Is breakfast absolutely necessary?

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Replies

  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
    Define breakfast
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Yes, you need to eat breakfast daily. If you skip out on breakfast it will slow your metabolism

    False.

    I don't know why people still believe this myth... it has been pushed for far too long.

    After reading several post of yours, I have to wonder where you get your info from? you seem to have a commit on a lot, and no explanation to back it up. Of course when I was 26 I thought I knew it all too!

    Please see here regarding diet induced thermogensis.

    Please note that in this thread I have linked out to several peer-reviewed studies supporting this claim.

    This is the explanation to back up why your belief about breakfast (strictly the metabolic piece) is incorrect.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/820577-meal-frequency-rev-up-that-furnace-lol
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    You don't have to eat a giant breakfast, but try to get your metabolism working. Give yourself at least 100 calories to work with. Perhaps a couple of pieces of fruit or some yogurt.

    Your metabolism is already working in the morning... eating doesn't jump start it.

    I would have to disagree with you whole heartily! You do understand that our bodies go into a starvation mode if we do not eat often and regularly. Your body will hold on to fat stores. I would cycle my diet though. Do not be afraid to go over your daily calorie intake occasionally. I keeps your metabolism guessing. Think about it if we had to still forage for food, so days are more productive in food gathering than others :flowerforyou:

    It takes 3-4 days to go to starvation mode. You do not wake up in starvation mode. And until that 3-4 days hits - your metabolism runs faster when you don't eat.

    Yes I am fully aware it is not an instantaneous thing, However, I was referring to an extended period of time of depriving your body on a diet, and I think most people forget how important eating regularly is. Instead they try to lose weight by eating less often, and not close enough in frequency to maintain a healthy metabolism. I would say instead of skipping an important meal too often (of course do not eat if you are not hungry) go for much smaller portion sizes, more frequently. I am a firm believer in varying quantity in consumption, but eating on a schedule to keep the metabolism on the higher end of function. I hope this better clarifies :flowerforyou:
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    You don't have to eat a giant breakfast, but try to get your metabolism working. Give yourself at least 100 calories to work with. Perhaps a couple of pieces of fruit or some yogurt.

    Your metabolism is already working in the morning... eating doesn't jump start it.

    I would have to disagree with you whole heartily! You do understand that our bodies go into a starvation mode if we do not eat often and regularly. Your body will hold on to fat stores. I would cycle my diet though. Do not be afraid to go over your daily calorie intake occasionally. I keeps your metabolism guessing. Think about it if we had to still forage for food, so days are more productive in food gathering than others :flowerforyou:

    It takes 3-4 days to go to starvation mode. You do not wake up in starvation mode. And until that 3-4 days hits - your metabolism runs faster when you don't eat.

    Yes I am fully aware it is not an instantaneous thing, However, I was referring to an extended period of time of depriving your body on a diet, and I think most people forget how important eating regularly is. Instead they try to lose weight by eating less often, and not close enough in frequency to maintain a healthy metabolism. I would say instead of skipping an important meal too often (of course do not eat if you are not hungry) go for much smaller portion sizes, more frequently. I am a firm believer in varying quantity in consumption, but eating on a schedule to keep the metabolism on the higher end of function. I hope this better clarifies :flowerforyou:

    My point is .. Eating on a schedule does not "keep the metabolism on the higher end of function". In fact, NOT eating for a day or 2 at a time will "rev your metabolism" .. Eating will not.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    Yes, you need to eat breakfast daily. If you skip out on breakfast it will slow your metabolism

    False.

    I don't know why people still believe this myth... it has been pushed for far too long.

    After reading several post of yours, I have to wonder where you get your info from? you seem to have a commit on a lot, and no explanation to back it up. Of course when I was 26 I thought I knew it all too!

    Never think I know it all... because I don't and no one does. Skipping breakfast and it making your metabolism slow is false and has been shown time and time again that it is false. There are studies for sure that back up both sides of any issue. Choose whichever one you want to believe.

    Not eating breakfast and still being able to have great losses and great success in either weight loss or building muscle has been proven time and time again by all those who practise IF. Most of those folks don't eat until later in the afternoon yet have great results to prove that it still works and it doesn't slow down your metabolism. There is one lady here (can't rememeber her user name off the top of my head) who doesn't eat until 7pm and looks amazing and has great results. Provided you are still at a deficit, eating once a day or eating six times a day will not change how quickly your metabolism runs.

    I may of not posted studies but other posters have. Look at SideSteel's recent post. If you don't want to believe me, believe him... he's got tons of information and a lot of knowledge on a lot of subjects relating to muscle growth, fat loss, etc.

    I'm curious as to where you get your information from that your body goes into "starvation mode" if you don't eat often and regularly? This has been proven false time and time again. Again, look at those who do IF. Proves that "starvation mode" doesn't happen after a few hours of not eating or even 20 hours of not eating. Starvation mode is something thrown around here far too often (yes partly MFPs fault as it seems to give that warning when anyone closes their diary and has less calories than it should).

    Ultimately, everyone needs to do what is best for them. What works for one doesn't work for another.
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
    it is for me. i can't imagine trying to work on an empty stomach.

    breakfast is sometimes my biggest meal of the day. protein shake with 2% milk and a banana (sometimes PB), eggs, bacon, avocados and sriracha.

    i'm hypoglycemic though.
  • tekwriter
    tekwriter Posts: 923 Member
    I noticed last week when I skipped breakfast I ate the same amount of calories as my normal breakfast and lunch combined. It really didn't pay to skip. You are probably adjusting to the changes. You might track and see if you are eating a lot less at dinner or if it has increased.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    Halp, skipped breakfast, metabolism stopped.

    h27723B6C
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    Yes, you need to eat breakfast daily. If you skip out on breakfast it will slow your metabolism

    False.

    I don't know why people still believe this myth... it has been pushed for far too long.

    After reading several post of yours, I have to wonder where you get your info from? you seem to have a commit on a lot, and no explanation to back it up. Of course when I was 26 I thought I knew it all too!

    Please see here regarding diet induced thermogensis.

    Please note that in this thread I have linked out to several peer-reviewed studies supporting this claim.

    This is the explanation to back up why your belief about breakfast (strictly the metabolic piece) is incorrect.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/820577-meal-frequency-rev-up-that-furnace-lol

    Thank you for this link with reference! This is the kind of material I love! It has support as to why you perceive a certain philosophy, and I will be reading it a length! I am a person who can be swayed to see things differently if the evidence is good enough. After all I grew up on the philosophy in science that a law is simply a theory the has not been dis-proven yet! In other words the greater the knowledge the better the theory. I very well my be a victim of an old wives tale. I do know eating smaller more frequent meals regularly helps me, but I am a victim of blood sugar drops. I would over eat when this would happen. So there is the possibility I corrected one problem for myself by being under the influence of another dietary idea. I will read the info and take another look at the research I have. Compare, and either stick to my philosophy, or alter it. :flowerforyou:
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Yes, you need to eat breakfast daily. If you skip out on breakfast it will slow your metabolism

    False.

    I don't know why people still believe this myth... it has been pushed for far too long.

    After reading several post of yours, I have to wonder where you get your info from? you seem to have a commit on a lot, and no explanation to back it up. Of course when I was 26 I thought I knew it all too!

    Please see here regarding diet induced thermogensis.

    Please note that in this thread I have linked out to several peer-reviewed studies supporting this claim.

    This is the explanation to back up why your belief about breakfast (strictly the metabolic piece) is incorrect.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/820577-meal-frequency-rev-up-that-furnace-lol

    Thank you for this link with reference! This is the kind of material I love! It has support as to why you perceive a certain philosophy, and I will be reading it a length! I am a person who can be swayed to see things differently if the evidence is good enough. After all I grew up on the philosophy in science that a law is simply a theory the has not been dis-proven yet! In other words the greater the knowledge the better the theory. I very well my be a victim of an old wives tale. I do know eating smaller more frequent meals regularly helps me, but I am a victim of blood sugar drops. I would over eat when this would happen. So there is the possibility I corrected one problem for myself by being under the influence of another dietary idea. I will read the info and take another look at the research I have. Compare, and either stick to my philosophy, or alter it. :flowerforyou:

    Thanks.

    You will note that the majority of research indicating a weight-loss benefit to breakfast, does not control total energy balance. There are correlative studies showing that breakfast eaters may have more success due to eating less total food for the day (the dominating theory being that breakfast blunts hunger and causes you to eat less total calories and this drives weight loss) but this is absolutely not the same as breakfast revving your metabolism. Additionally, we must consider context. In MFP, we are tracking intake. As such, we are controlling total intake which makes breakfast entirely a preferential thing.

    If you feel better eating frequently, you should absolutely continue doing it. The only reason I am being vigilant about posting my information is to clarify that there's no inherent weight loss benefit if we assume the same total intake.

    There are people who achieve excellent results by skipping breakfast, because for some people, it makes it easier to control intake.

    I tend to eat a very small portion of calories in the daytime and a greater portion at night, for preferential/adherence reasons.

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