEE you put on weight if you eat less you lose weight. Its as simple as that.

To illustrate a point if my TDEE was 2400 I could eat solely 12 chocolate bars of 200 cals each in a single day and maintain my weight. If I had 13 I would be gaining, if I had 11 I would be losing weight.

It wouldn't matter if I had all 12 in one sitting, or 6 in the am and 6 in pm, or spaced them out eating one bar every 2 hours. I'd still be taking in the same calories.

I'm not suggesting living off chocolate bars as they aren't that nutritional but it really doesn't matter what makes up the calories.

youcantfoolme

What is your exersize plan? Are you eating low carb? What kinds of food are you eating?

phildawson75

Just to emphasise it doesn't matter how much exercise you do, if you eat low carb or not, or what kind of food you eat.

All these things are irrelevant, as long as you count every calorie you eat and meet your net you'll lose weight.

If you feel you are eating your net goal, then you're either not accurately logging the calories and underestimating, or your TDEE is estimated too high to begin with. In this case keep logging the calories until you neither gain nor lose. Once you've established your TDEE then take 20% off that amount and focus on that amount as your goal net.

It sounds blunt but that's all it is. Don't fall for fad diets, special exercise routines or eating low carb and other nonsense.

VanessaHeartsMasr

Eat when you are hungry. Timing is irrelevant. It's BS. I work nights and I count my calories from Midnight to 11:59 p.m. (basically a 24-hour diary). I eat when I'm hungry. Some days I eat breakfast, some days no breakfast, some days lunch, some days no lunch. I eat cookies and cake and chips. I eat fruits and veggies and protein. I eat whatever I want, when I want, as long as I stay within my calorie goal over a 24-hour period. Basically, I'm learning how to eat like a normal person. I've lost over 35 pounds. Oh, plus, some weeks I exercise 6 days, some weeks I get lazy and exercise 1 day. Still losing weight.

gregwhitley

Just to emphasise it doesn't matter how much exercise you do, if you eat low carb or not, or what kind of food you eat.

All these things are irrelevant, as long as you count every calorie you eat and meet your net you'll lose weight.

If you feel you are eating your net goal, then your either are not accurately logging the calories and underestimating, or your TDEE is estimated too high to begin with. In this case keep logging the calories until you neither gain not lose. Once you've established your TDEE then take 20% off that amount and focus on that amount as your goal net.

It sounds blunt but that's all it is. Don't fall for fad diets, special exercise routines or eating low carb and other nonsense.

While what you say is mathematically correct, the only useful info you provide is a way to move the needle on the scale. You omit everything related to improving overall health. Being skinny and in terrible shape may be acceptable to some folks. Not for me. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fitness buff or anything of the sort. I agree with you on "fad diets", but probably disagree with your definition of them, e.g. - there certainly are people who are carb sensitive, for many reasons.

To the OP - As was mentioned above, do what works for you! For me, coffee is the only thing I need in the morning. I also get ravenous by lunch if I eat breakfast. Doesn't matter if it is boiled egg whites, or oatmeal. So I usually skip it, and I am able to save my precious calories for having a decent sized lunch and dinner.

I eat low carb (generally), try to hit my protein requirement, and maintain a pretty aggressive deficit. It is working. If it stops working, I will do something else, but I am not gonna sweat it until then

NRSPAM

The reason breakfast is important to ME, is that if I don't eat breakfast, I will be more likely to eat more later in the day. I also believe that breakfast is a healthy way to treat my body. After waking up, my body has just gone around 8-10 hours with no nutrition. I started off not being hungry in the morning, and making myself eat SOMETHING, even if it was just a banana with PB. I have heard that it is good for your metabolism, and whether it is true or not, I don't know. Some "experts" say it is, and some say it doesn't matter. I also believe that it is better to spread your meals out throughout the day, rather than to gorge on a meal, in one sitting. I also work night shift, at times, and my eating schedule is not always typical. I would bet, however, that if you're finding yourself hungry, that you're likely not eating enough. You can try eating healthy snacks between meals. Your TDEE is probably higher than you're giving yourself credit for, and if you up your calories, and are not losing weight right away, try giving it time. Your metabolism needs time to recover after eating at VLCD.

CristinaL1983

I also practice intermittent fasting and don't eat until the afternoon most of the time. If/when I do eat breakfast early, I am hungry and think about food almost non stop for the rest of the day. I tried protein only breakfasts, balanced breakfasts, doesn't matter still too hungry. Sometimes I get up at 6am for class and to take my daughter to class and don't end my day until 4am when I'm done with work so it works better for me to just wait a bit and eat in the afternoon.

avababy05

I don't eat breakfast.I work strange hours,12-9,so usually eat around 11 and it's lunch food not breakfast.

bcattoes

I have never heard of this Pink you speak of, but there is nothing unhealthy about skipping breakfast. The reason it's suggested that you need to eat breakfast is that most people that eat breakfast eat less overall. Most. Not all.

If you stick to your plan better by skipping breakfast, then skip it.