Is breakfast overrated?

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VorJoshigan
VorJoshigan Posts: 1,106 Member
in Food and Nutrition
It's been at least a week since breakfast has been seriously debated here. In forum time, that's almost 17 months!

Let me preface this with something. If you like breakfast, then please continue eating it. Do NOT let some schmuck (me) on the internet tell you what to do. I'm a hypocrite and I usually eat breakfast too. IF, on the other hand, you have to force yourself to eat of a morning, then you might want to re-think doing so.

I read about the recent Spanish study where breakfast eaters lose more weight than late eaters. I was disturbed/surprised/irritated to learn that they did NOT measure body composition - only weight. I don't know about you, but I can't give two shakes about my absolute weight - I'm evicting FAT.

I read a counter to that recently that makes me re-think the breakfast thing. Money quote (regarding a different study along the same lines):
The researchers also looked at body composition before and after. The morning group lost more weight but lost a lot more muscle and a lot less fat. The night group lost almost exclusively fat and preserved muscle.

Source: http://articles.elitefts.com/nutrition/logic-does-not-apply-part-2-breakfast/

Replies

  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
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    From a hormonal perspective, and thus body composition, it makes sense to not eat breakfast. Human evolution and all that.
  • Slaci_Jo
    Slaci_Jo Posts: 69 Member
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    I usualy dont eat breakfast....although the past couple of weeks I have been eating something light in the mornings (today I had 1/4 cup sliced almonds). I am just not hungry in the morning. I haven't eaten breakfast in 12 years. I blame it on working retail for 9 years, and wanting to sleep late when I was in high school. Now that i have an 8-5 job I find that I am beginning to feel a little hungry by 9 AM. Maybe eventually I will eat breakfast, but for now Im not trying to force it.
  • LowcarbNY
    LowcarbNY Posts: 546 Member
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    Eating begets eating. When I wake up I've already been "fasting" for 8 hours. If I eat breakfast I'm HUNGRY by 11am. If I don't eat breakfast I'm not hungry until well after noon.

    It's just easier for me to just have coffee in the AM and leave more calories for evening.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    I used to not eat breakfast.. and I was not burning fat although I was losing weight..

    I have something now, even if it's small every morning and I tend to feel better and eat better all day long.

    Of course.. i've realized that it's all too easy for me not to eat *at all*. lol so having smoething that kick start the day makes my body think about food.

    I had to fast last night for blood work. I'm making myself eat, cause i'm not hungry in the least.

    The breakfast thing is very individual. If I don't eat in the morning, I will have a hard time eating all day long and will likely not eat nearly enough even with a workout. I know people who get sick if they eat in the morning.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Eat when you're hungry. That's what I try to live by. I eat breakfast at work because I'm hungry at work! On weekends, I don't get up until noon and just eat when I get hungry.
  • GiGiBeans
    GiGiBeans Posts: 1,062 Member
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    I've eaten breakfast for a number of years, skipped breakfast a number of years. I don't think it's ever made a difference weight wise. Not eating a whole bag of doritos in one sitting did. :laugh:
  • leanmama3
    leanmama3 Posts: 13 Member
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    Interesting. I've always wondered about the validity of the studies done on this. I'm just not hungry in the mornings but ravenous at night. I tried eating breakfast and I was still ravenous at night which means I just consumed more calories when I did eat breakfast. For now, I just drink coffee and save my calories for later in the day when I truly want to eat.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I don't eat breakfast, but I eat lots of breakfast foods at other time. Lets face it- breakfast food is awesome.
  • strawman74
    strawman74 Posts: 6
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    I have to force myself to eat in the mornings I am almost never hungry when I wake.......but my question is what do they mean in their study about a late eater........is this someone who waits to eat for several hours after waking or is this someone who gets up late therefore doesn't eat til late......I only asked because I have such a crazy work schedule that I don't know what time I might actually eat.....in fact I changed my set up on here to only have 1 category to enter food in "daily food log" no breakfast lunch dinner snacks for me I eat real when I am hungry except my first meal of the day which I force.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    This seems like two worlds colliding. Somehow eating food later affects body composition...... Yet nutrient timing has been thoroughly refuted in the mfp forums.

    Seems these ideas can't exist in the same universe. I demand a fight till the death.
  • strawman74
    strawman74 Posts: 6
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    Sorry forgot to mention I am gaining muscle but I am exercising and lifting in an effort to tone as I lose.......for what its worth
  • gerard54
    gerard54 Posts: 1,107 Member
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    I guess it depends on what you eat...
  • lotusspark
    lotusspark Posts: 367
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    I do know that eating is is helpful but once I read to eat 22-25% of your daily allowance AT breakfast, my slug metabolism turned back on. Just saying it helps me, I try to sharethis but not everyone likes breakfast or flipping the way they eat.
  • LMT2012
    LMT2012 Posts: 697 Member
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    Interesting. I've always wondered about the validity of the studies done on this. I'm just not hungry in the mornings but ravenous at night. I tried eating breakfast and I was still ravenous at night which means I just consumed more calories when I did eat breakfast. For now, I just drink coffee and save my calories for later in the day when I truly want to eat.

    This. Unfortunately, I am often hungry for breakfast and it does make it tougher to budget the calories for the day.
  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
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    This is a trick question.

    Breakfast meaning eating when you wake up - yes overrated.
    Breakfast meaning breakfast foods - totally underrated, great any time of the day. :smile:

    Unless you have some major medical problem that tells you to do other wise:
    Eat when you're hungry, don't eat when you're not.
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
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    It's 3 pm and I haven't eaten and functioning just fine. I eat when I need energy or know that I will need it to get something done. So breaking the fast happens when the body demands it.
  • arnfolly
    arnfolly Posts: 79 Member
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    One thing that is never mentioned in the breakfast war is this; WHAT IS YOUR INTERNAL CLOCK TELLING YOU! Many people have different cycles in their sleep/brain. Me, I am a morning person, usually awake on my own (I do not even own an alarm clock) by 4:30 am. So, by 6:30 I am usually pretty hungry. This obviously is my internal alarm clock. I never sleep in unless ill or unjured. However, for many people, THEIR alarm clock is set for a much later time. We attempt to conform to society and obligations telling us WHEN we should be active, but our brain is screaming something completely different. Although I am a huge supporter of breakfast, if you are simply NOT HUNGRY right away, delay it for an hour, perhaps two. While working full time and going to the gym in the am I would keep food @ work to eat breakfast. My boss & co-workers were NOT mornign people and would eat usually 2 hours after arriving at work. That worked fine for them. So, don't skip it, perhaps just adjust the TIME of breakfast, and cut yourself a break. :)

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