breakfast...

It's the most important meal of the day for some not for all.

At the end of the day, if you are at a calorie deficit, then it does not matter what time of day you ate those calories. Go with whatever meal timing you prefer and/or fits into your schedule.

Most important meal of the day! I find that breakfast sets the tone for my day and have been surprised that the "classic" American breakfast of eggs and some kind of breakfast meat is actually pretty low calorie. Getting protein in in the morning is helpful to keep me satisfied all day. That hunger you feel when you start eating breakfast is your metabolism revving up! Just make sure to keep lots of low calorie snacks on hand and drink plenty of fluid till your body gets used to having breakfast.

I'm a registered dietitian and nutrition instructor at the university level.

To all who are criticizing my comment about revving up metabolism. I apologize that I simplified a concept to something that I figured would make sense to more people. The Thermic Effect of Food is indeed a real concept as it takes energy to digest and absorb the nutrients from food. However, it is not something that can be utilized to lose weight (eating more won't make you lose more) because the contribution to daily energy expenditure is minimal.

The fact, however, that starting the day with a nutritious and balanced breakfast helps to regulate blood glucose dynamics cannot be denied. The National Weight Control Registry has determined some behaviors which are consistent among people who have been able to lose more weight and keep it off longer. One of this behaviors is breakfast every day. From a practical standpoint, we need more energy from food in waking hours than we do while sleeping. In general, most people will be further away from sleeping when they first wake up for the day (breakfast time). Getting balanced nutrition at this time helps to replenish the glycogen stores that were utilized (from the liver) during the nighttime fast and provide energy for the rest of the day. Any time we make a change to our eating/exercise habits, our bodies need to readjust to establish homeostasis. If we are used to an extended fasting time, our bodies will become efficient at using less energy to perform our normal daily activities. When we start to feed our bodies earlier, the body has to get used to a new homeostasis. At first, we may feel hungry--not because of the energy used to digest and absorb nutrients, but because of hormonal mechanisms that are changing to manage the earlier delivery of nutrition. Once we have established homeostasis, our body will come to expect a breakfast meal and then use that energy until the next snack/meal. The frequency of meals is highly individual.

Different people need meals at different times. it doesn't matter if "breakfast" is bacon, eggs, cereal at 7 am or if it's a turkey sandwich and veggies at noon--a balanced and nutritious meal within a short time of waking helps to set up helpful blood glucose dynamics that allow the body to utilize the energy from foods in a healthy way.

For my patients, I recommend establishing regular eating patterns. For my students, I talk more about balanced nutrition. Part of that being regular meal times and a focus on nutritious food from a variety of food groups. I also teach multicultural nutrition and recognize that the continental breakfast common in som many "healthy" countries is not necessarily what one might expect to be promoted on a fitness website.

As for the article that someone was so kind to link to: SideSteel did a nice job writing, but it appears that he has no relevent credentials and therefore I am cynical. (I have an advanced degree in nutrition and practice in the medical field). As for the Peer reviewed articles, I'll take that.