Do you need to eat breakfast?

13

Replies

  • awmejia
    awmejia Posts: 147 Member
    I usually eat something for breakfast even if it just a half an english muffin. If I don't later in the day I have to fight the urge to have a full on binge.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    *I* need a bit of something for breakfast later in the morning. So there you have it. =) Some of us do!
  • LindseySprake
    LindseySprake Posts: 333 Member
    I prefer to "front load" my calories in the morning, then taper off as the day goes on. I have to eat breakfast, otherwise the rest of my day is just shot, and I end up binge eating.

    Me too *high five* :-)
  • Iceman1800
    Iceman1800 Posts: 476
    Just so people are clear about the original post:

    The point isn't that nobody needs to eat breakfast, the point is that breakfast does not boost your metabolism and neither does any specific meal frequency. See the link a few posts up for an explanation.

    Whether or not you eat breakfast should be based on a set of preferential things that may vary from individual to individual , but it's not based on any magical metabolic edge that it gives you, because it doesn't.
    grand slam home run. 100% correct
  • reasnableblonde
    reasnableblonde Posts: 212 Member
    I find that eating breakfast helps me keep away from that "I'm so hungry I could eat a small child" feeling. It keeps my overeating in check. I think a lot of dieticians and personal trainers would agree that breakfast is generally a good idea. It's not mandatory, but to perform optimally, it's pretty necessary.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,961 Member
    Recent studies have shown that you don't have to eat breakfast in the morning, BUT it highly increases your success rate if you do. It's not necessarily a metabolism thing as much as a behavioral thing. If you skip breakfast, you are much more likely to binge or make bad choices once you get hungry. Everybody is different, I have friends that hate "breakfast foods" or like to sleep in in the morning. There's always a way around this, by choosing non-traditional breakfast foods (like a piece of healthy veggie pizza) or by packing something the night before to grab and take with you. I have yet to find a successful dieting/nutrition program that recommends AGAINST eating breakfast.
    I don't think a good eating program would recommend against any meal in particular. Breakfast is a "morning" related meal. Personally myself I eat well into the early morning, so upon waking, I'm not hungry for another 5 hours. For me that around 12pm which is usually considered "lunch" by many.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • marieautumn
    marieautumn Posts: 928 Member
    i eat a small breakfast of canned pineapple chunks (140 cals) and a 100 calorie pack of cinnamon almonds for a grand total of 240 calories. and i feel full afterwards.
  • lisahale
    lisahale Posts: 56
    I hardly ever ate breakfast, but since I started eating healthy and losing weight, I don't feel right now if I don't eat . Love my breakfast!
  • MonaLittlemore
    MonaLittlemore Posts: 1 Member
    This is the first post I 100% agree with.
    Breakfast definitely gets your metabolism, and as a woman, we all know we need that running at top speed!
    :happy:
  • RonnieBigGunz
    RonnieBigGunz Posts: 52
    I stopped eating breakfast some time ago. It's much easier for me to just have a cup of coffee in the morning to keep me from getting hungry, then eat large portions for lunch and dinner. It makes cutting much easier, and even when I'm eating in a calorie surplus, I still feel lean after a 16hr fasted period.

    Ultimately, you have to do what works best for you.
  • avocado12
    avocado12 Posts: 197 Member
    I have to eat breakfast or I feel like death. Everyone is different though. My fiancé doesn't eat breakfast and that's fine with him!
  • Wingwoman21
    Wingwoman21 Posts: 37
    Do what works for you! As long as you're hitting the right number of calories a day you'll be fine. :flowerforyou:
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    Recent studies have shown that you don't have to eat breakfast in the morning, BUT it highly increases your success rate if you do. It's not necessarily a metabolism thing as much as a behavioral thing. If you skip breakfast, you are much more likely to binge or make bad choices once you get hungry. Everybody is different, I have friends that hate "breakfast foods" or like to sleep in in the morning. There's always a way around this, by choosing non-traditional breakfast foods (like a piece of healthy veggie pizza) or by packing something the night before to grab and take with you. I have yet to find a successful dieting/nutrition program that recommends AGAINST eating breakfast.
    The thing is, this is not universally true. Some people feel far hungrier on days that they eat early. I know that when I force myself to eat breakfast, I'm ravenously hungry for the rest of the day (no matter what I eat), feel irritable and depressed, and have a hard time focusing.

    If someone has a hard time making healthy choices after skipping breakfast, then they should certainly eat breakfast. But not everyone sees that effect. For some people, eating breakfast can do more harm than good.
  • mcampbell865
    mcampbell865 Posts: 2
    EAT BREAKFAST ! If you dont your baody will start to convert muscle and your important tissue for energy rather than fat.
    total bs. There is zero science to back up that theory.

    http://www.ajc.com/health/study-eating-breakfast-could-1460566.html
  • rlmadrid
    rlmadrid Posts: 694 Member
    This is the first post I 100% agree with.
    Breakfast definitely gets your metabolism, and as a woman, we all know we need that running at top speed!
    :happy:

    I think you may have misunderstood the original post?
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    EAT BREAKFAST ! If you dont your baody will start to convert muscle and your important tissue for energy rather than fat.
    total bs. There is zero science to back up that theory.

    http://www.ajc.com/health/study-eating-breakfast-could-1460566.html
    This is the first quote from that article:
    That's sensible advice, although it doesn't prove that breakfast made the difference, says Robert E. Ratner, MD, chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association.

    "Having regular eating habits with three balanced meals is probably better than random eating, which may lead to weight gain and dangerously high or low blood sugar," Ratner tells WebMD. "But scientifically, the study does not offer proof," Ratner says. People who eat breakfast daily are likely to have other healthy habits that could also explain the association, he says.
    (emphasis supplied)
  • rlmadrid
    rlmadrid Posts: 694 Member
    EAT BREAKFAST ! If you dont your baody will start to convert muscle and your important tissue for energy rather than fat.
    total bs. There is zero science to back up that theory.

    http://www.ajc.com/health/study-eating-breakfast-could-1460566.html
    This is the first quote from that article:
    That's sensible advice, although it doesn't prove that breakfast made the difference, says Robert E. Ratner, MD, chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association.

    "Having regular eating habits with three balanced meals is probably better than random eating, which may lead to weight gain and dangerously high or low blood sugar," Ratner tells WebMD. "But scientifically, the study does not offer proof," Ratner says. People who eat breakfast daily are likely to have other healthy habits that could also explain the association, he says.
    (emphasis supplied)

    :drinker: You beat me to it!
  • rebeccalray5
    rebeccalray5 Posts: 36
    "Breakfast consumption is independently associated with a lower BMI in adults in a number of cross-sectional
    studies. Only two prospective studies and four randomized trials were found to date, and the results from these are inconsistent. Although the precise mechanisms are unclear, breakfast eating may prevent obesity and related chronic conditions through a number of behavioral and biological mechanisms, including being part of an overall healthful eating pattern, improving the composition of the diet, and, through a variety of substrate/metabolic pathways, aiding in appetite control throughout the day."

    Peer reviewed journal. Admittedly slightly old but still interesting.

    Timlin, M. T., & Pereira, M. A. (2007). Breakfast Frequency and Quality in the Etiology of Adult Obesity and Chronic Diseases. Nutrition Reviews, 65(6), 268-281.

    Point is, you can find any thing to support your view if you want to; even if it is a peer reviewed journal.

    Do what works for you. If you don't eat breakfast and it works for you, go for it! If you need breakfast to wake up in the morning and it works for you, go for it!
  • Cgrnlaw
    Cgrnlaw Posts: 84 Member
    I believe you should eat breakfast, thats your way of breaking your fast. Thats why its called Breakfast, so that your metabolism can wake up.
  • Waterbaby1978
    Waterbaby1978 Posts: 1
    Hi All
    New to this and am finding I am running out of calories as the day goes on - better planning needed I know. But..what do other people have for breakfast that fills them up but does not use loads of calories? I have 1240 calories a day.

    Thanks in anticipation :-)
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    I believe you should eat breakfast, thats your way of breaking your fast. Thats why its called Breakfast, so that your metabolism can wake up.
    Oh holy mother...

    It doesn't sleep, it doesn't stop. If it did, you would DIE.
  • dalila747
    dalila747 Posts: 153 Member
    I've stopped eating breakfast about a week ago and I haven't self combusted yet. But you might want to check back with me in a month or so. Maybe the nefarious effects of breakfast shunning take a little big longer to manifest themselves. ;-)
  • sakisus
    sakisus Posts: 13
    Hi everybody! This is my first post here.
    I am not a professional and my opinion is based on my personal experience only.
    The answer behind the breakfast question is more complicated than a "Yes" or "No" only because it has to do with the reason behind it.
    And the reason will "complete" the question. "Do you need to eat breakfast....
    before you workout
    /before an IQ test
    /before your most important interview
    /before laying on the couch all day
    / before going to work on a construction site
    /before going to perform an open heart surgery? and so on.
    Because it is one thing to "feed" your body it is also important to give our brains the essential nutrients to work as good as it gets.
    Like everything else in life, every job needs its particular tools, and I see breakfast as a tool. There is no reason to use a hammer to cut an apple.
  • fernandesg
    fernandesg Posts: 54 Member
    EAT BREAKFAST ! If you dont your baody will start to convert muscle and your important tissue for energy rather than fat.
    total bs. There is zero science to back up that theory.

    http://www.ajc.com/health/study-eating-breakfast-could-1460566.html

    The quote here is a newspaper article, not scientific proof. I have been in science for 20 years and newspaper journalists are not scientists - they sell papers, not do science (no offense to any journalists - just pointing out that they are not scientific experts; no implication of intentional misinformation :wink: ). Even WebMD put a disclaimer after their reference to the article:
    "These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary, as they have not yet undergone the "peer review" process, in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal." It is actually very poor professional practice to announce any results before peer review!

    Skepticism is key when reading any article/study (there are entire university courses dedicated to exactly that, and for good reason). Medical professionals can give you the best advice (drs, nutritionists) and your own body will tell you what is best for you.

    Personally, some days I eat breakfast, some days I don't. I find if I get up early for work, I am super hungry by 7am, but if I sleep in on the weekends until 8-9am, I can wait until noon to eat (and then I have more calories to play with).
  • fernandesg
    fernandesg Posts: 54 Member
    "Breakfast consumption is independently associated with a lower BMI in adults in a number of cross-sectional
    studies. Only two prospective studies and four randomized trials were found to date, and the results from these are inconsistent. Although the precise mechanisms are unclear, breakfast eating may prevent obesity and related chronic conditions through a number of behavioral and biological mechanisms, including being part of an overall healthful eating pattern, improving the composition of the diet, and, through a variety of substrate/metabolic pathways, aiding in appetite control throughout the day."

    Peer reviewed journal. Admittedly slightly old but still interesting.

    Timlin, M. T., & Pereira, M. A. (2007). Breakfast Frequency and Quality in the Etiology of Adult Obesity and Chronic Diseases. Nutrition Reviews, 65(6), 268-281.

    Point is, you can find any thing to support your view if you want to; even if it is a peer reviewed journal.

    Do what works for you. If you don't eat breakfast and it works for you, go for it! If you need breakfast to wake up in the morning and it works for you, go for it!

    What she said! Well put!
    <high five>
  • horsehockey
    horsehockey Posts: 24 Member
    If you think about how humans evolved, it's unlikely that you 'need' 3 meals per day, just eat when you're actually hungry.

    I do eat breakfast, but not till around 10-11am... I find that as I get older, I simply have no appetite first thing in the morning.
  • ladyfox1979
    ladyfox1979 Posts: 405 Member
    I eat breakfast because I got 2 small kids that I definitely need the energy for at least that's the reason I tell people , the real reason is cuz I am a fat *kitten* that loves food and I will use any excuse to eat cuz everyone says I have to eat breakfast... hehehe..so I am just giving the people what they want.
  • fitQueenbeast
    fitQueenbeast Posts: 298
    I need to eat breakfast. Not eating breakfast, for me, results in blood sugar crashes, worsening of mental health problems (my brain does not function well at all without sugar) and dizziness/lightheadedness (I have low blood pressure too so low BP + blood sugar crash = big problems). And it's not just a matter of eating something, it has to be good quality carbs like weetabix. (actually I prefer oatibix but it's not on sale here). Cheerios (even though they claim to be 70% wholegrain) don't prevent me having these problems, if anything they and other poor quality cereals make them worse.

    That said if someone is doing fine without breakfast, i.e. losing fat the healthy way or maintaining a healthy body composition, then I don't see the point in forcing yourself to eat it. As the OP says, so long as you're getting your macros, meal timing is about what works for you. I function way better on several small meals a day.
    excellent post

    Agreed. I operate better on the five small meals a day. Thanks for posting!

    Erica
  • likemeinvisible
    likemeinvisible Posts: 309
    EAT BREAKFAST ! If you dont your baody will start to convert muscle and your important tissue for energy rather than fat.
    total bs. There is zero science to back up that theory.

    http://www.ajc.com/health/study-eating-breakfast-could-1460566.html

    From your article:
    "People who eat breakfast daily are likely to have other healthy habits that could also explain the association, he says."

    And I thought breakfast is a magic meal that makes us strong and healthy.
  • samntha14
    samntha14 Posts: 2,084 Member
    I HAVE to eat breakfast. It's the only way I can get the moor running in the morning and I HAVE to eat every three hours to keep it running, and to keep from passing out. such is life.

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